Ingenius loophole for all credit cards

mrwibble

Well you could use a CC like Egg that allows transfers to a bank a/c.

It would work something like this :

0) Spend money on CC#2
1) Transfer CC #2 balance from Egg to bank account
2) Pay off CC #2 from bank account
3) BT balance plus interest accrued from CC#2 to pay off Egg BT
4) Spend money on CC#2 during month
5) Goto 1

The fly in the ointment is that interest is accruing on both balances via BT and growing as the purchases made each month accumulate towards the credit limit. So all you are really doing is reducing your interest-free periods but gaining BT rates of interest on CC #2 - as long as your card providers don't charge BT fees or place limits on the number of BT transactions.

All in all just a way to put all your spending on BT interest rates - this is what many of us are doing - without the CC spending.

You have to ask yourself which is the more likely :

1) You have found a loophole that lots of financial wizards in the CC industry has missed
2) The CC industry has lots of brains working for it and against it and this loophole either has been closed or never existed

Anwen_2

I remember a story on the news or such when I was quite young, so probably late 80s, about a man who was basically doing this with a ridiculous number of cards, and he ended up owing an obscene amount of money. So if it didn't work nearly 20 years ago, I doubt it would work now!

roswell

there are people who have been doing thsi for years but you have to have cards from different issueers and eventualy it will catch up to you, you can pay credit off with credit its the same as making a purchase but you would have to do it over the phone and advise you were making a PAYMENT not a transfer.

super_mario_4

sorry to be a party pooper here but this is bad, bad, bad! yes its a nice idea in principle, but i think another name for this is "burying your head in the sand". i think you should be asking yourself if you have no disposable income why are you carrying borrowing on two credit cards? isnt this living beyond your means?

if there is going to be a definite change in your circumstances or your definitely getting some money in the near future, then yes it could tide you over but if your using it to live on then its suicide.

i work for a c/c in the collections dept and i see this quite a lot. another variation is withdrawing cash from the credit card and putting it in your bank acc to cover your minimim payment. to be fair you can do this for a while, even a couple fo years but IT WILL CATCH UP ON YOU eventually :eek:

Chris2000

mrwibble wrote:

The fly in the ointment is that interest is accruing on both balances via BT

I can bounce between cahoot and Halifax Clear (no longer available to new customers) without the balance increasing. Neither card charges fees or interest, as long as the balance is cleared by the due date.

Meanwhile the money sits in my cahoot savings account earning me interest.

Dave_the_Ginger_Cat

King_Of_Fools wrote:

You cannot make a credit card payment to pay off another credit card.

This is not always the case. Certain lenders allow you to pay by credit card if you are over limit or in collections, both of which I recommend strongly against. 1) It affects your credit rating 2) You will almost certainly be charged between a £10 and £30 fee for this midemeanor. I am not aware of anyone letting up to date customers do this.
Regards.
DTGC