Using a credit card to pay off a student loan

molt_head

im just wondering if this is possible. basically my girlfriend has a loan which she pays off at a rate of £66 a month. however they charge 15% intrest on this. just wondering which credit card would be best maybe to put the debt on to it and then pay it off from the credit card interest free. my reckoning would be that if we payed £80 a month with interest free the debt could be paid off within a year. help would be much appreciated.

HGLTsuperstar

You need either a SBT card offering 0% BTs, but none offer 0% over a year so you'd have to move at end of the offer period. Or get a non-SBT card and Egg money, do the BT FROM Egg money (it actually goes the other way) and then the debt is on the 0% card, Egg is in positive balance which they can then transfer to you to your bank account and pay the loan from there. And, if the current loophole still stands, you'd get 1% cashback on top! Read up on the SBT cards sticky at the top.

ceejam

15% is high for any loan!

Is it a Student Loans Company (Government) loan?

If so, it has to be the cheapest loan you can get in the UK!!

Student Loans Company

The interest rate from 1st September 2005 will be 3.2%

Found this too!

Making Voluntary repayments

You may pay off your loan more quickly by making voluntary repayments, whether or not your income is above the threshold. Any voluntary repayments should be made direct to SLC, who can advise how to do this. If you do choose to make these voluntary repayments they will be on top of any repayments collected through the tax system. The repayments which you make on the basis of your income will not be reduced, but you will pay off your loan more quickly by making voluntary repayments. Only voluntary repayments of £5 or more will be accepted.

You can make voluntary repayments by the following methods:

CHEQUE or POSTAL ORDER: please write your student reference number of the back of your cheque or postal order send direct to the Finance Department, Student Loans Company Ltd., 100 Bothwell Street, Glasgow, G2 7JD
DEBIT CARD (Switch, Solo, Delta) or CREDIT CARD (MasterCard and VISA): please telephone a customer adviser on Tel: 0870 240 6298
BANK GIRO CREDIT: please telephone a customer advisor on Tel: 0870 240 6298 and request a paying in book
STANDING ORDER: please telephone a customer advisor on Tel: 0870 240 6298 and request a standing order form

So if you got a 0% on purchases card, you could pay off your student loan with it! I might do that sometime!

xycom1

LOL I bet they will charge a % for payments by credit card though!

equitydealer

I don't believe there is a charge for using a credit card for paying off your student loan through the Student Loans Company. But they do NOT accept AMEX, only Visa and Mastercard. So if you use Egg Money, I assume you'll get 1% cashback.