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[MSE Andrea]

This thread is specifically to discuss the content of the

Credit Card Shuffle Article

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[lottieoflondon]

I have two credit cards with £3500 and £3000 owing with Barclaycard and monument, my problem is as i discovered when I called to do a balnce transfer is that barclaycard took over monument and they won't do a balance transfer as they are run by one company.

My inital aim is to get rid of the monument card as the interest rate on this card is high.
I was considering capital one but I am not sure what deal to look for, and If I got a capital one card and the balance I am offered is lower than my debt is it really still worth it in the end then paying off three companies

any help and advice most welcome

thanks
Lottie

[PW]

I normally have an excellent credit rating but I messed it up a few months ago. I had quite large balances with MBNA and capital one but when their 0% offers ran out the cards I applied to only gave me limits of between £500 and £2500, so I had to apply for three cards instead of one. So many credit checks has messed up my credit history, my problem is the 0% on the new cards are only for 6 months so I need to start applying again soon. Will my credit history be suitably rested to allow me to get new credit ? Also how long after closing a credit account down should I leave it before applying to them again ?

Help ???

[Gotabiscuit]

!Also how long after closing a credit account down should I leave it before applying to them again ?

A lot of companies won't accept a new application for 6 months after closure.

However, MBNA are behind a number of different cards (eg Abbey, A&L, Virgin) and allow you to have more than one. They will even shift credit limits - for example, if you had an Abbey card with a £5k limit and then applied for a Virgin card and were only given a £1k limit, you could close or reduce the limit on the Abbey card and shift it across without having to wait.

[Reaper]

According to my latest Experian report closed accounts are kept on file for 6 years, credit searches are kept for 1 year.

Of course it is up to each company that uses it how far back it wants to count these against you.

[Talos]

I tend to have six cards activated at a time. 3 are 'live' and are maxed out at 0%. The other 3 are older cards which have no balance but are still active. Every 6-9 months a phone call to the unused card companies requesting "they close the account, unless they have any 0% rates to offer" is usually successfull, so I transfer the maxed out cards to these.

I do find that a least one will not offer any new deal so have to close and apply for a new card, but it restricts the cards I have to apply for to 1 a year. Seems to have worked for the last 18 months so far

[Money_Man_Steve]

Got a 7.9% APR [glow=red,2,300]life of balance[/glow] deal on a standard NatWest Mastercard just by calling up customer services and asking what rate they had for transfers. Not great, but way better than their standard 17 or 18% APR.

[malcolmord]

Signed up for a lloyds 12 month 0% - Great

[Margaret_Millne]

Lloyds TSB only offering 0% six months on web site, where did you get the 12 months deal?

edit: Ignore me - just found it :-[

[Martinslovechild]

MM - don't spend on the Advance Card, whatever you do - only use it for 0% BT's. That's because they charge interest from the day an item is purchased, i.e. there's no interest-free period for purchases.

[Margaret_Millne]

Applied for husband, as his Equifax file looks better than mine at present. He never gets his hands on these cards of course, I lock them away . Only intended to take the balance transfer offer then close anyway. Thanks for the advice though.

[AlexB]

I moved abroad and took my English debt with me, I have 4 credit cards or varing limitis £5K-£12.5K, all of which are just under the limit as I can only just pay a little over the minimum payment which is nearly equal to the interest charged every month so basically Im going no where fast... I would love to be able to transfer even one of these balances to a 0% but because I am no longer a UK resident I cannot apply for one of these cards... any ideas? I also read that its best to pay off the smallest balance first and not the largest am I doing it the wrong way?

[YorkshireBoy]

Originally Posted by AlexB

I also read that its best to pay off the smallest balance first and not the largest am I doing it the wrong way?

I think so. The best way generally is to pay minimum payments on all cards, but throw all your spare money at the card with the highest APR.

Loads of articles on the credit card section (orange box to left of this screen) and see also the "snowball" calculator at...

http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

[Innys]

I notice this guide was updated on Friday. Does anyone know what has changed in the article? Martin - for future reference - perhaps it would be an idea to highlight that part of an existing article that has been updated? or is that already done and I've missed it???

[MSE Martin]

Innys:

This is a completely re-written article. It's explained in a new way to try and make it easier to read, and a few small technical changes are also there about how debt shifting works, also the research on which cards offer what, is completley new and up to date.

[Margaret_Millne]

Martin, you say in your article Barclaycard offers existing customers 6.9% until debt paid off. I rang them just a few days ago, asking for this, and was told no balance transfer facility was available to me at all, at any rate, despite having lots of credit limit available. I told them to reduce my credit limit then, which they did without argument. Bit late for this one now, but any tips on how to handle it better next time?

By the way I have never defaulted on any payment with any card provider ever, nor gone over my credit limit.

[MSE Martin]

I'd try again Margaret - the key to these things is they are typical rates and no individual customer is guaranteed to get it

[Clariman]

Originally Posted by MSE Martin

I'd try again Margaret - the key to these things is they are typical rates and no individual customer is guaranteed to get it

Martin is correct (of course !). IIRC, the ruling is that at least 66% of customers must be offered the "typical rate", otherwise they can not advertise it as such, so it does offer some guidance on the rate that you may be offered.

Clariman

[dixi]

Hi

I have no balance on a virgin card, after transfering it a few months ago to a cheaper rate HSBC card (which low rate of (about 5.6% APR) is due to run out in next month or two).

Virgin have now written to me offering to take balance transfers at a rate of 2.5% per annum until Sep 06. Is this the same as 2.5% APR? If I take up the offer there is also a fee of 2% (max of £35 I think).. is it worth it?

Just like to add also, that a few months back I have been refused new 0% cards a couple of times, even though I have never defaulted on the cards I have, so I dont want to apply for a new card, but would rather shuffle what I have.

currently I have nil balance on the following:

Virgin
Capital One
Mint

and £4,500 on HSBC
and £1.400 on Tesco

thanks for any advice or info in advance

dixi

[grumbler]

Originally Posted by dixi

Virgin have now written to me offering to take balance transfers at a rate of 2.5% per annum until Sep 06. Is this the same as 2.5% APR?

I am 99% sure that yes. I think they call it 'per annum' because by definition the APR takes into account not just the interest on the loan but also other charges you have to pay, for example, any arrangement fee (in your case BT fee).