virgin 0% start date

jayremoh

last month i applied for a virgin 0% card as i needed a quick £4000, it has just come this morning, but i no longer need the card as i found another way to get the money.

this seems a waste of a 0% card so i was wondering when the 16 month 0% period begins?

ie, if i dont activate the card, will my 16month period begin if/when i do so in a couple of months?

a long shot i know, but thought the question was worth asking.

thanks

NickX

The 16 month promotion has probably already started as the account has been set up. You cannot usually delay the promotional period in this way.

Why not request a transfer of 95% of the £4000 to your Bank Account and invest the money in an account which will earn you more than the cost of the Balance Transfer fee ? This would earn you a few extra pennies.

YorkshireBoy

I believe MBNA run card offers run from the date they receive your signed credit agreement. If you signed electronically at the end of the online application, then it probably started in November. A phone call will verify.

If you do decide to run with it, activate it today and request a statement date of the 29th of the month. This will maximise your introductory period length.

Then, either go with Nick's suggestion or, if you're not comfortable with that, just use it for it's 6 months 0% on purchases.

jayremoh

the limit is 8800, so i could take most of that (say 8k) and put it somewhere for 16 months. but i dont thinks theres anywhere worthwhile at the minute.

my current savings account is natwest e-savings at 4.47aer http://www.natwest.com/personal/savings/g1/instant-access/e-savings.ashx?DCMP=ILC-PersHPeSavStcBnr#tabs=section4

and using http://www.stoozing.com/calc.htm i'd barely make £50 (i think)

i know £50 is £50 but seems a bit of an pain for such little return.

nice idea though.

NickX

jayremoh wrote: »

the limit is 8800, so i could take most of that (say 8k) and put it somewhere for 16 months. but i dont thinks theres anywhere worthwhile at the minute.

using http://www.stoozing.com/calc.htm i'd barely make £50

i know £50 is £50 but seems a bit of an pain for such little return.

That is a decent limit actually so Well Done.

Your obviously aware of the stoozing site, and you are right it is proving difficult to make a profit at present thanks to the actions of Brown and Darling :mad:

However, I've always thought a profit is a profit, and there is an age old saying that "if you take care of the pennies, then the pounds take care of themselves". Certainly before the sudden base rate drops, I had applied this principle and with the help of the stoozing site multiple Balance Transfer deals were returning a tidy profit.

Now, I am concentrating more on slow-stoozing, and as YB has suggested you have this option with the 6 month purchases deal.

Good Luck and Best Wishes for a profitable 2009

YorkshireBoy

jayremoh wrote: »

and using http://www.stoozing.com/calc.htm i'd barely make £50 (i think)

Unless you're a higher rate tax payer, 4% AER would make you over £100.

And don't forget, there's always the option of requesting a higher credit limit during the activation call.

jayremoh

hmm ok....

8800 limit

8500 transfer
2.98% fee
8753.30 on cc

4.47 aer savings

97.99 after 16 month @ 20% tax

hmmm, bet better than i though, like you said, profit is profit.

all the best mate.

YorkshireBoy

Stoozing Profit Prediction

Data entered by the user
Balance to be transferred (pounds)...... 8360
BT card interest rate (%) .............. 0
Introductory period (months) ........... 15
Balance Transfer Fee (%) ............... 2.98
Maximum BT Fee (pounds)................. No Maximum
Min Monthly Payment Type ............... Fixed
Min Monthly Payment Amount (% or pds) .. 25
savings interest rate (AER %) .......... 4.47
Tax rate ............................... Basic Rate

Your Results
Balance Transfer Fee paid (pounds)...... 249.12
Stooz pot balance at end of intro ...... 8444.96
Credit card balance at end of intro .... 8234.13
Gross Profit before tax on interest .... 210.83
Tax on interest to be paid ............. 91.99
Your Profit (pounds).................... 118.84

Created using the Stoozing Calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.

YorkshireBoy

Before going ahead though, you need to take a serious 'stab' at what you think your average interest rate achievable will be over the next 15 months...and it might not be 4.47% AER.

Play around with the calculator AER's to see what the break even rate is, and maybe decide your minimum acceptable return...and what average AER will need to be to achieve this.

jayremoh

thanks for the advice, appreciated.

YorkshireBoy

HouseHuntr wrote: »

Could you explain a little further about the statement date (not payment date ?)of 29th as I thought you had 6/12/16 months exactly from the account opening date ?

With the Virgin card for example, the introductory period ends on the date the 16th statement is produced. I understand the same is true of all MBNA run cards.

The longer you delay the first statement the longer your introductory period. Asking for it to be set to 'yesterday' prolongs the issue of the first statement by almost a month.

Even if you're already in your introductory period, MBNA will allow you to shift your statement date. Be careful though, because moving it too far towards the end of the month might mean it's produced 'early' (and lose you almost a full month) at the end of the deal due to the number of days in a particular month.