Balance Transfer Calculator UK: 0% Deals, Fees and Payoff

Balance transfer calculator (UK)

Enter your card balances, the 0% period and the transfer fee to see the monthly payment that clears the debt before the deal ends, and whether the fee is worth paying. Set up for UK cards: decimal fees, long 0% periods and FCA repayment rules.

Results

Measure	Without transfer	With transfer
Months to pay off	65	37
Total interest	£4,690	£320
Interest and fee	£4,690	£465

Based on these numbers, transferring saves about £4,225 compared with paying the same £150 a month without transferring, after the £145 fee and £27 of interest while the transfer posts.

At this payment the balance is not cleared when the intro period ends; the remaining amount is charged at the standard rate.

Payment to clear the balance before the intro period ends: £223.70 a month for 23 months

Without transferWith transfer

Break-even details

Break-even fee	Above 25%	The transfer saves money at any realistic fee.
Break-even month	Month 2	The first month in which the interest avoided passes the fee.
Verdict flips at	£2,706 a month	Above this payment the fee outweighs the interest avoided.
Interest avoided during intro	£2,427
Interest charged after intro	£293	On the balance left when the intro period ends.
Saving vs your current payments	£4,225	Includes the effect of paying more, so it is not used for the verdict.

At this payment the balance is not cleared when the intro period ends; the remaining amount is charged at the standard rate.

Balance left when the intro period ends

If you pay	Monthly	Left at month 23	First month's interest after
Your planned payment	£150	£1,695	£39.27
Minimum only	varies	£4,083	£94.59
Clear-in-time payment	£223.70	£0	£0

Opening balance £5,145.00 = £5,000.00 transferred + £145.00 fee. Paying only the minimum clears it in 197 months and costs £7,553 in interest.

Side by side: do nothing, transfer, pay more, personal loan

Scenario	Monthly	Month	Interest	Fees	Cost over 65 months
Keep paying as now	£150	65	£4,690	£0	£9,690
Balance transfer	£150	37	£320	£145	£5,465
Same payment, no transfer	£150	65	£4,690	£0	£9,690
Personal loan	£195	36	£1,739	£263	£7,002

The last column counts payments made through month 65 plus whatever is still owed at that point, so a route that never clears is charged for the balance it leaves behind rather than looking cheap.

Month-by-month schedule

Scenario

37 months. Total interest £293.22, total paid £5,438.22.

Month	Start	Interest	Payment	Principal	End	Minimum due
1	£5,145.00	£0.00	£150.00	£150.00	£4,995.00	£51.45
2	£4,995.00	£0.00	£150.00	£150.00	£4,845.00	£49.95
3	£4,845.00	£0.00	£150.00	£150.00	£4,695.00	£48.45
4	£4,695.00	£0.00	£150.00	£150.00	£4,545.00	£46.95
5	£4,545.00	£0.00	£150.00	£150.00	£4,395.00	£45.45
6	£4,395.00	£0.00	£150.00	£150.00	£4,245.00	£43.95
7	£4,245.00	£0.00	£150.00	£150.00	£4,095.00	£42.45
8	£4,095.00	£0.00	£150.00	£150.00	£3,945.00	£40.95
9	£3,945.00	£0.00	£150.00	£150.00	£3,795.00	£40.00
10	£3,795.00	£0.00	£150.00	£150.00	£3,645.00	£40.00
11	£3,645.00	£0.00	£150.00	£150.00	£3,495.00	£40.00
12	£3,495.00	£0.00	£150.00	£150.00	£3,345.00	£40.00
13	£3,345.00	£0.00	£150.00	£150.00	£3,195.00	£40.00
14	£3,195.00	£0.00	£150.00	£150.00	£3,045.00	£40.00
15	£3,045.00	£0.00	£150.00	£150.00	£2,895.00	£40.00
16	£2,895.00	£0.00	£150.00	£150.00	£2,745.00	£40.00
17	£2,745.00	£0.00	£150.00	£150.00	£2,595.00	£40.00
18	£2,595.00	£0.00	£150.00	£150.00	£2,445.00	£40.00
19	£2,445.00	£0.00	£150.00	£150.00	£2,295.00	£40.00
20	£2,295.00	£0.00	£150.00	£150.00	£2,145.00	£40.00
21	£2,145.00	£0.00	£150.00	£150.00	£1,995.00	£40.00
22	£1,995.00	£0.00	£150.00	£150.00	£1,845.00	£40.00
23	£1,845.00	£0.00	£150.00	£150.00	£1,695.00	£40.00
24	£1,695.00	£39.27	£150.00	£110.73	£1,584.27	£56.22
25	£1,584.27	£36.70	£150.00	£113.30	£1,470.97	£52.54
26	£1,470.97	£34.08	£150.00	£115.92	£1,355.05	£48.79
27	£1,355.05	£31.39	£150.00	£118.61	£1,236.44	£44.94
28	£1,236.44	£28.64	£150.00	£121.36	£1,115.08	£41.00
29	£1,115.08	£25.83	£150.00	£124.17	£990.91	£40.00
30	£990.91	£22.96	£150.00	£127.04	£863.87	£40.00
31	£863.87	£20.01	£150.00	£129.99	£733.88	£40.00
32	£733.88	£17.00	£150.00	£133.00	£600.88	£40.00
33	£600.88	£13.92	£150.00	£136.08	£464.80	£40.00
34	£464.80	£10.77	£150.00	£139.23	£325.57	£40.00
35	£325.57	£7.54	£150.00	£142.46	£183.11	£40.00
36	£183.11	£4.24	£150.00	£145.76	£37.35	£40.00
37	£37.35	£0.87	£38.22	£37.35	£0.00	£38.22

