When a HELOC is at 7.5% and you can get a short term 18 month loan on a CC through a balance transfer for just the 3% BT fee with a 0% APR during the promo period, a credit card becomes a valuable tool to fill that need. Obviously, as long as you're sure you'll have the cash to pay off the loan by the end of the 18 months. The CC companies are banking on you not being able to pay it off at the end, which is why they offer the 0% balance transfer APR in the first place.