The number of credit cards offering 0% balance transfers grew slightly at the end of 2017, offering some relief to Australians with post-holiday debt. However, despite this surge in card numbers, there are still fewer interest-free balance transfer cards available than there were in mid-2017.
There were 89 credit cards offering 0% balance transfers available on RateCity at the end of December 2017, up from a 6-month low of 86 at the end of November 2017. This is still a more limited number of balance transfer card options than the 104 that were available at the end of June 2017.
The 89 cards offering 0% balance transfers account for just under half of the total number of credit carts currently available on the market, which is currently at a high of 184.
Also, the average credit card interest rate (excluding Diners cards and cards that are part of home loan packages) remained at a low of 16.91% , with an average annual fee of $130.18 (excluding fee-free cards).
| Date | No. of cards on the market | No. of cards offering 0% balance transfers | Average rate | Average annual fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 May 2017 | 182 | 101 | 16.97% | $128.63 |
| 30 June 2017 | 182 | 104 | 17.02% | $132.07 |
| 31 July 2017 | 181 | 94 | 17.05% | $131.74 |
| 31 August 2017 | 182 | 98 | 17.02% | $131.67 |
| 30 September 2017 | 182 | 96 | 16.99% | $131.19 |
| 31 October 2017 | 183 | 97 | 16.94% | $130.29 |
| 30 November 2017 | 182 | 86 | 16.91% | $130.71 |
| 30 December 2017 | 184 | 89 | 16.91% | $130.18 |
