virgin card advice

davros_3

hi, great site, been trying to read as much as i can but i'm a bit thick with money so maybe you can help with my virgin card situation

I have £3,500 on a virgin card and my interest free period is about to expire. obviously i want to avoid paying interest. I have two main questions

1) is it a stupid idea to ring virgin and be honest saying i want to keep card but am probably gonna transfer balance, and ask them for another 6 months??
I'm a bit worried that if i do this and they say no they might block my balance transfer and my money will be stuck on it

2) i keep reading things about MBMA card and RBS cards and I'm really confused as these two seem to be behind a lot of cards. I wont be able to transfer to another MBMA card i dont think, so can somebody give me a list of some cards that arent MBMA that have interest free transfers?

thanks in advance for your help

Caped_Avenger

Now then davros,

1) No, it's not a stupid idea. The worst they can say is "no". They can't block you from doing a balance transfer (apart from another MBNA card, but i'll cover that in part 2), as to do that, they'd have to block you from paying your card off, which they cannot do.

2) MBNA provide Virgin's credit cards, and also a lot of other credit cards (Abbey, Alliance & Leicester, etc.). Since you already have one MBNA card (the Virgin one), they won't let you apply for another, so you'll have to look to another card provider. Here's a link to a table of card providers offering 0% on Balance Transfers. Try to get one which won't charge you a fee for the BT.

davros_3

thanks for that info and speedy reply Avenger
just a few more qs if you dont mind

1) if i do ring virgin, is there any remote chance of them saying yes (bearing in mind this £3,500 was originally nearer £6,000 when i transfered it 9months ago)?

2) if i already have Mint, Egg and this Virgin, will that stop me being able to apply for (or transfer virgin balance to ) either Llyods or HSBC (the two that seem the best from that list)?

Caped_Avenger

1) I'd view your chances as slim. Bear in mind that every day you're paying 0% interest on your debt, MBNA are still paying around 4.75% for it, and the longer they extend it by, the longer they lose money. Especially if you're not using the card for purchases. In short, it's worth a try, but i reckon you've got less than a 10% chance of getting an extension. I've not had any dealings with MBNA as a customer though, so i'm not speaking from experience in that respect.

2) You should be fine to apply for HSBC or Lloyds, as far as i can see. It's certainly the case that neither of those are owned by MBNA, Prudential (Egg), or RBS (Mint). There's also Morgan Stanley, Leeds & Holbeck (run by MS).Give HSBC a crack, 9 months looks good!

Rafter

Only other one I'd add to the list is the Barclaycard 0% for 10 months with no BT available in branches or via the Barclays website (not barclaycard one).

MBNA are about the most generous with credit limits though so you may not get the full amount you are after. May be worth calling MBNA and getting your credit limit reduced to show less available credit limit on your Experian/Equifax file, although may be too late to do this before you interest free period expires.

Good luck.

R.

YorkshireBoy

Rafter wrote:

Only other one I'd add to the list is the Barclaycard 0% for 10 months with no BT available in branches or via the Barclays website (not barclaycard one).

I seem to recall that this special offer (through the https://www.barclays.co.uk link at least) is due to end anytime soon - 14th November rings a bell, but I could be wrong.

davros_3

that barclays site is confusing. on the platinum card page it says "no handling fee for balance transfers" then in terms and conditions it says "2% charge on all 0% balance transfers!!!

also its the 9th november for offer end

Caped_Avenger

And then here, it says

A 2.5% Handling fee will be applied to each 0% interest balance transfer you make.

Talk about confusing! :eek:

YorkshireBoy

davros wrote:

also its the 9th november for offer end

See post #115 here...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=1092858#post1092858