BALANCE TRANSERING between 2 cards 'Alternatively' for MONTHS??..IS IT A GOOD IDEA ?

Danny_G

If you keep doing balance transfers between 2 credit cards, by shifting the balance every month-40 days to the alternative card (interest incurring I know)

would the credit card companies who are doing the transfers be ok with this? is it an ok thing to do? or is a bad idea? and can make them stop allowing transfers or anything?

I dont have any other cards, but i have heard people do this.

amount - £1100.

For eg, £1100 is now on CARD A,

I do a balance transfer, to pay it on with CARD B. CARD B now has the £1100 debt.

40 days later, I get CARD A to pay off the balance on CARD B, so the debt of £1100 is back on CARD A.

then CARD B 40 days later......then CARD A again.

Day 1 = CARD A £1100
Day 40 = CARD B £1100
Day 80 = CARD A £1100
Day 120 = CARD B £1100
etc... keep switching.

a) is this a good thing to do?,,, i know i will incur interest etc. but its legal,

b) and if the card companies realise I am doing this with the same cards, could they say anything?

c) If so...How many times can you do the switches to the SAME cards,
- or unlimited?

d) How long can this go on, or it can go on forever?

e) Do particular cards allow this, and others dont? or all are fine with it?

Thanks

mrbigd

What's your situation and why would you want to do this?

The BT fee alone will make this very expensive.

Debt_Free_Dreamer

I don't understand why you are doing this. Why are you?

Danny_G

why? just to avoid paying it for a while. I will have the funds next year to pay it all of...

(i know i can do the direct debit monthly but still am asking about this way anyway.)

NB.ive put the value nearer to the real figure, (near £1200).

6000 was just to give the worse case scenareo, as the companies might be more strict on a higher amount (incase any of you are bankers lol)

opinions4u

Given that most card companies charge a fee, typically 3%, for each balance transfer, I think the idea is totally flawed.

3% = £36 a month x 12 = £432 a year in fees. Madness.

Focus on reducing your debts - paying off the ones charging the highest interest rate first.

a) is this a good thing to do?,,, i know i will incur interest etc. but its legal,

Legal and ridiculously expensive. Also the risk of a transfer being delayed and causing a late payment that damages your credit history.

b) and if the card companies realise I am doing this with the same cards, could they say anything?

c) If so...How many times can you do the switches to the SAME cards,
- or unlimited?

d) How long can this go on, or it can go on forever?

e) Do particular cards allow this, and others dont? or all are fine with it?

Don't know. Never done it and would never do it.

Moggles_2

Once upon various times, before the advent of BT fees, I milked this loophole using three credit cards which allowed the same grace period on BTs as purchases (Those were the days.)

It's hard to believe anyone would go to the trouble now though. Transfer charges alone would make it prohibitively expensive.

FWIW, I encountered no restrictions. I doubt whether cc providers can distinguish BACS payments made by other card companies from those of their customers.

td_007

Danny_G wrote: »

If you keep doing balance transfers between 2 credit cards, by shifting the balance every month-40 days to the alternative card (interest incurring I know)

would the credit card companies who are doing the transfers be ok with this? is it an ok thing to do? or is a bad idea? and can make them stop allowing transfers or anything?

Makes no sense as others before have pointed out. Why don't you use the money that you would have used to pay the transfer fees towards making the min payment?