Balance over time

Loading chart.

How UK balance transfers differ from the US version

The arithmetic is the same: a fee is added to the transferred balance, the balance sits at a promotional rate for a fixed period, and whatever is left afterwards is charged at the card's standard rate. Four details are different, and the calculator above is preset for them.

Longer 0% periods. UK deals run from around 12 months with no fee to 36 months at roughly 3%. The longest deals carry the highest fees, so a long period is only worth paying for if the balance genuinely needs that long to clear.
Lower, decimal fees. Fees are typically 2% to 3.5% and quoted to two decimals (2.9%, 3.09%, 3.45%), usually with no minimum. A handful of cards charge no fee for a shorter period.
Every payment goes to the highest-rate balance first. FCA rule CONC 6.7.4R requires it. In the US only the amount above the minimum works that way. For a card used only for the transfer this changes nothing; if you also spend on the card, purchases are cleared first and the 0% balance last.
The deal can end after one missed payment. There is no 60-day protection like the US rule. Missing a minimum payment can revert the whole balance to the standard rate immediately.

A worked example

A £5,000 balance at a representative 27.8% APR, paid at £300 a month, takes about 22 months to clear and costs roughly £1,390 in interest. Moved to a 24-month 0% card at a 2.9% fee (£145), the same £300 a month clears £5,145 in 18 months with no interest at all, a saving of about £1,220 after the fee and the interest that accrues on the old card while the transfer posts. Paying only the minimum, by contrast, leaves most of the balance in place when the 24 months end, and the standard rate then applies to all of it.

The fee stops being worth paying when the balance would clear quickly anyway. At £1,000 paid off in three months, the interest saved is under £50 and a 3% fee costs £30; the calculator shows the break-even fee and the payment at which the verdict flips for your own numbers.

Transfer windows and eligibility

Most UK cards require the transfer to be made within 60 or 90 days of opening to get the promotional rate and fee. Transfers between cards from the same banking group are usually refused. Eligibility checkers on comparison sites use a soft search; the actual application is a hard search that appears on your credit file.

Persistent debt rules

Since 2018 the FCA requires lenders to contact customers who have paid more in interest and charges than principal over 18 months, and to intervene at 27 and 36 months. The FCA found such customers pay around £2.50 in interest and charges for every £1 repaid. A balance transfer used with a fixed repayment plan is one way out of that pattern; a transfer followed by minimum payments is not.

Formulas, defaults and where our results differ from other calculators are on the methodology page. The US version of the calculator is on the home page.

Common questions

How is a UK balance transfer fee calculated?

As a percentage of the amount moved, quoted to two decimals (for example 2.9% or 3.09%), with no minimum on most cards. The fee is added to the balance on the new card, so a £5,000 transfer at 2.9% starts at £5,145.

Do all my payments go to the 0% balance first?

No. Under FCA rule CONC 6.7.4R the card must apply repayments to the balance with the highest interest rate first. That protects you if you also spend on the card, but it means the 0% transferred balance is paid last. The calculator uses that rule for the UK.

Can I lose the 0% deal for one missed payment?

Yes, on many UK cards. Unlike US cards, where a promotion can only be withdrawn after a payment is 60 days late, UK terms often allow the lender to end the promotional rate immediately after a missed minimum payment. Setting up a direct debit for at least the minimum removes that risk.

What is a money transfer card, and is it the same thing?

A money transfer card moves cash into your bank account at a promotional rate, usually to clear an overdraft or loan. The fee and the mechanics are similar, but it is a different product from a balance transfer, which moves a card balance directly. This calculator models balance transfers.

What does "representative APR" mean after the promo ends?

It is the rate at least 51% of accepted applicants receive. Your own rate can be higher. The calculator uses whatever go-to rate you enter; the default of 27.8% is the average representative APR across balance transfer cards reviewed in September 2026.

Sources

FCA Handbook, CONC 6.7 (allocation of repayments, minimum repayment, persistent debt), retrieved 2026-09-02.
MoneySuperMarket, balance transfer credit cards (market summary of fees, promo lengths and representative APRs), retrieved 2026-09-02.
FCA press release on persistent credit card debt, 27 February 2018, retrieved 2026-09-02.