A zero-percent introductory APR on balance transfers sounds like a great deal, right? Unfortunately, there is often a fee associated with making a balance transfer from one card to another. The most common fee is 3% of the transferred balance.

You should interpret this percentage-based fee as and additional APR above your introductory APR.

If a card offers 0% balance transfer for the first year, and it has a 3% balance-transfer fee, then in reality you should read that as an introductory balance-transfer APR of 3% for the first year.

The balance-transfer fee is only assessed by the credit-card company receiving the balance transfer, so it is very important that you consider any balance-transfer fees when considering which new credit-card to apply for. It might not save you money in the long run, especially if you take this fee into consideration.