Unless you're highly organised and have cracking self-discipline, the safest way to get free of card debt is to avoid additional spending on your new balance transfer card. But if further spending is unavoidable, this competitive M&S deal has you covered – with 3 months 0% interest on purchases and the opportunity to earn loyalty points translating into vouchers to spend in-store or online. To look at it another way, the card incentivises further spending.
You’ll be able to earn points pretty much whenever you use the card, and you’ll earn points at a better rate per £1 when you spend with M&S. If you’re looking for rewards you can redeem elsewhere, you might prefer to check out a more versatile rewards programme or even a cashback credit card.
Don’t forget, it’s free to add an additional cardholder, and doing so could help earn loyalty points faster. You’ll be solely responsible for all spending on the account, regardless of which card was used, since credit cards cannot be held jointly.
If you're a Marks & Sparks regular looking to clear card debt, this card offers a competitive solution (albeit at the expense of a balance transfer fee), just remember that getting debt-free before the 27 months is up should be your priority.
This card offers the longest 0% on balance transfers period of all M&S Bank’s credit cards, and also offers 0% interest on purchases for an introductory period. There’s no annual fee to worry about, so provided you clear your existing balance before the 0% period expires, this could be an almost catch-free option.
| Issuer | M&S Bank |
| Network | Mastercard |
| Representative APR | 24.9% |
| Annual/monthly fees | £0 |
| Balance transfers | 0% for 27 months reverting to 24.9% |
| Balance transfer fee | 3.49%, min £5 |
| Purchases | 0% for 3 months reverting to 24.9% |
| Purchases interest-free period | Up to 55 days |
| Cash advances | 29.9% |
| Minimum credit limit | £500 |
| Maximum credit limit | Subject to status |
| Additional cards available | 1 |
| Incentive | 1 point per £1 spent with M&S and 1 point per £5 spent elsewhere. Enjoy 55 days interest free, preferential rates plus no cash advance fee when buying M&S travel money with the card. |
| Additional Rewards Info | No cash advance fee & 55 days interest free when buying M&S Travel Money with the card. Preferential rates on Travel Money for M&S Credit Card customers purchasing from M&S Bureaux. 54 currencies available. Opt-in to Club Rewards for £10 pm to receive triple points on M&S purchases, triple points on purchases abroad, unlimited free next day delivery on M&S.com, receive £65 in Clothing and Home vouchers, 32 hot drinks vouchers worth £88 pa and a birthday M&S voucher worth £12. |
| Potential costs | 3.6 ★★★★★ |
| Doing its job | 4.5 ★★★★★ |
| Extras | 4.3 ★★★★★ |
| Overall Finder Score | 3.9 ★★★★★ |
| Minimum monthly payment | 2.5% or £5 (whichever is greater) or the total of any interest, default fees and charges plus 1% of the outstanding balance. |
| Annual/monthly fees | £0 |
| Balance transfer fee | 3.49%, min £5 |
| Foreign usage charge (EU) | 2.99% |
| Foreign usage charge (rest of world) | 2.99% |
| Cash advance fee | 2.99% (min. £3) |
| Late payment fee | £12 |
| Duplicate statement fee | £0 |
| Exceeding limit fee | £12 |
| Additional card fee | £0 |
| Dormancy fee | £0 |
| Minimum Age | 18 |
| Minimum income | £6,800 |
| Availability | Available to new customers |
The M&S Bank Credit Card Transfer Plus Offer Mastercard is issued on the Mastercard network, so it's accepted at more than 50 million merchant locations across more than 210 countries and territories.
Approval for any credit card depends on your status. The representative APRs shown represent the interest rate offered to most successful applicants. Depending on your personal circumstances, the APR you're offered may be higher, or you may not be offered credit at all. Fees and rates are subject to change without notice. It's always wise to check the terms of any deal before you borrow. Most of the data in Finder's comparison tables is provided by Moneyfacts.
To make comparing even easier we came up with the Finder Score. Costs, perks and suitability across 120+ cards are all weighted and scaled to produce a score out of 10. The higher the score the better the card – simple.
Read the full methodologyYou can make manual repayments through M&S Bank's app by logging in to your online banking or over the phone (0800 997996). Alternatively, you may wish to set up a direct debit.
A direct debit protects you from forgetting to make a repayment and losing your promotional interest rate as a result (as well as damaging your credit score and incurring the late payment fee of £12). You could use a fixed-amount direct debit to ensure you've cleared your debt before the 0% period expires – simply divide your outstanding balance by 27 to see what you'll need to pay each month (this assumes you don't use the card for additional spending).
You can arrange a direct debit for repayments when you apply for the credit card. The table below shows the options available.
| Minimum amount | |
|---|---|
| Fixed amount | |
| Fixed percentage | |
| Full amount |
First, you can use Finder's eligibility checker to find out if you'd be likely to get approved for the M&S Bank Credit Card Transfer Plus Offer Mastercard. This won't impact your credit score. If it's good news, you can then proceed to M&S Bank's online application, which takes 10–15 minutes to complete. You can request a balance transfer as part of your application.
If M&S Bank offers you this deal, it will specify a personalised credit limit based on M&S Bank's assessment of your situation. The minimum limit offered on this card is £500, and M&S Bank does not specify a maximum. Once you've had the card for a while and shown M&S Bank you're reliable, you may wish to apply for a credit limit increase.
Although it's possible, withdrawing cash from a credit card account is generally not a good idea, as "cash-like transactions" (such as withdrawing cash at an ATM, getting cashback at the till, spending at a casino or buying currency) often incur steep fees and/or higher rates of interest.
The cash advance fee on the M&S Bank Credit Card Transfer Plus Offer Mastercard is 2.99% (min. £3). For example, if you withdraw £50, you'll incur a fee of £3.00. Withdraw £250 and you'll incur a fee of £7.48.
The interest rate on this part of your balance will be 29.9%, which is 20% more than the standard purchase rate (chargeable from the day of the transaction – the card's usual "up to 55 days interest-free" grace period won't apply).
No. M&S Bank doesn't accept balance transfers from credit cards issued through HSBC group, which includes M&S Bank, John Lewis and first direct cards.
Transferring a balance doesn't automatically close your old account. In most cases, you'll want to close the old account(s) straightaway, especially if they have an annual/monthly fee or if you might be tempted to use them in the future. There is an argument that you should keep the old account open to help your credit score. That's because doing so keeps your "credit utilisation ratio" lower (that's a measure of how much credit you're using compared to what's available to you) and helps the average age of your credit accounts. However, unless you're just about to apply for a new mortgage, it's probably fair to say that most people would prefer to have no more bank accounts open than was truly necessary.
Non-sterling transactions are subject to a 2.99% charge (which is very standard). For example, if you spend 200 euros (£165.37), it'll cost you around £4.94 in fees.
Each month, you must pay at least 2.5% of your balance at that point or £5.00 – whichever of the 2 figures is greater. So if you had, say, £180.00 outstanding, you'd pay £5.00, and if you had £800.00 outstanding, you'd pay £20.00.
Paying only the minimum required amount each month is generally not advisable as it makes it much harder to get debt-free before that introductory 0% period expires.
Yes, you can request one more. There's no fee for additional cards. Plus, with additional cards, you could earn points at a faster rate. Bear in mind that card debt accrued by additional cardholders is the sole responsibility of the account holder – not the additional cardholder.
Our experts score balance transfer cards to determine their value against similar products on the market. We look at a number of important factors, like the length of the balance transfer offer, the balance transfer fee, any restrictions to making a transfer, plus the potential costs involved with running the card both in the short and longer term.
You can read more about our scoring criteria on our credit card methodology page.