MBNA unveils new credit card brand featuring £20 Amazon gift cards

The Nuba range comprises a balance transfer card offering up to 41 months 0% for a 3.49% fee and an all-rounder card, which has up to 25 months 0% on purchases, balance transfers (2.39% fee) and money transfers (4% fee).

Both cards will also give you a £20 Amazon gift card if you transfer at least £1,000 within the first 60 days of account opening.

Joint longest-ever balance transfer card

A balance transfer card essentially pays off your debt on existing credit and store cards, so you owe it instead, but at 0%. This means your repayments clear the debt rather than just interest, so you're debt-free quicker.

The Nuba balance transfer credit card offers up to 41 months at 0%, the joint-longest ever interest-free period on a balance transfer card, though poorer credit scorers could be accepted and offered fewer 0% months.

Here's how it compares with the next-longest balance transfer cards:

Long 0% balance transfer best-buys

In terms of the 41-month cards, the Nuba card is cheaper than the Halifax one if you factor in the Amazon gift card, despite the former's higher balance transfer fee.

If you're not desperate for the extra interest-free month that the Nuba card offers, you're still likely to be better off with one of the 40-month cards if you've more than £1,900 to transfer, as the fees are so much lower.

There are some cards that have even lower, or no, fees – but these come with shorter 0% periods. For more information and all the options, see our Balance Transfer Cards guide.

Decent all-rounder card – though it can be beaten

All-rounder cards have 0% periods on purchases and balance transfers, and are good options if you're worried about too many credit card applications, or you don't want the hassle of multiple cards but want to spend on and shift debt to a card.

Nuba's all-round credit card offers 0% on purchases and balance transfers for up to 25 months (2.39% balance transfer fee).

Here's how it compares:

All-rounder card best-buys

As this table shows, the Nuba card can be beaten by the Barclaycard, which offers the same 0% period for a slightly lower fee and also comes with £20 cashback until Sunday 16 October.

The Nuba card also offers money transfers at 0% for up to 25 months for a 4% fee, though this can be beaten by the Virgin Money all-rounder card, which has a 2% fee (min £3) for the same 0% period.

For more information about all-rounder cards and full best-buys, see our 0% Balance Transfer & Spend guide.

The golden rules of 0% cards

If you want to get one of the new Nuba cards, make sure you always follow the credit card golden rules:

• Never miss or be late paying at least the monthly min, or you can lose the 0% (never exceed the credit limit either).

• Clear the card or balance-transfer again before the 0% ends, or the rate rockets to the higher APR.

• Don't withdraw cash on these. It usually isn't at the cheap rate and cash withdrawals hit your credit file.

• If you're doing a balance transfer, you must usually do it within 60/90 days of taking the card out to get 0%.