AMEX 0% BT for life!

Happy_Shrimper

Hi All,
Got a letter from Amex today offering a Balance transfer for 0% for the life of the transfer with fee capped at £40.:beer:
Not read all the T&C yet as it only just dropped on the doormat.

Anyone ahead of me and can spot a flaw in the offer? I seem to remember AMEX require some spent in order to avoid a annual fee.

I'm sure there is a catch, but sounds good so far. Will report back anything I find in T&C.

Regards
HS

P.S. I am an existing cardholder, so I guess this is for existing cardholders only.
I've now read the T&C and there seems to be no catches. Only question is about the annual fee if you don't use the card.
As with all other cards, if you make a purchase, the 0% balance is cleared first leaving interest attracting purchases in place. However, if the annual fee is £13, thats not bad or a 0% lifetime BT!

King_Of_Fools

Happy_Shrimper wrote:

I've now read the T&C and there seems to be no catches. Only question is about the annual fee if you don't use the card.
As with all other cards, if you make a purchase, the 0% balance is cleared first leaving interest attracting purchases in place. However, if the annual fee is £13, thats not bad or a 0% lifetime BT!

You will not have 0% on the £13 fee, however but will be charged interest at the full rate. So you have to take this into account as well.

Happy_Shrimper

Can anyone confirm what the annual charge if you don't use your card enough and what is the minimum spend on Amex?

Has anyone else recieved this offer recently?

King_Of_Fools

Happy_Shrimper wrote:

Can anyone confirm what the annual charge if you don't use your card enough and what is the minimum spend on Amex?

Depends on the card. For Amex Blue, I believe it is £15 and £500 respectively.

Afahmaep

I got caught out last March 2005 with an account servicing charge of £15.00. I think the minimum annual spend excluding BTs was £500 or more to avoid this charge but I can't find my original T&Cs.
No chance this year as I've spent over £600 in April. Hopefully when I clear this month's bill I'll get this offer too.

Happy_Shrimper

£15 pa isn't bad for a life time 0%.
It would be better this way than spending on it as interest at full rate on £500 is clearly more than £15 per year.
I may well take up this deal and let the £15 charge be applied each year.

Happy_Shrimper

The plot thickens.
Phoned Amex this morning and spoke to an indian call centre who looked up the offer.
I was then told the deal was for 0% for 6 months not life. The letter was sent in error.
Now, on the bottom of the letter, there is a transfer request form for the offer.
Should I send it back and hope for the best?
They did log into my account so may have noted that I called about the offer.
How would I stand if they whacked me with interest after 6 months?

Anyone else got this letter?
HS

nomoneytoday

King_Of_Fools wrote:

You will not have 0% on the £13 fee, however but will be charged interest at the full rate. So you have to take this into account as well.

The interest on £13 is negliable in the scheme of things.
Even at 15% APR it is £1.95 a year, or less than 20p a month.

philgods

I have the same letter.
I have 6 grand on other credit cards and, according to the letter, I will get 0% for life as long as I keep up with the minimum payments each month.
However when I called, they said they cannot transfer the money today and will send out another letter to "clarify" the situation ASAP.
Are they obliged to honour this original offer. Should I call customer services?
Martin...are you there for some help?
Phil

philgods

Just called customer services (in UK thankfully!)
Got them squirming when I enquired quite forcefully whether they would be honouring this letter. It seems it was sent out in error and the terms should have been 0% for 6 months.
No decision by them yet but they are calling back in 48 hours. Watch this space.

Phil

Happy_Shrimper

Nice one Phil! Seemed a rather generous offer. I was thinking about photocopying the offer letter and returning the paper slip with a covering note saying Please perform the BT on the enclosed form as per the attached offer and see what happens.