Credit Card Balance Transfer Calculator – Save on Interest

Balance transfer credit cards can be a powerful way to cut interest costs on existing credit card debt, especially when they include a 0% introductory APR on transferred balances. At the same time, fees, promo deadlines and the loss of your grace period on new purchases can make the true cost harder to see. This calculator helps you compare your current card with a balance transfer offer so you can estimate whether the move is likely to save you money and how long it might take to become debt-free.

How a credit card balance transfer works

A credit card balance transfer moves an existing balance from one account to another, typically to take advantage of a lower interest rate. Many balance transfer offers advertise a 0% or low introductory APR on transferred balances for a fixed number of months, such as 12, 18 or 21. During that introductory window, more of your monthly payment goes toward principal instead of interest, which can help you pay down debt faster if you keep your payment high and avoid new charges.

Most issuers charge a balance transfer fee, often around 3% to 5% of the amount transferred. That fee is usually added to your new balance on day one, so any savings from the lower rate have to be large enough to outweigh the fee. Some cards may advertise “no fee” transfers, but these offers are less common and may come with shorter promotional periods or other tradeoffs.

It is also important to understand how the transfer affects your grace period. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) warns that carrying a promotional balance can cause you to lose the interest-free grace period on new purchases; if you do not pay the entire statement balance (including the promotional balance) by the due date, new transactions may accrue interest from the day they post. That is why many experts recommend avoiding new purchases on a balance transfer card until the transferred balance has been repaid.

What this balance transfer calculator shows you

This calculator is designed to answer a practical question: “If I move my existing credit card balance to a balance transfer card, will I actually save money compared with staying where I am?” To do that, it compares two scenarios using the same monthly payment amount:

• Current card: Your existing balance at your current APR, using the monthly payment you say you can afford.
• After balance transfer: The same starting balance plus any balance transfer fee, using the promotional APR for the intro period and the regular APR after the promo ends, with the same monthly payment.

For each scenario, the calculator estimates:

• Time to become debt-free: The number of months it would take to pay off the balance if you keep making the same payment every month.
• Total interest: How much interest you would pay over the payoff period with your current card.
• Total interest plus fees after transfer: How much interest you would pay on the balance transfer card, plus the one-time balance transfer fee.
• Total paid: The approximate total of all payments until the balance reaches zero.

Behind the scenes, the calculator uses your APRs to estimate a monthly interest rate and runs an amortization-style payoff schedule for up to 1,200 months (100 years), stopping once your balance is paid off or when your payment is too low to ever reduce the balance. This is similar to how many bank and comparison-site tools model credit card payoff timelines. It assumes no new purchases, no additional fees beyond the transfer fee, fixed interest rates and on-time payments every month.

How to read your results and decide what to do

Once you enter your balance, APRs, promotional period, transfer fee and monthly payment, the calculator will show side-by-side cards for “Current card” and “After transfer.” The key is to look at payoff time and total cost together, not just the promotional APR.

If the balance transfer card produces a meaningfully lower total interest and fees while keeping your payoff timeline the same or shorter, the offer is more likely to be attractive. For example, saving several hundred dollars in interest and finishing a few months sooner can be a strong argument for moving the balance, provided you can avoid new spending and the card fits your overall plan.

If the transfer saves money but stretches your payoff timeline significantly, you are essentially trading time for savings. A lower payment may feel more comfortable, but you stay in debt longer and may be more tempted to spend. In that case, you might use the calculator to see how much you would need to pay each month on the new card to match or beat your current payoff date.

If the calculator shows very small savings or even higher total costs after including the fee, the balance transfer offer may not be worth pursuing. That can happen when the promotional period is short, the fee is high, or the ongoing APR after the intro ends is similar to or higher than your current rate.

When a balance transfer might not be a good idea

Balance transfer cards are often marketed aggressively, and regulators have warned issuers not to oversell these promotions without clearly disclosing their limitations. A balance transfer may be a poor fit if:

• You cannot qualify for a card with a low enough APR or a long enough promo period to make a meaningful difference.
• The transfer fee is so high that it eats up most of the interest savings.
• You are likely to make new purchases on the balance transfer card and carry a balance, which can cause you to lose your grace period on those purchases and pay interest from day one.
• Your budget is tight enough that you can only afford very low payments, meaning you may not pay off the balance before the promotional rate ends.
• Your overall debt (excluding a mortgage) is already very high relative to your income and you are struggling with minimums, which can be a sign that you may need deeper help than a new credit card can provide.

In these cases, a balance transfer can give the illusion of progress—lower payments and a temporarily lower rate—without addressing the size of the debt or the habits that created it. The risk is that you end up cycling from one promotional offer to another, paying multiple fees and staying in debt for many years.

Alternatives to balance transfer credit cards

If your calculator results show limited savings or you are worried about qualifying for a strong balance transfer offer, it can be helpful to consider other strategies for tackling credit card debt:

• Debt payoff strategies on your current cards: Increasing your monthly payment and using a structured method such as the “debt avalanche” (highest APR first) or “debt snowball” (smallest balance first) can reduce interest costs without opening new accounts.
• Fixed-rate personal loan: A personal loan used to consolidate credit card balances can offer a fixed interest rate and a clear payoff date. This may be easier to manage if you prefer a simple installment payment and want to avoid new revolving credit lines.
• Nonprofit credit counseling and debt management plans: NFCC-affiliated agencies and similar nonprofits can help you review your full financial picture, negotiate lower rates with creditors and create a structured repayment plan with a single monthly payment.
• Debt settlement or bankruptcy (for severe distress): When debts are far beyond what your income can realistically support, working with a qualified attorney and a reputable nonprofit counselor to explore settlement or bankruptcy may be more appropriate than repeatedly shifting balances between cards.

The right approach depends on your income, total debt, credit profile and risk tolerance. The calculator is meant to be one input into that decision, helping you put real numbers around what a balance transfer might do for you.