SBT's...does First Direct do them?

chokri123

Hi all MoneySavers...I have recently started to use SBT's and have managed to get Egg and MBNA cards to fire into my Mortgage. Does anyone/has anyone ever used a First Direct card to SBT?

Should I apply for the other MBNA cards that do SBT's(Abbey,Alliance & Virgin)..have heard that if you have 1 MBNA card they usually refuse you another/or can reduce your limit on the 1st card. Does anyone have any experience of this?

Unbelievable_2

Don't think you can SBT from First Direct, but you could BT from Egg to First Direct and then SBT from Egg again

Milarky

First Direct treats balance transfers the same as cash advances as far as I can glean. They therefore charge a percentage [1.75%] on any transfers made except for those made when first taking out a FD credit card.

The only 'plus' point in all of this is that provided the advance/balance transfer is repaid in full by the following due date [up to 56 days later] they won't charge interest also!

FD is currently doing 0% on purchases as well as balance transfers during the first 6 months - better than nothing I suppose - although the monthly minimum payment is higher than average at 3%

Reaper

They therefore charge a percentage [1.75%] on any transfers made except for those made when first taking out a FD credit card.

Just to clarify - my understanding is that you can do balance transfers throughout the 6 month 0% period, not just when you first take out the card.

Cash advances are also free for the 6 months but you will be charged 1.75% for those.

I also notice the Gold card is now free. There used to be an annual fee if you didn't use it enough.

klondyke

Provided you do your first BT within 6 months of opening FD a/c, the 6 months 0% starts from the date of that first BT. Mine is set up for min payments ready to take over from Mint as late as possible ;D

isasmurf

A word of advice, find out when your promotion period ends with First Direct so you don't lose out on your 0% period. To my cost I've just discovered when FD say 6 months, they mean 8 months. I wouldn't have minded if I hadn't had already transferred the balance just before 6 months was up.

Unless the T&C have changed you can only make one BT from each card at the promotional rate.

mary

Don't think you can SBT from First Direct, but you could BT from Egg to First Direct and then SBT from Egg again

Yes, Unbelievable, you are correct.   This is what I did.

mary

Provided you do your first BT within 6 months of opening FD a/c,  the 6 months 0% starts from the date of that first BT.  D

Yes, that's correct.

Saver Smurf, it's still the same that each time you want to do a BT it has to be from a different card.

Was your card really 8 months or was it the case that you did a BT 2 months down the line after you did your first BT with it thus giving 2 + 6 = 8 months, or so it would seem.

chokri123

Thanx for all your comments MoneySavers out there.
My question is still this:

I am in the first stage of the whole SBT process,so am trying to borrow max funds at 0% that I can transfer to my current account(and then fire into my Mortgage)
I have managed to get Egg and MBNA cards and both have given me 0% SBT's for 9m.
I know that First Direct and other cards do BT's at 0% but I am not looking to shift any balance to them as yet(will need to do this after the 0% period is up)
I'm looking for any other cards that offer 0% SBT's(money transferred straight into your current account)
Does anyone out there know if First Direct or any other lender out there(apart from Egg and the MBNA cards)also offers SBT's.
Has anyone ever got a SBT from MBNA and then also applied to one of the other MBNA cards(alliance,abbey or virgin) Did they offer u a card/give u a SBT also?

Reaper

I am in the first stage of the whole SBT process,so am trying to borrow max funds at 0% that I can transfer to my current account(and then fire into my Mortgage)

I think you have missed the implications of the previous answers.

ALL the 0% credit cards can be used to put money into your account as long as you have an Egg card. Here is the process one step at a time.

1) Do an Egg balance transfer into your current account.
2) Get another 0% credit card
3) Balance Transfer your Egg debt onto it, clearing your Egg credit card debt.
4) Go back to step 1 and keep repeating.

You only need one true SBT card to start things off. Egg and Mint are the usual ones - Egg is marginally better.

chokri123

Hi Reaper,thanx for your reply. I understand what you mean by shifting the debt owed to Egg onto another 0% card and then asking Egg to SBT money again into my current account. The problem with this(as far as I know,I may be wrong) is that Egg and MBNA only offer you an SBT at 0% when u initially apply for the card and also a year after opening the ac. You can SBT again and again with them if uve cleared what u owe them but it will be at their full 14/15% rate so whats the point.
The SBT's only work if ur borrowing at 0%...am I missing something?