MSE News: Barclaycard launches 20-month 0% balance transfer

Shame I haven't got a balance to transfer..... Wonder where it will all end though, hopefully not with people building piles of debt they can't finance at the end of the time, some people are clever and use these offers to their advantage, sadly others (I was one once) don't and get burnt!

Hope MBNA strike back with a 2 year deal !

wakeupalarm wrote: »

A credit card that you shouldn't ever spend on?

Why does the article say "though it's important they don’t ever spend on the card as that can ruin things"?

I thought the rules changed so that highest interest rates are paid off first?

That's supposed to be how it works now. Maybe MSE have been a bit too enthusiastic cutting and pasting from an old article?

Fruit_and_Nut_Case wrote: »

That's supposed to be how it works now. Maybe MSE have been a bit too enthusiastic cutting and pasting from an old article?

Although the consequences are less serious, if you spend on a BT card, you'll still need to pay the interest on the purchase (3-6 weeks), and if the purchase was larger, for at least the next month, the trailing interest will still be computable.

A months interest - for every purchase if you keep doing it -- is obviously not as big a problem as locking the purchases behind the 0% BT, but if you had another card, it's completely avoidable.

It's a funny thing though that Barclaycard increased the BT fee for this promotion (3.2%(1) vs 2.9%), as well as the APR (16.9% vs. 17.5%). So it could cost more -- it could be useful for people wanting to keep their credit files clean of searches for longer. But then again, searches are not that bad, and the promotional period will be reported, so the credit file is affected.

(1) Interestingly, they have this reduced too by 25% for additional BTs during the first period. 2.4% is quite good, it may be worth to BT a dummy amount from another card to get this fee for the real amount - and pray that nothing goes wrong :eek: Anyway, it's now much better for people with several cards.

If Barclaycard is looking for debts so heavily (it likely makes a financial sense that us mere mortals can't understand), it could also mean their application criteria may have been lowered.

callum9999 wrote: »

I may be misunderstanding how it works, but if you pay off the purchase in full by the payment due date, then you won't be charged any interest would you? Regardless of there being a transfer balance still on there. The minimum repayment would come out by DD etc. then couldn't you just pay by debit card the amount you spent on purchases?

If the purchases have non-zero interests, while the balance transfer is at 0%, it doesn't work that way. The real terms look like this, (bold) emphasis by me:

Maximum 56 days from date of transaction for purchases if you pay your balance in full and on time each month.

No interest free period on cash advances or balance transfers (this is subject to any interest free promotional offer).

If interest is payable, it will be charged from the date the transaction is debited to your account until it is paid in full.