If you have a large balance on a high-interest credit card, a balance transfer card with a 0% introductory interest rate can help you save money as you pay down what you owe.
Balance transfer cards are typically marketed to consumers with good to exceptional credit, which the FICO credit score range generally defines as credit scores of 670 and above. There is no score that guarantees approval, however, and even applicants with higher scores can be declined. On the other hand, having less-than-good credit doesn't necessarily mean a balance-transfer card is definitively out of reach.
NerdWallet's own application data illustrates these points. We looked at approval rates for cards listed on our roundup of the best balance transfer cards among people who have registered for NerdWallet and activated their free credit score. Over the first 11 months of 2025, the average credit score among those who applied for a balance transfer card through NerdWallet was 701. And the average credit score among those approved was 727, which is considered “good” by FICO. But the data also show people with scores in the 800s getting rejected and those with scores in the low 600s getting approved.
Balance transfer credit card approval rates
Percentage of applicants through NerdWallet who were approved for a balance transfer credit card, by credit score band:
Can you get approved for a balance transfer credit card with a low credit score?
Our data show that, as would be expected, applicants with higher credit scores had better chances of getting approved for a balance transfer card. Indeed, every credit score band starting at 710 — considered "good" by FICO — had an approval rate greater than 50%. That means the majority of those applicants were approved. And those with scores of 760 to 769, which are considered “very good” by FICO, had the highest approval rates for balance transfer credit cards. Their approval rate was higher even than for applicants with "exceptional" scores of 800 and up.
Applicants with scores on the lower end didn't fare as well. Less than 40% of applicants in every credit score band within what's referred to as “fair” credit (580-669) were approved for a balance transfer card. And for those on the lowest end of that range (580-589), less than 4% of applicants were approved. Even so, it’s worth noting that some applicants were still able to qualify. Close to one-quarter of applicants in the 640-649 range were approved, as were about one-third in the 650-659 range.
Although we don't have insight into issuer approval decisions, that could be the result of a few factors. Credit scores are a large factor in determining credit card approval, but scores alone don’t guarantee approval. Issuers also consider things like an applicant’s income, their debt, the amount of credit they're currently using and more. So, for example, an applicant with a great score might have too much debt across their other credit cards and therefore get rejected for a card.
Nerdy Perspective
“Excellent credit doesn’t guarantee approval, and less-than-good credit doesn’t guarantee denial. Your credit score range is only one component of what’s evaluated to determine eligibility for a credit card. Regardless of where you land on the credit spectrum, you can increase your odds of qualifying for a balance transfer credit card with a few moves. Make consistent on-time payments, pay down balances to free up your credit limit and avoid submitting too many credit card applications at once. Each application can cause your credit score to temporarily drop, so it’s helpful to also explore cards that offer a pre-qualification process. It lets you know whether you’re likely to be approved. It’s one way to shop around wisely until you’re finally ready to officially accept an offer.”
Keep in mind also that being approved for a balance transfer card doesn't necessarily mean you'll be approved for enough of a credit limit to transfer all the debt you want to move. For example, you might hope to transfer $6,000 in debt to a 0% APR card, but the issuer of the new card might approve you for a credit limit of only, say, $3,000.
Our data doesn’t include people who applied for a card on NerdWallet but had not registered with the site and activated their credit score. And of course it does not include those who applied for these cards through other channels. So, registered users are not necessarily representative of all card applicants.
