Help with balance transfers please

LucyToons

:hello:
Ok, this is my situation.

I have a Capital One credit card with £500 credit limit (£330.89 credit and £169.11 left to pay).
The minimum payment is now £5.65 per month and interest next month will be £2.88.
The monthly interest is…
2.528% per month (withdrawal and purchase, it says on the statements) or 30.340% per year

I also have a Natwest credit Card which has now been paid in full (£150 credit limit and available).
The minimum payments were 2.5% or £5 which ever greatest so because of the credit limit were always £5.
The monthly interest is…
1.597% on purchases and 2.075 on cash (withdrawal) (it don’t say the yearly)

What i’m unsure about is if I can or if it is worth doing a balance transfer and how I would go about it. Like transferring balance from Natwest to Capital One, how would this affect Natwest etc.

I got both cards when I was with my ex and he talked me into getting them, I have had the card for about 3 years now each and really want to get shut of them because it is getting my finances in a bit of a muddle.

Could someone give me some advice on what I should do (not suggestions of getting more cards though as I can not get any).

When it comes to things like interest etc. I, like a lot of people get really confused and stressed so just give up and leave thing as they are, but I really want to just get rid of these cards. :doh:

If anyone could help I would be most appreciative as I am currently at a loss L and want to get my finances back on track.

Thanks in advance
A confused and stressed poster.

methusala_2

According to my calculations if your balance on the Capitalone card is 169.11 and next months estimated interest is 2.88 then you have an interest rate on that balance of 1.7% monthly. You are unlikely to get better than this from Natwest unless they offer you a 0% Balance Transfer rate when you ring them and ask to cancel the card. If it is your aim to cancel both these cards for your peace of mind then I would cancel the Natwest Card as soon as you like by ringing them and just pay off the CapitalOne card at its present rate which i consider to quite a good deal.
I see from your account listing that in Feb both cards were maxed out and since then you have reduced the CC from 650 to 169.11. Well done on this so why not try using the 5.00 you used to pay natwest to add to the min payment needed by Capitalone to pay that off that much faster. Each and every little helps to reduce the monthly interest which for you is completely wasted money

methusala_2

Balance Transfer means taking a card you have room available and making them pay the other card company. eg in your case above your Natwest card is empty ie 150 available. So a Balance transfer would be negotiated with Natwest to make a Balance Transfer from CapitalOne. In your case I wouldnt think it worthwhile. What would happen is that Natwest would pay CapitalOne the ammount you agreed on and your CapitalOne balance would be reduced by that ammount and your Natwest Card would then have that ammount for you to pay your monthly payments on.

LucyToons

ahh so if I did a balance transfer from Natwest to Capital One then I would still owe the balance (£150) on Natwest and £19.11 left to pay on Capital One, I would be able to pay the £19.11 that is left in a couple of weeks, leaving the Natwest to pay. But would this actually work out at all better for me in the long run?

methusala_2

you will have to check with Natwest. The reason for this is you may not be able to transfer the whole 150 to Natwest. Most card companies only allow 90% of your credit limit which for you would be 135 and you will need to check what interest rate Natwest would offer you, anything more than the 1.7% you currently have with CapitalOne is no good.
Also this will not be done for free , a BT costs a 1 time payment of 3% of the money transferred or maybe 5£ whichever is the most. Again only Natwest can give you the figure they will charge when you ask them if you can do a BT.