Rating: 5 Stars
Bottom Line:
Pay Off More Than $7000 In Debt
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Card Details
| Regular APR: | 20.49% (Variable) |
| Intro APR (Purchases): | 0% for 18 billing cycles |
| Intro APR (Balance transfers): | 0% for 18 billing cycles |
| Rewards Rate: | None |
| Credit Needed: | (670 – 850) Good/Excellent |
| Annual Fee: | $29 |
| Card Brand: | Visa |
*See online credit card application for details on the terms and conditions.
Offer Highlights
- Click APPLY NOW to apply online
- For a limited time, get a special 0% introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers for 18 billing cycles
- No annual fee
- Cell Phone Protection
- Everyone’s schedule is different. So it?s handy to be able to pick when your payment is due
Is U.S. Bank Visa Platinum worth it?
U.S. Bank Visa Platinum is a great card for paying off purchases and debt. The 0% Intro APR for purchases and balance transfers extends for 18 billing cycles and the balance transfer fee is 3%.
No other card offers this. HSBC Gold Mastercard offers 18 months on purchases and balance transfers but the transfer fee is 4%, and Citi Diamond Preferred Card has the same 18 month period for both purchases and transfers but the fee is 5%. Only Discover it Balance Transfer and Citi Double Cash offer a 0% for 18 month balance transfer offer with a 3% transfer fee, but neither offer a 0% purchase intro period. These are some of the most valuable cards on the market, and U.S. Bank Visa? Platinum may have the best combined purchase and balance transfer offer of them all.
However, there are two cards that are even more valuable for balance transfers only: Chase Slate and Amex EveryDay, both of which offer 0% Intro APR for 15 months and no balance transfer fee as long as you complete the transfers in the first 60 days. If you have a relatively large amount of credit card debt, it?s financially necessary to see exactly which card will save you more on interest. Let?s say you have $5,000 of credit card debt accumulating a variable 25% interest APR on another card or combined between cards that have 30-day billing cycles. That 25% APR works out to a 0.25 / 365 = 0.068% daily (this is called the daily periodic rate).
If the average daily balance you’ve carried is $5,000, then the interest you accrued in one day is $5,000 x .00068 = $3.40. Over 30 days you will owe 30 x $3.40 = $102.50 in interest. If you are only able to make a monthly payment of $250 on that debt, then you will have $5,000 – $147.50 = $4,852.50 as your daily balance the next month. In this scenario, you will spend thousands of dollars on interest if you don’t move the debt.
The challenge is that you will not be able to pay off your credit card in 15 months with a 0% for 15 month balance transfer offer. So the 15 month offer could be harmful, because the interest rate increases again after 15 months. The question is: will the balance transfer fee on an 18 month offer 0% Intro APR cost you more than the interest on the 15 month offer with no balance transfer fee, such as Chase Slate and Amex EveryDay.
According to our research, if you are carrying a balance at a 25% interest rate and make $250 monthly payments to pay down $5000 of debt once it’s on the 0% Intro period card, you will pay about $75 in interest if you go with Chase Slate or Amex EveryDay. However, if you choose U.S. Bank Visa Platinum, you will pay about $15 in interest and $150 for your balance transfer fee. Chase Slate or Amex EveryDay is clearly the better choice.
On the other hand, if you had $10,000 in debt, you would pay $2266 with Chase Slate or Amex EveryDay and pay $1658 + $300 = $1958 with U.S. Bank Visa Platinum. U.S. Bank Visa Platinum is clearly the better choice for $10,000 in debt. There are a lot of balance transfer offers available, but we can confidently recommend you use U.S. Bank Visa Platinum if you have more than $7000 in debt.
Pros
- 0% introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers for 18 billing cycles
Cons
- 2% Foreign transaction fee
Why 5 Stars?
Regular APR
4 Stars
Intro APR
5 Stars
Fees
5 Stars
Perks
4 Stars
Overall
5 Stars
Fees
| Foreign Transaction Fee | None |
| Balance Transfer Fee | Either 3% of the amount of each transfer or $5 minimum, whichever is greater |
| Cash Advance Fee | Either 4% of the amount of each advance or $10 minimum, whichever is greater |
| Penalty APR | None |
Benefits
| $0 Fraud Liability |
| Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver |
| Extended Warranty Program |
| Lost Luggage Reimbursement |
| Purchase Protection |
| Roadside Assistance |
| Travel Accident Insurance |
| Travel Assistance |
Editorial Note: This content is not provided by the issuer. Any opinion, analyses, reviews, or recommendations expressed on this page are those of the author?s alone, and may not have been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the issuer.
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