0% New APR Before you charge your purchase to your credit card, do the following:

If you’re struggling with credit card debt, you may be inclined to move your existing balance to a new card with an initial APR of 0%. Likewise, if you can’t afford to make a large purchase right away, you may decide to charge it to a 0% new APR credit card.

The great thing about a 0% introductory APR offer is that you can defer credit card interest accruing on your balance for a set period of time. But there’s one important thing you need to do before using one of these cards.

Find out when the introductory period ends.

A 0% initial APR can be very attractive if you have existing debt you’re looking to pay off or if you’re looking to finance a purchase interest-free.

For example, let’s say you want to spend $5,000 on furniture, but you can’t fully afford the purchase. Existing credit cards charge 20% interest, and even if you pay off the balance within 18 months, if the card interest rate is 20%, you will be charged a total of $829 in interest. However, if you can pay off $5,000 in 18 months with a 0% new APR card, you won’t pay any interest.

Related: credit card interest calculator

But the problem with a 0% introductory APR is that it doesn’t last forever. And at the end of your introductory period, your remaining balance will be subject to the card’s regular (or “fixed”) interest rate. These interest rates can be quite high.

That’s why it’s important to find out exactly how long the card release period will last. Some new 0% APR cards offer 12 months interest-free. Others offer terms of 18 months or longer. Once you have that information, you can figure out how likely it is that your purchase will accrue interest.

Going back to our example, let’s say you don’t think you’ll be able to pay off $5,000 in furniture in just 18 months. If so, you might want to look into financing options other than credit cards.

The seller you buy your furniture from may have cheaper payment plans. Alternatively, you may want to consider a personal loan, which can get you a loan at a significantly lower interest rate than what a credit card offers.

Don’t suffer from paying more interest than expected.

Once your 0% introductory APR expires, interest begins to accrue on your card balance. If you still have a balance left after your term ends, call your credit card issuer and try to negotiate a lower interest rate. If you have good credit, you may be able to get a lower interest rate.

You can also try transferring your balance to another 0% new APR card. But again, you run the same risk of getting attention in the end.

All in all, it may be tempting to finance purchases with a 0% discount rate credit card or use it to pay off existing debt. But doing so can be counterproductive. So, you may want to consider a fixed-rate loan or other solutions for these situations.

NOTE: Our top-tier cashback cards now offer a 0% introductory APR through 2025.

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