Tip - Use Barclaycard for back-door Super Balance Transfer !

245

Comments

  • MABLE
    MABLE Posts: 4,080 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post
    bargain_slag wrote: »
    Hi all,

    Last month I got the Santander 123 Credit Card no-fee Balance Transfer for 23 months.

    I then messaged Barclaycard via t'internet banking site and asked them to confirm in writing that if my Barclaycard Credit Card Account (currently with zero balance) goes into positive balance as a result of a balance transfer from another provider, then they would refund the money into my bank account. To my surprise, they confirmed exactly that.

    So, back to Santander. I transferred the max that I could, £5.5k, to my Barclaycard, putting it into positive balance by £5.5k

    Once it was safely in my Barclaycard Credit Card Account, I messaged Barclaycard again (continuing same secure message thread) confirming my Bank Account details and requesting payment. They sent it overnight that day, then I split it between two 5% current accounts.

    So that's £5.5k now earning interest for free. Even with the second year's £20 Santander CC card fee, 20% tax on interest and the 1% monthly repayment nibbling away, it will still net about £375 over the 23 months.

    Hope this is of help...

    Happy Stoozing - but please remember :money:MSE's guidance & warning, i.e. that Stoozing is ONLY for those who are debt-free & financially savvy. It requires discipline, and is absolutely NOT a way to spend more than you would have – it's a money-making recipe. So don't overspend and never breach the card's credit limit. etc etc.

    Surprised BC did this. They are normally very much against someone being in credit and especially into the thousands. To me its a gamble that could easily go wrong.
  • YorkshireBoy
    YorkshireBoy Posts: 31,541 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    MABLE wrote: »
    Surprised BC did this. They are normally very much against someone being in credit and especially into the thousands. To me its a gamble that could easily go wrong.
    Barclaycard are not the only provider 'happy' to do this.


    As to the "gamble", I agree it could be...but when you're enjoying fee-free BT deals (eg Halifax, Santander, & Sainsbury's at the moment) there's no 'cost of failure' to worry about.
  • YorkshireBoy
    YorkshireBoy Posts: 31,541 Forumite
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    mp3duck wrote: »
    3. Do a balance transfer from the 123 card Barclaycard, onto the Barclaycard 123 card.
    I knew what you meant, but for the avoidance of doubt for newbies I've corrected your 'from/to' terminology above, ie the balance* (in this case a ficticious one) is transferred from Barclaycard to 123. The cash then moves the other way. :)


    * Balance is debt, not cash.
  • mp3duck
    mp3duck Posts: 1,305 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    YorkshireBoy wrote: »
    I knew what you meant, but for the avoidance of doubt for newbies I've corrected your 'from/to' terminology above, ie the balance* (in this case a ficticious one) is transferred from Barclaycard to 123. The cash then moves the other way. :)


    * Balance is debt, not cash.

    thanks, corrected in my post :)
  • JimmyTheWig
    JimmyTheWig Posts: 12,199 Forumite
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    MABLE wrote: »
    Surprised BC did this. They are normally very much against someone being in credit and especially into the thousands. To me its a gamble that could easily go wrong.
    I, too, was surprised to hear providers doing this.
    But at least one poster who I trust has reported having done it successfully recently, so I'm happy to believe that it is working.


    But proceed with caution.

    The biggest risk, as I said previously, is the balance transfer being rejected but you still get charged the transfer fee for it. This isn't a risk for a 0% fee transfer.

    I'm sure we recently had a thread on here where someone had made an honest mistake in doing a balance transfer and the card that ended up with a positive balance closed their account because having a positive balance was against their terms and conditions. They were, obviously, returning the positive balance but were taking their time over it, iirc.
  • ShawUK
    ShawUK Posts: 47 Forumite
    edited 27 April 2015 at 10:14PM
    mp3duck wrote: »
    I've successfully completed this "trick" this morning.
    This is what we did ShawUK.

    1. Have a Barclaycard with little, or no current balance.
    2. Have another credit card which offers 0% balance transfers without a fee (in our case, the Santander 123 Credit card, 0% for 23 months).
    3. Do a balance transfer from the Barclaycard, onto the 123 card.
    At this point, taking an example transfer of £5,000, the 123 card will have a balance of £5000, and the Barclaycard would be -£5000
    4. Secure message/phone Barclaycard, asking them to transfer your credit balance to your current account.
    5. Wait 1-2 days working days (I did mine request on Friday, and received funds this morning).
    6. You now have £5000 in your current account to do with what you wish, Stoozing at 0% for 23 months, having paid no fees..

    I must point out that when I phoned Barclaycard, I was put though to their fraud department, although this wasn't a problem, just said I did a balance transfer to wrong card.. Might be best to not phone, and conduct all communications via secure messaging.

    thanks for explaining that.

    I've never done a balance transfer, so you can do a balance transfer from a credit card that has zero balance? I always assumed the new credit card provider would check the balance of the card it's coming from and match it.

    I guess the risk is that if the card with -£5000 balance doesn't let you transfer it to your current account then you have to spend it and pay off the 123 account. unless they close the account, and you can't spend it and still have £5k to pay back on the 123...
    risky :o

    P.S I recently transferred money from a tesco CC to my current account no questions asked. That was 50 quid though, not 5 grand :rotfl:
  • lorickon
    lorickon Posts: 1 Newbie
    Hmmm, sounds interesting but a bit risky. I will wait on some more responses before I try it.
  • dekoder
    dekoder Posts: 488 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    mp3duck wrote: »
    6. You now have £5000 in your current account to do with what you wish, Stoozing at 0% for 23 months, having paid no fees..
    Isn't there a £24 a year fee for the Santander 123 card? (waived for year 1 if you have 123 account).
  • mp3duck
    mp3duck Posts: 1,305 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    dekoder wrote: »
    Isn't there a £24 a year fee for the Santander 123 card? (waived for year 1 if you have 123 account).

    Yes, but you still come up in profit if you've put the money in the accounts paying 5%.. (i.e. TSB).
  • dekoder
    dekoder Posts: 488 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    mp3duck wrote: »
    Yes, but you still come up in profit if you've put the money in the accounts paying 5%.. (i.e. TSB).
    Yea, I get that. Just thought it's actually fee free and I'm missing something.
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