The balance transfer fee on credit cards, during the month of November has dropped slightly to reach 3.63%. This is a moderate decrease from the previous month`s average of 3.68%. The average balance transfer fee during the month of September though was slightly higher at 3.88%. Part of the reason for this reduction of balance transfer fees, is the fees charged by 2 balance transfer cards from Citibank. Apart from these two cards, the average balance transfer fee remains the same from last month.

If one were to look closely, the balance transfer fee remains unrelated from the length of the introductory period offered. The two longest promotional periods offered on balance transfers with 0% APR is 21 months, and the balance transfer fee for those cards too is low at 3%. There are a lot of short term duration balance transfer cards, that are charging higher fees of about 4-5%.

Capital One and Citibank are currently offering the lowest fees for transaction as far as 0% APR balance transfers are concerned. Both the offers last for 12 months or more. The Platinum Prestige and Platinum cards from Capital One charge 3% for the balance transfer and offer the 0% rate for 12 months. The Citibank is offering as many as 5 cards with 3% fees on balance transfers, and all of them lasting between 12 to 21 months. Discover is currently offering the Discover More Cards with 0% APR for 18 months. The balance transfer fee though is higher than average at 5%. Other offerings from Discover come at 0% rates for 12 months and the transfer fee varying between 3 - 4%.

Discover, Capital One and Citibank are the exceptions as far as balance transfer offerings are concerned. Most of the other major card issuers are relatively charging higher fees on shorter balance transfer introductory periods. Wells Fargo is charging 3% transaction fees for online balance transfers, with a 2.99% interest rate for 6 months. The US Bank is charging 4% balance transfer fee on 0% APR offers that last just 6 months. Barclays and Bank of America also seem to be charging high fees for smaller balance transfer introductory periods. Bank of America for example, is promoting its offer of 0% rate for periods between 7 and 10 months based on the credit of the customer, while the balance transfer fee is fixed at 4%. Barclays too charges 4% for offers with introductory periods lasting up to 9 months.