The consumer credit landscape has changed more this year than it has in the past five years and perhaps much longer.  For the past four years, it has been possible to obtain a credit card that offered a fixed APR for life on balance transfers with rates as low as 2.99%.  American Express, which has always been a card for spenders, had been offering fixed APRs on balance transfers with rates of 4.99% to 5.99% for years.

All of that changed this September.  None of these changes are good for consumers.  Fixed APR balance transfers served as a very good alternative to 0% APR balance transfers for saavy consumers looking to pay down their debt over a multi-year time horizon.  However, the credit crunch has made just about every credit card company myopic, causing them to focus strictly on the short term.

Given the ultra competitive nature of the credit card market, it may not be long before another company steps up with a fixed APR for life balance transfer offer to fill the gap in the market.  However, in the meantime, consumers looking to consolidate credit card debt and save money on interest are limited to short term, 0% balance transfer offers. 

In our next posting, we’ll discuss some solutions for saavy savers who would otherwise have opted for a fixed APR balance transfer.

A recent post on high limit credit cards has led to a lot of questions, so we though a clarification would be helpful.  As stated in the original article, no company we are aware of offers even the slightest insight into what your credit limit will be until you have submitted a credit card application.  Whether you apply online or by phone, the situation is the same.  We called three major credit card companies and asked if an estimate of credit limit could be given.  The response was the same from every company:  no.