Credit Card Balance Transfer Discussion Area 2

david78

You certainly need an account with its own 8-digit number. Reference numbers are not allowed.

I think BTs must be from a current account. I have known some people to claim to have done them from a savings account and others who say it doesn't work

Milarky

Thanks,

Hmm.. In the case of cahoot [as was mentioned by somebody elsewhere] you can have one of their current accounts, so this can act as an immediate 'feeder' account by an internal transfer on the date of receipt, can't it? But that begs the question of whether account number restrictions could be realistic from EGG, given there are millions [10s of?] current accounts in existence to which they will transfer in the first place - not just a few thousand 'collection' accounts of the kind used by credit card issuers (and, anyway, BTs to these accounts go via the 16 digit Visa system don't they)? Tell you what, I shall just secure message Egg for the answer and append in a few days

Regards

Vanessa

Thanks a million to moana, david78 and all of you other money savers! I've now read Martins's article on SBTs, and it is beginning to make sense. I've been reading the threads for a couple of weeks now, and am learning loads. The only problem is all this money saving malarky is terribly addictive; I will have to start restricting my time on this website ::)

david78

Interested to see what you find out Milarky.

Vanessa. Please don't restrict your access too much.

andyelcomb

FYI, I recently transferred balances to my MBNA card from new cards Barclaycard (0% 12 months) and Sainsburys (0% 9 months), intending to then transfer the balance from MBNA across to my Egg internet savings account as neither of the new cards will allow that and MBNA isn't too bad online - so I thought.

This put the MBNA card in credit.

Put in online BT from MBNA to Egg, but nothing happened. Eventually got a letter through saying please contact them and it turns out you can't online BT credit balances from MBNA. However, they did do it over the phone, without charge, direct to Egg.

So, did get done what I wanted, but it took quite a long time and couldn't be done entirely online.

Also, would remind people that in my experience MBNA charge if you BT by phone, but didn't charge when I BT'd online, although it doesn't happen immediately - takes a good few days and I think they do it handraulically.

Andy

GordonH_2

Hello
I can't see if anyone else has asked this question  before:

I spend £10,000 to £15,000 a month on my credit card and pay it all off at the end of the month.
I am with Barclaycard and get nectar points which I convert into Argos vouchers.
I keep seeing better cashback deals but if i take out a card with another company they won't allow me a high enough credit limit, so I am trapped.

How do you persuade a card company to give you a workable credit limit from the start?

[Interestingly when i was in the US last month they were advertising 5% cashback on the Amex blue card. I have no idea how they manage that as the commission rate is only about 2.6% over there (I know as my business has a US Amex merchant account).]

Gordon

Galstonian

I think the immediate problem would be the suspicion that you are not using the card as a regular consumer but are operating a business through it. With up to £180K per annum spending I would assume you are not just buying a few odds and ends at Asda or filling the car up with petrol. If you are self employed this could be a big issue, if you are employed and your salary is sufficient to merit the required credit limit then it might not be.

Don't forget that you really need a limit of up to twice your monthly spend or you will need to curb spending as you approach your limit each month prior to payment being paid. You could make early payments but this might be hard to manage.

How do you know you won't get a high enough limit? If you have applied and got low limits then you should probably stop - repeated applications in a short period are a "bad thing" as far as credit reference agencies are concerned.
Cashback is being reduced. It is a sad fact but it is more difficult to find decent cashback rates. Suggestions? Well, if you have applied and got insufficient limits elsewhere I'd suggest you get in touch with all of them, perferably in writing, and explain your situation. You don't need to make an issue of the cashback, simply that you want to use their card but unless you get the limit you require you will be unable to. You could offer to show them statements from your current card and make sure you offer to start a "whole bill" direct debit.
Issuers with good cashback? I think the Conran card has been mentioned here with a 1% equivalent. Bank of Ireland (UK) offer 1% on annual spend over £3K. I think the problem is that on many cashback cards any spending over £20K per year earns nothing, I've never had the good fortune of having to look at the maximum spend.

The US Amex 5% cashback is not really that good. You get a tiered rate of up to 1.5% but this is doubled at some affiliated places like super markets and gas stations. Finally, if you carry a balance on the card, you get up to a further 2% cashback - obviously this does not have to funded through merchant fees since you will end up paying interest.

Moz

Hi Martin et al. Wish I'd found this site much, much, much earlier, it really is informative. A couple of points;
Firstly, Martin, do you always seem to be on the radio at lunchtime? It is so annoying, by the time I've finished listening to you all the best stuff has gone from the canteen!!!
Secondly, this Barclaycard promotion that is about to end is apparently for 'New' customers only. Is there any problem with me having a Barclaycard for a short while over twenty years ago? I can't find anything in the terms and conditions about the definition for a 'new' customer. No doubt there is something somewhere that will stop me benefiting from this offer!
Regards

Moz

Galstonian

The question is whether you are still a customer from twenty years ago. If the account was closed that long ago it is very unlikely to have any effect on a new application.

GordonH_2

I think the immediate problem would be the suspicion that you are not using the card as a regular consumer but are operating a business through it.  With up to £180K per annum spending I would assume you are not just buying a few odds and ends at Asda or filling the car up with petrol.  If you are self employed this could be a big issue, if you are employed and your salary is sufficient to merit the required credit limit then it might not be.  

Don't forget that you really need a limit of up to twice your monthly spend or you will need to curb spending as you approach your limit each month prior to payment being paid.  You could make early payments but this might be hard to manage.

How do you know you won't get a high enough limit?  If you have applied and got low limits then you should probably stop - repeated applications in a short period are a "bad thing" as far as credit reference agencies are concerned.
Cashback is being reduced.  It is a sad fact but it is more difficult to find decent cashback rates.  Suggestions?  Well, if you have applied and got insufficient limits elsewhere I'd suggest you get in touch with all of them, perferably in writing, and explain your situation.  You don't need to make an issue of the cashback, simply that you want to use their card but unless you get the limit you require you will be unable to.  You could offer to show them statements from your current card and make sure you offer to start a "whole bill" direct debit.
Issuers with good cashback?  I think the Conran card has been mentioned here with a 1% equivalent.  Bank of Ireland (UK) offer 1% on annual spend over £3K.  I think the problem is that on many cashback cards any spending over £20K per year earns nothing, I've never had the good fortune of having to look at the maximum spend.

Thanks.
Well I got round the problem with my Amex platimum card by providing them with evidence of income. They seemed to have a procedure in place for this and immediately reached for it.

I think I will shop around and see what I can get then ask them to up the ,limit and see if they have a procedure in place tro raise the limit.

The card has some business personal expenses on it which gets claimed back but its not used to run a business.
I quite like the vouchers because I can give them away to people or buy stuf and give it to people but if I could get a better deal I could do more with that extra cash.