Free Cash From Credit Cards Discussion Area

Clariman

Dan40 wrote:

If the SBT 0% on a Virgin card is for new customers only, do you have to apply for another new cc from some other bank offering BT of 0% at the end of 9 months? Or can you get 0% BT again after some time as an existing customer???

If you wish to maintain a borrowed sum of money at 0% then you do need to find another 0% BT offer before the Virgin card intro offer expires. When you have one, simply do a BT from the Virgin card to the new one. The new one does not need to be a SBT card.

When you have finished with the Virgin 0% card, close the card down. After a given period (normally 6 to 8 months - can't remember for Virgin), you will be treated as a new customer if you apply for a new card with them.

Clariman

Dan40_2

Yes, I already have an Egg card with their 5 months anniversary offer, so that means opening one new 0% BT credit card each year to keep money rolling? The Virgin SBT 0% offer is for new customers only? You cannot use it after 5 months with Egg to transfer it back? Thanks

essay_2

In my family of four, we have all applied for EGG credit cards and used it as an interest free loan. None of us use the cards for purchases. When the anniversary offer comes around we put the balance transfer in an EGG savings account in my name as I am a non tax payer. Currently EGG are paying us interest to look after £20,000 of their money!! (Makes up for the loss in share value)
A useful tip for those who have an EGG card and apply for balance transfers with other cards that don't allow balance transfers to current accounts. Simply transfer the balance to your EGG card and then transfer that to your current account.

Blambag

firstly thankyou for this wonderful site, it has really opened my eyes. I am very new to all this and not even aware that there was such a thing as a sbt. Today I applied for a virgin card to transfer my exsisting debt of £1000, but would also like to benifit from some money going into my bank account, can you tell how to go about this, i mean what do I say I need the money for?

johnfthetraveller

Blambag wrote:

but would also like to benifit from some money going into my bank account, can you tell how to go about this, i mean what do I say I need the money for?

I was cautious at first, but I've not come accross anyone who pry's at all. Often saying that you want to transfer to your current account so that you can pay of some debts is sufficient. I use Egg for SBT's and there it's even simpler as I can do the transfer online, without having to explain to anyone!

stain3565

Understand this generally except for one statement Martin made.

In Step 4, he said "Yet moving the debt to another 0% deal maintains the money making."

Given the following scenario with, say, a Virgin card, what does he mean:

Apply for the credit card with a bank transfer of the £2000 limit.

Set up direct debit to pay 2.25% each month for 9 months (about £50 a month)

Put the £2000 in an ISA

The 9 months is up. I understood the idea of paying off the outstanding balance (probably about £1600) but is Martin suggesting doing something else with the £1600 debt on the card rather than paying it off? Is he suggesting getting another SBT credit card and transferring this £1600 across to it before asking for a bank transfer up to this new cards limit (minus £1600 I guess)? I guess this incurs no extra cost but can someone explain how this is even more profitable?

Cheers

Mark

YorkshireBoy

stain3565 wrote:

Set up direct debit to pay 2.25% each month for 9 months (about £50 a month)

The Virgin minimum payment is £5 only (if you've no PPI, fees, or interest)

stain3565 wrote:

The 9 months is up. I understood the idea of paying off the outstanding balance (probably about £1600) but is Martin suggesting doing something else with the £1600 debt on the card rather than paying it off? Is he suggesting getting another SBT credit card and transferring this £1600 across to it before asking for a bank transfer up to this new cards limit (minus £1600 I guess)? I guess this incurs no extra cost but can someone explain how this is even more profitable?

Nearly there. In your Virgin case (and with rough figures), the outstanding balance after 9 months is £1,955 (£2,000-(9*5)). Before the end of the Virgin 0% intro period you would then apply for another BT card (say a Capital One 9 month deal) and say to Capital One "I've got £1,955 debt on my Virgin card - will you take it on please"? Capital One pay Virgin the £1,955 and you start to pay Capital One 3% minimum payments of ~£59 per month. Obviously this will start to reduce your pot somewhat, so what some people do is top up with additional "fresh" cards in between deals and route them through an SBT card such as Egg (or MBNA with charges).

There's a step-by-step guide at https://www.stoozing.com/full.htm

stain3565

Ok, think I'm in the picture now just one other thing. If i transfer the £1955 to a second BT card, and this has a credit limit of £2500, can I also transfer out the remaining £545 into my own bank, thus topping up the pot? If so, is this easy to do (ie transferring a debt at the same time as transferring cash out)?

stain3565

Just one more thing. As Martin says, some BT cards will charge a fee unless you ask for the transfer to your bank on application. I looked at the Abbey card. It does not look like this can be done online, so I guess I would have to apply by phone. However, there appears to be no mention in the terms that this charge will be waived if you ask for the transfer at application time. Is this the case?

chrisjj_2

Bond wrote:

Obviously this does affect your returns as your borrowed monies reduce

Alternatively get two cards and make the repayments on each through a BT from the other.