On Monday Barclaycard relaunched its 24-month 0 per cent balance transfer offer.

The good points

As well as no interest on balance transfers for two years, the Barclaycard Platinum card has three months’ zero per cent interest on purchases.

The bad points

There’s a 3.2 per cent handling fee. So if you transfer £3,000, you’ll be charged £96 upfront. The offer is only available for a limited period.

Conclusion

Handling fees are getting steeper so it’s important to do your sums to work out if you really will be better off transferring a balance to Barclaycard. With a typical interest charge of 17.9 per cent, the card is also not the cheapest, so it may be a good idea to look for a lower-rate card to save money, even taking into account the 24 months interest free on any transferred balances.