The Best Balance Transfers Article Discussion Area

ricklecoat

Another question:
What is considered a suitable amount of time to wait between card applications in order to avoid getting penalised?

kenshaz

six months

ricklecoat

Thanks. I might have jumped the gun then -- just applied for a Capital One Platinum card, but I applied for (and got) a Lloyds TSB Platinum card around April. Still, only two card applications and 4 months apart, maybe I'll slip through...

tctjeremy

Hi everybody,

I am in following situation. I am about to receive a 15k Platinum CC from Lloyds with a 0% BT offer with a 2.5% BT fee (uncapped).

I have only a virgin, halifax one and morgan stanley cc's with around £4000 limit (no egg as they have declined me )

I am tempted by doing the balance transfer splitting around £3000 between my 3 cards (i.e. 3x3000= £9000 at a fee of £225) in the hope that virgin, halifax one and M Stanely will transfer the money from Lloyds Platinum back to my current account and subsequently to my savings account that runs at 4.5%

Question:
I have heard that cc companies only transfer overpayments back to it's source (i.e. they would only pay back to my Lloyds Platinum account). Is that true?

If you could share your experence, it would be really good.

Many thanks in advance

Jeremy

leoleo73

I applied online to Barclaycard's fixed rate for life of balance-transfer card and about a week later I was asked for "further information from you to help us check your identity and address.", with 30 days, namely:

1. A telephone or utility bill in your name and showing your address and dated within the last 3 months.

2. If you are working, your two most recent pay slips [and other things if you're not]

3. Two months' Bank or Building Society statements showing your name and address and dated within the last three months. If you are working, these must show details of the salary matching you [sic] pay slips.

This is far more onerous than I have encountered before and was nearly impossible for me, which is why I am posting the list so fellow moneysavers can prepare in advance.

Just to explain why this was nearly impossible for me:

When I opened my Lloyds TSB current account I requested my bank statements quarterly to cut down filing etc., but in practice they arrive irregularly (e.g. 17th January, 6th March, 18th May). The request for id was dated 18th August and arrived on the 22nd. At that point the only pay slips I had within the last 3 months were end of June and end of July and I did not have a bank statements for those months. Based on the dates of my last statements it looked like I should have received a statement between 1 and 2 weeks before to match those payslips, so there was a chance it had got lost. I phoned LLoyds TSB to order statements, but at the time their phone banking system was out of order, and anyway they told me it would take over a week to send out a statement. At that point my end of June payslip would be more than 3 months old by the time they received it and therefore not acceptable. Therefore I decided to wait until the end of August and then request statements showing July's and August's pay, aware that any delays would mean I missed the 30 days after the letter limitation. Fortunately my statement arrived a few days later dated the 22nd August.

The second reason it was nearly impossible was that they enclosed an 1/3rd A4 envelope which wasn't really big enough for all that documentation. Worse, it was slightly smaller than the standard envelope size (presumably so it could fit in the envelope it came in without folding). Worse still Lloyds TSB use slightly larger than A4 paper for statements. Even worse, despite them refering to it as a Freepost envelope at one point, it was a pre-paid envelope so I couldn't use a different one without paying for postage. In the end I used a standard 1/3rd A4 envelope and put that inside their envelope with the help of scissors and selotape

Moggles_2

I went searching for a BT with 0% interest and Sky have got one until June 2007. I admit theres a transfer fee of 2.99% but if its a straight BT from one card to another isn't this a good deal?

The handling charge is actually 2.5%
(2.99% sounds like the minimum monthly payment required)

Note that there's no limit to the balance transfer fee payable!

IMO, 0% deals involving uncapped handling charges are best avoided.

Moggles_2

When you pay a BT fee (eg 2%) and it gets added to the card's balance, what sort of debt is it? I mean, is it considered part of the balance transfer and therefore interest free, or is it considered a 'purchase' and thus sits racking up interest — but trapped behind the transferred balance so that you can't pay it off?

There's no easy answer to this question. It all depends how the customer's payments are allocated. This, like almost everything else, varies between lenders.

For instance:

Capital One charges a 2% fee. Your first payment is allocated to this handling charge and any remaining money put towards the balance. Because it's repaid first, the fee's swallowed up by your first 3% minimum payment and can in effect be slow-stoozed for the entire 0% introductory period.

MBNAcollects the BT fee with the first minimum payment.

Egg treats the BT fees as purchase transactions, which are paid last, so the BT fee sits on the bill attracting interest.

Moggles_2

What is considered a suitable amount of time to wait between card applications in order to avoid getting penalised?

No more than one new credit card application every three months is regarded as the best rule of thumb for most people.

More than four applications in 12 months could signal over-commitment to potential lenders.

Also, it's wise to space out other credit applications - mobile phones for instance - as these can reduce your credit score too.

Moggles_2

I might have jumped the gun then -- just applied for a Capital One Platinum card, but I applied for (and got) a Lloyds TSB Platinum card around April. Still, only two card applications and 4 months apart, maybe I'll slip through...

Depends how many new credit cards you've applied for in the last year.

Each search of your credit file leaves a footprint that drops off the report after 12 months.

If the Lloyds TSB and Capital One applications are the only two you have made in the last year, you should be okay.

PeteW

Right, just realised the interest free period ends on my Tesco credit card ends on friday and I've about £2k short of paying off the full balance! So I guess a balance trasfer to another 0% card is the best idea? Anyone any suggestions as to what cards I could transfer to? are there any left with no fee?

cheers