Large Balance Transfer needed......

JJGJ

Husband has £20k on one credit card - how can we transfer this to 0% interest cards . The interest is crippling us. Conscious of trying to apply on line for cards as it will affect his credit rating.............?

chattychappy

I had a slightly lower balance than that on MBNA a couple of year back.

I applied for both Barclaycard Platinum and Natwest Platinum online at the same time and got accepted for both - £18,150 limit between them. Both allowed me to BT up to near the limit and I was able to clear MBNA. Within weeks MBNA were making further offers.

Things are tougher now. From my experience, Halifax, Barclaycard and Natwest have been most generous limit-wise.

Other points:

1) Do you have any cards that have zero balances? If so ring them up and see if you can do a deal. You might have to threaten to cancel. Eg Barclaycard seem to offer 6.9% LOB + 2.5% to existing customers with zero balance.

2) Consider whether you want life of balance deals or 0% deals. You could mix - ie one card on each.

3) You can't BT to a card "from the same stable" ... in particular alot of cards are issued by MBNA.

4) Though you are concerned about his rating, surely saving cash is more important? Yep too many searches will be negative, but only a transient one. On the other hand, if you look overextended and through a new card can chip away at the debt faster, this will improve things.

I think "in this climate" you would be lucky to get that much new credit in one go... but clearly anything is better than nothing.

JJGJ

So would it be best to apply for 2 cards with and split the balance between them. Applied for Sainsburys card with the full balance transfer, which got rejected, so obviously too high a limit to transfer to one?

Happy to carry on paying what we're paying, but would like to see it actually coming off the balance!. Own fault I know, but learning fast now. Have 2 cards with zero balance, Egg and Morgan Stanley (I think they have changed now) - would it be worth ringing them and seeing if they would do 0% deal for a while.

IWantToBeFree_2

You'd be better off going for a life of balance deal rather than a 0%, if you get 0% for a short while you are only going to end up in the same position again when that 0% runs out. Whilst a LOB deal attracts interest, its there until the balance is paid and you won't have to sort out more deals in a few months time.

YorkshireBoy

JJGJ wrote: »

So would it be best to apply for 2 cards with and split the balance between them. Applied for Sainsburys card with the full balance transfer, which got rejected, so obviously too high a limit to transfer to one?

No, the BT you requested will have played no part in your rejection. Some other factors (perhaps used credit/available credit/income issues) are responsible for the rejection.

Have you checked your credit reports? If not, do so...perhaps before applying elsewhere.

When you do decide to apply again, I'd be making several (3-4) applications to try to ensure I got as much as possible onto a better rate. The longer you leave between applications the less chance you have of being accepted...with your current level of debt.

Have 2 cards with zero balance, Egg and Morgan Stanley (I think they have changed now) - would it be worth ringing them and seeing if they would do 0% deal for a while.

Always worth a try. Even if it's not 0%, chances are they can do something better than you're paying now.

78mjt

I got an £18k limit with Play.com, I think it's 6 or 9 months free on balance transfers adn only a 1.5% handling fee, which is LOW

Moggles_2

78mjt wrote: »

I got an £18k limit with Play.com. I think it's 6 or 9 months free on balance transfers and only a 1.5% handling fee, which is LOW

It's 0% on balance transfers for 6 months from the date your account is opened on BTs made in the first 90 days and, as you say, a 1.5% handling fee applies.

http://www.play.com

Moggles_2

Husband has £20k on one credit card. How can we transfer this to 0% interest cards?

May I ask which credit card is involved?
Btw, Morgan Stanley was taken over by Barclaycard

YorkshireBoy

I'd wager that, with £20K on one card, the OP's husband's current card is more than likely run by MBNA, who are known to give very large limits. If that's correct, the play.com card would be a wasted application.

OP, check out this who owns who table before applying anywhere.

JJGJ

Yes it is MBNA

YorkshireBoy

Another thing to bear in mind is the cost of servicing the debt once it's shifted.

The MBNA minimum payment is 1% of the balance. Everyone else bar Halifax/BoS will charge you 2-4%. Is that going to be a problem? If the answer is no, then I assume you're overpaying MBNA now? If not, why not?