Virgin Money raises the bar with 15 month balance transfer deal

Michelle Slade, personal finance analyst at Moneyfacts.co.uk, comments: “Virgin Money already holds the top spot of the charts with its 13 month 0% balance transfer deal, and by extending this to an impressive 15 months, its certainly pulling away from the pack of 12 month deals offered by its competitors.

“Its also good to see that no other feature of the card has suffered, only too often are deals extended or rates lowered only to be countered out by rising charges in other areas.

“The deal does come with one of the highest balance transfer fees on the market at 2.98% min £3. The revert to rate is average at 15.9%, with an introductory 0% purchase deal of just 3 months.

“With so many factors working against the credit card market, with rising rates, bad debts and fierce competition it will be interesting to see how many other cards will be able to compete with such a long term deal. After all, if customers only take advantage of 0% deal and then move on, the only income Virgin will receive within the 13-month period is the balance transfer fee – hardly very lucrative. However if consumers receive the high levels of customer service that the Virgin Money brand is famous for, then some of these customers may end up staying for much longer than the initial 15 months.

“Such a competitive deal may not stay around for long, so if it’s a 0% balance transfer deal you are looking and the term is important to you then this deal simply cannot be beaten.”