The average American carries $6,715 in credit card debt, according to Motley Fool Money research. At a 22% APR, that balance racks up almost $1,500 in interest a year, making it really hard to dig out.
I work with a lot of credit card experts — and I asked them which card they recommend most to friends trying to kick debt like that.
Every one pointed to the same card: the Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card, from our partner. The biggest reasons were a super-long intro APR offer, plus low transfer fees.
The Citi Diamond Preferred’s long runway and low transfer fee
The Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card gives you 0% intro APR for 21 months on Balance Transfers. That’s one of the longest windows on the market. A 16.49% – 27.24% (Variable) APR kicks in after. Many balance transfer cards stop at 15 to 18 months, and those extra months are where the savings come from.
There is an intro balance transfer fee of 3% of each transfer (minimum $5) completed within the first 4 months of account opening. After that, your fee will be 5% of each transfer (minimum $5). On a $6,700 balance, that’s $201 instead of $335 — a $134 difference for acting fast. That 3% also beats the 5% that many balance transfer cards charge from day one.
There is no annual fee, so nothing eats into your savings while you pay down the balance. The card earns no rewards and no cash back. In payoff mode, that stripped-down focus is the whole point.
How much a balance transfer saves on a $6,700 balance
On the average $6,700 balance, a transfer saves about $1,756 in interest — roughly $1,555 once you factor in the transfer fee.
Here is the difference between making monthly payments on a regular 22% APR credit card vs. using a 0% intro APR card for 21 months:
|
Payoff Method |
Monthly Payment |
Interest Paid |
Months to Debt-Free |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Interest-bearing card 22% |
$330 |
$1,756 |
26 |
|
0% intro APR for 21 months |
$330 |
$0 |
21 |
Data source: Author’s calculations.
A 3% balance transfer fee would add $201 to the balance. So the net savings for doing a balance transfer is $1,555.
Plus, you’d reach a $0 balance five months sooner.
Any balance left after 21 months starts costing you interest
Here is one important note: a balance transfer card is a bandage, not a long-term debt fix.
The 0% rate applies during the intro period only, not a day longer. So it’s really important to create a payoff plan to fully pay off your entire balance before the intro APR ends.
To skip interest entirely, divide your starting balance by 21 and pay that amount each month. On a $6,700 balance, that is about $320 a month, or $330 once you fold in the 3% fee. Set that number in your budget and treat it like a fixed bill.
Even if you fall short, you still knocked out 21 months of interest a regular card would have charged. Finishing inside the window just means you pay nothing at all.
Who the Citi Diamond Preferred is right for
The Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card is a great choice for anyone with a large balance on a high-interest card right now. It’s a payoff tool, not a rewards card, and it works best when that’s what you need. Fewer perks mean fewer distractions from the one goal that matters.
If earning rewards matters more (and you have a smaller balance you can knock out in a year or under), this is not your card. Readers weighing other options can compare the best balance transfer cards before deciding.
The Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card earned Motley Fool Money’s Best Balance Transfer Credit Card award for 2026, and the math shows why. If you’re carrying high-interest debt, the most powerful move is to stop the interest entirely for as long as possible. This is the card I would hand a friend to do exactly that.
Read our full Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card review to learn more and apply today.