Credit Card Balance Transfer Fees are Completely Reasonable

I am primarily talking about balance transfer fees related to 0% interest for X amount of time (let’s say, 8-18 months). I have this view because I use these types of balance transfers to make money (arbitrage, borrowing money at a lower interest rate to create income at a higher interest rate).

Let’s say you want to transfer a balance of $10,000, and it will cost you 4%. You get $10,000 at zero interest for 12 months and that only costs you $400. You are essentially paying $33.33 a month to borrow $10,000. That is a steal if you’re wise with money and have a way to put that money to work for you.

BTW, I can do this because one of my credit cards has something called a flex loan (similar to a cash advance but without the fee). I’m then able to transfer that balance to a 0% card and put that $10k to work for a higher interest rate than what I’m paying.

Mind you, I keep my debt levels low relative to my income and always pay off the balance transfers before the interest rate spikes.