Is £60 money transfer fee on £1,500 credit right?

USOpenTennisFan27

I'm borrowing £1,500 on my new Virgin credit card and got my first statement yesterday. I'd already paid £50 before the statement arrived (which Virgin have classed as a 'Faster Payment') and the minimum payment is £25. I've also taken out Lifestyle Protect insurance @ £11.93 on this statement. So I was quite shocked to read that, despite me paying in £50, the money transfer fee Virgin are charging on this £1,500 is £60.00, making the balance on the statement £1,521.93. I know Virgin/MBNA has to make a profit, but this £60 fee sounds way too steep to me and is the highest bank charge I've ever had to pay for anything by a long way. Mind you, I don't borrow money from credit cards very often, so I'd like to know what you think? If you think it's too much, what do you think this 'money transfer fee' should be and what do you think I should do to try and get a refund from Virgin/MBNA?

eslick

what does it say the £60 is for it cant be the balance transfer fee as this is only 2.98% just less than £45

Handling fee of 2.98% applies

stephane_2

If you have done a balance transfer and fee is 4%, then it sounds right to me. You have to check your T&C to check

USOpenTennisFan27

I'm not being charged a balance transfer fee because this is a brand new credit card and I'm still within the promotional period. There's only this 'money transfer fee' which is set at 4.00% and is for transferring the £1,500 into my Alliance & Leicester current account. I get 0% APR for 16 months on balance transfers and the balance transfer fee of 2.98% is also set at 0%, which is why I signed up to Virgin's credit card. Strangely the statement also says I get 0% on money transfers as well, so I'm really confused. I was expecting a small 'handling fee', but not this 4% money transfer fee, which under the T&C looks like it should be set at 0% as well for the same reason the balance transfer fee is set at 0% - because I'm still under in the promotional interest rate period.

stephane_2

Very few lenders will allow you to do balance transfer without any fee, most of them charge between 2% to 3% and you pay 0% interest during the promotional offer. Regarding what they call "super balance transfer" which is transferring cash from your card to a bank account, generally the fee occurred is higher 3 to 4% and the 0% interest still apply during the promotional offer.

noh

You have carried out a money transfer.
With Virgin/MBNA the fee for this is 4% (min £3).
This is stated in the T+Cs you agreed to, a summary of which can be seen here:-
http://uk.virginmoney.com/virgin/credit-cards-v3/popup/summary.jsp

There are no grounds for a refund. This is the amount you agreed to pay.

anotherpaul_2

From the Virgin website:
"Money Transfer made within 60 days from the account opening date - 4.00% handling fee, min £3"
So, they're charged what they said they would. Unfortunely, I think you misunderstood the fees.

A 4% fee on a 16 month interest free loan works out roughly 3% APR, which is a pretty good rate for a loan.

USOpenTennisFan27

Yeah, I think I'm getting my transfer fees mixed up with interest rate fees. (You can tell I'm not used to borrowing money).