Credit cards that offer 0% APR promotions are useful tools for consolidating debt or financing large purchases without worrying about interest.
Generally, you'll need good to exceptional credit to qualify for a 0% APR card. Broadly, that translates to a credit score of 670 or better on the FICO range. However, those with good or excellent credit scores can still get rejected for a 0% APR card. And conversely, people with scores below the common definition of “good credit” can get approved. That’s because in addition to your credit scores and credit history, issuers also consider your income, debt and other factors when determining card approval.
Still, although credit scores alone don’t guarantee approval for any credit card, they are a large factor in issuers' decisions. And because each card application can temporarily lower your credit scores, it’s important to understand both what your credit scores are, and how likely you might be to get a card before you apply.
“Apply for cards that you have a realistic chance of getting approved for, based on your credit score,” says Sara Rathner, NerdWallet credit cards expert. “Everyone has multiple credit scores, but checking a financial app for one of those scores can give you a sense of where you stand.”
To help you better understand how you might fare before applying for a 0% APR card, NerdWallet looked at approval rates for the products on our list of the best 0% APR cards among people who have registered for NerdWallet and activated their free credit score. (This information does not include people who applied for a card on NerdWallet, but did not register. Registered users may not be representative of all card applicants.)
Based on our data, in 2025, applicants with scores between 760 and 769, which are credit scores that are considered “very good,” had the highest approval rates for 0% APR credit cards.
Here’s how other credit scores compare.
0% APR credit card approval rates
Percentage of applicants approved for a 0% APR credit card, by credit score band:
Can you get approved for a zero percent credit card?
Unsurprisingly, according to our data, those with high credit scores have better chances of getting approved for a 0% APR card.
For example, the majority of applicants with credit scores of 720 or higher — what's considered “good” credit and above — were approved for a 0% APR card (with the exception of scores in the very highest range, which we'll address below).
Conversely, the majority of applicants with scores below 720 — which can include a number of credit buckets, from "very poor" to "fair" to even the lower "good" range — were not approved. In fact, no credit score bands in the "very poor" range (scores of 579 or lower) reached even a 4% approval rate, which illustrates just how difficult (though technically not impossible) it is to qualify for these kinds of cards without at least good credit.
On the other end, more than half of applicants with credit scores in the very highest band of the “exceptional” range (830 to 839) did not get approved for a 0% card. Notably, applicants in the 760 to 769 band had the highest approval rates, not those with credit scores of 800 or higher. Although NerdWallet applicants aren't representative of all card applicants, there are red flags that can indicate risk to a lender, regardless of how good your credit might be.
For one, issuers consider additional factors beyond credit history and scores when determining how risky of a borrower you are. So, for instance, a borrower with good credit scores could still get denied if they have too many lines of credit, have applied for too many cards too quickly, are carrying too much debt compared to their income, or have a high credit utilization ratio.
Plus, remember that different 0% APR credit cards have varying credit score requirements and that lenders interpret the information on your credit profile in varying ways.
"If your application is rejected, your best bet is to call the credit card company and speak to someone on their reconsideration line," Rathner says. "They'll explain why you were turned down, and you could discuss your situation and potentially get them to change their mind."
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The article What Credit Score Do You Need for a 0% APR Credit Card? (Based on Real Applications) originally appeared on NerdWallet.