TD Bank FlexPay review: A balance transfer card heavy on perks

With its strong Visa benefits, no annual fee, and long intro balance transfer offer, the TD Bank FlexPay could be a good choice for those looking to lower their debt.

Intro APR: A longer-than-usual balance transfer offer

While most balance transfer offers range between 12 to 15 months, the TD Bank FlexPay offers an introductory APR offer on balance transfers for 18 months (then 18.24%, 20.24%, 23.24%, 26.24% or 28.24% variable APR based on your creditworthiness. APR). It also has an intro balance transfer fee of 3 percent, which increases to 5 percent (or $5, whichever is greater) after the intro period. The intro fee and offer length should give you plenty of time to pay down your credit card debt, saving hundreds of dollars in the process. 

For example, the average American has around $6,000 in credit card debt. If you use the TD Bank FlexPay card’s intro offer, you can pay that amount off with about $333 monthly payments. But if you use a card with shorter intro APR periods, that monthly payment could be $400 to $500.

Plus, the TD Bank FlexPay’s balance transfer fee only adds $183 to the final amount while a card with a 5 percent fee adds $304. So, while these can feel like small differences, it adds up with the final amount you pay.

Even when the offer ends, your interest rate could be slightly lower than the current average interest rate. So, even if you’re unable to pay off the full amount, you still have an advantage in decreasing your debt.

Benefits: Plenty of handy protections 

Every TD Bank credit card comes with Visa Platinum card benefits that include cell phone protection but cardholders with credit limits of $5,000 or more gain more travel and security benefits through Visa Signature perks. For security, the perks focus on fraud and purchase protections, especially in the event of theft or if the card is damaged. This can include:

• Cell phone protection
• Emergency card replacement
• Purchase security

For travel, it mirrors many top-tier travel cards by having benefits that cover each step in travel planning, including:

• Visa Concierge 
• Visa luxury hotel collection
• Roadside Dispatch
• Travel and emergency assistance service

Rate and fees: Reduces costs where it can

The TD Bank FlexPay may come with standard fees like foreign transactions and cash advance fees. However, a few highlights on this card make it worth a second look. One big advantage of this card is that it doesn’t have an annual fee, which is great when you want to focus on reducing your debt. 

Another advantage for cardholders is the late fee forgiveness feature, in which TD Bank will automatically forgive your first late fee every year you hold the card. While paying late may still impact your credit score, this can be helpful for people still getting used to having a credit card.

While the TD Bank FlexPay offers a competitive balance transfer offer, it lacks in other areas. Without features like a welcome offer or rewards, this card may come up a bit short for some potential cardholders. 

Rewards: Lack of rewards limits long-term

The TD Bank FlexPay card doesn’t offer rewards, which is common for balance transfer cards, but uncommon for cards that require good to excellent credit scores and is a huge drawback to its long-term value. As this card functions mainly as a balance transfer card, there won’t be much to the card after the intro offer ends.

Great perks are available with this card, but they’re Visa Platinum or Signature benefits. As you can find other balance transfer cards with the same features plus rewards, the TD Bank FlexPay looks weak in comparison.

APR: No offers for purchases

As the TD Bank FlexPay card focuses on balance transfers, it doesn’t offer an intro APR offer on purchases. On one hand, this can be good for people only focused on paying down their debt.

However, should an emergency arise, you’ll immediately have to start paying interest on any purchases you make with the card, which can slow down your debt-payoff process. It also increases the possibility that you won’t pay off your debt before the intro APR period ends.

The TD Bank FlexPay has unique features and useful benefits, but its competition is pretty steep. While other balance transfer cards offer shorter intro APR offers, they make up for it with stronger perks and rewards.

Because the TD Bank FlexPay doesn’t come with rewards, an easy pairing for this card would be a rewards card. You can also lean towards a card with an intro APR offer on purchases, which is also lacking on this card.

As this card is a no-fuss balance transfer card, it can be a great tool for the following cardholders:

For people who want a no-frills balance transfer card, the TD Bank FlexPay can be a good option. It has a lengthy intro APR offer on balance transfers and a chance at relatively low interest afterward. It could also potentially come with great Visa benefits, depending on your credit limit.

However, this is where the card’s value ends. It offers no rewards to provide long-term value and its benefits common on other Visa cards, making FlexPay’s value drop drastically after the balance transfer offer ends.

Our proprietary card rating system takes into account a mix of factors when scoring balance transfer and low-interest cards, including each card’s introductory APR, intro APR period length, ongoing APR, balance transfer fee, perks and more.

While balance transfer and low-interest cards share a similar ratings rubric, we weigh features differently based on how a card is categorized. We categorize cards that carry an especially long intro APR offer on balance transfers as dedicated balance transfer cards, while cards that offer an especially low ongoing APR are considered general low-interest cards. 

Based on its features, we assigned this card a primary category of balance transfer and tailored our ratings accordingly. 

We analyzed over 100 of the most popular balance transfer and low-interest cards and scored each based on how its key features stacked up against those of other cards in its category. 

Here’s a breakdown of what gave this card its score: