A balance transfer is decided by what you can pay each month.

The rate and the length are printed on the offer. The number that decides whether it works is the one you bring: what you can pay every month until the promotion ends.

A low rate for a long time looks like a long time to pay nothing extra. The offer shows three numbers: the rate, the number of months and the fee. None of them is what you can pay.

A balance transfer moves your balance from one card to another. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) says you will usually pay a fee to do it, and that the fee is usually a percentage of the amount you transfer. The debt does not shrink. It moves, and for a time it costs less.

Two things are different from a purchase. FCAC says the grace period, the interest-free time you get on purchases, does not apply to balance transfers. And FCAC says that if you miss a payment, you may lose your promotional interest rate, and your interest rate may go up.

Add the fee to the balance, and divide by the months in the promotion. That is the amount you need to pay every month for the balance to be gone when the low rate ends.

Two offers, one balance. An example, not a quote from any card: $5,000 moved to one of two offers.

If you can pay $505 every month, Offer A is gone in ten months and costs you $50. Offer B costs twice the fee to buy months you do not need.

If you can pay $300 a month, Offer A ends with $2,050 still owing, and that starts earning interest at the card’s regular rate. Offer B is paid off in 17 months, inside its promotion.

If you can pay $200 a month, neither is long enough. Offer A ends with $3,050 owing and Offer B with $1,500. Now the rate after the promotion decides which one costs less, so find it before you choose.

The offers did not change. What you can pay did, and it changed the answer each time.

Your statement shows a minimum payment. On a balance at a low or zero rate, it can be much smaller than your number.

Minimum payments differ from card to card, and your agreement sets yours. As an example only, say your card’s minimum on that balance is $10 plus any fees. On Offer A, the first statement asks for $60, because the $50 fee is on it. The next nine ask for $10. Ten statements, every one paid on time, $150 in total. The promotion ends with $4,900 still owing. Nothing went wrong, and no rule was broken. The minimum was never meant to clear the balance.

FCAC says paying only the minimum means it takes you longer to pay off your balance, and you pay more interest.

In Quebec, the minimum is set by law. The Office de la protection du consommateur says the minimum payment must be at least 5% of the balance owing on your statement. On $5,050, that is $252.50 for the first month.

FCAC says your minimum payment typically applies to the part of your balance with the lowest interest rate. Anything you pay above the minimum goes to the part with the highest rate, or across the whole balance in proportion. When the promotional rate on the transfer is the lowest rate on the card, the minimum goes to the transfer, and new purchases wait at the higher rate until you pay more than the minimum.

FCAC also says you will pay interest if you do not pay your balance in full by the due date. Before you use the transfer card for purchases, ask the issuer whether purchases get a grace period while the transferred balance is there.

Write down what you owe, the exact balance on the exact card.

Ask for the fee in dollars and the date the promotional rate ends, in writing, before you apply.

Add the fee to the balance and divide by the months left. That is your number.

If you can pay it every month, choose from the offers long enough to clear, and take the smallest fee.

If you cannot, find the rate each card charges when the promotion ends, because that is the rate you will pay on what is left.

The video compares five offers from Canadian banks, with their fees, their months, when their promotions start and the rate each one moves to at the end. Those are one day’s terms from particular issuers and change without notice, so this page does not carry them. Read your own offer’s terms on the day you apply.

The video also says that at $500 a month the ten-month offer clears inside its promotion. With the $50 fee, it needs $505: $500 a month leaves $50 owing when the promotion ends.

Can a balance transfer save money?

Yes, when you clear it. On a card charging 20% a year, an example and not a quote, $5,000 paid at $505 a month takes 11 months and about $510 in interest. Moved to Offer A and paid at $505, it costs the $50 fee.

Is the fee charged once?

On the amount you move, yes, and FCAC says it is usually a percentage of that amount. Ask the issuer for it in dollars.

What happens if I miss a payment?

FCAC says you may lose your promotional rate, and your interest rate may go up.

Does a balance transfer lower my credit utilization?

It moves the balance, it does not reduce it. How much of your limit you use is explained in Paying in full and your utilization.

Every claim on this page was checked against these documents on 28 September 2026.

• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: How credit cards work · Paying off your credit card
• Office de la protection du consommateur (Quebec): Credit card, payment

Watch · 12:56

Balance Transfers: The Number That Actually Decides It. Published 13 September 2026. Loads on click. Nothing is requested from YouTube until you ask.

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