Barclaycard launches UK's longest 0% balance transfer credit card deal Barclaycard has launched the UK's longest 0% balance transfer deal, which has no interest to pay on balances for 26 months. New cardholders will also receive 0pc interest on purchases for six months from when they open the account. However, after that the annual purchase rate is 18.9%. Customers who want to transfer their balances will have to pay a 3.5% fee. Balance transfer cards allow you to repay debts on other credit or store cards, so that you now owe the money on the new card instead. The rate is usually 0pc for a certain amount of time. Generally you will be asked to pay a fee to transfer the debt, but these cards can save you a significant amount of money if you use them just for the debt, rather than spending on them as well. The length of time that these deals are available for has increased hugely in recent years. Back in 2011, most balance transfer deals were available for around 16 or 17 months. Once this period is up you need to repay the debt or transfer it again, otherwise you risk paying a high interest rate. An alternative to balance transfer deals for a specified period are cards that offer a low rate for the life of the balance. For example, Sainsburys offers a credit card with a rate of just 6.9pc, while Barclaycard also offers a low fee deal.