Bouncing debt between Credit cards

Daytona_nev

Just a thought.

I've had an idea for some time relating to bouncing credit card balances between 2 normal rate ( not 0% ) cards but never had the bottle to do it.

Lets say for example i have 3k on one card. If i transfer this to another card at the start of the other cards monthly cycle. That card then statements the next month with the new 3k on and then i had 15 or whatever days to make the payment due date before i get charged interest. I then transfer this back to the old card before the payment due date, then with the old card, i allow it to statment with the newly transferred 3k on, then again transfer back before the payment due date. I believe i could go on indefinately doing this ( as long as i had the self discipline to keep to the timing ), therefore never reducing the balance & just bouncing the debt between 2 cards, month by month.

If i did this, i could plough all my cash into paying a loan off early, then concentrate on my credit cards after clearing my loan.

Anyone ever tried this? Do banks put a limit on how many BTs you can do?

bpyoung

You nearly always have to start paying interest on BTs the second you transfer them - i.e there's no interest free period like you get on purchases.

Daytona_nev

Damn, that rains on my parade then!

Galstonian

You nearly always have to start paying interest on BTs the second you transfer them - i.e there's no interest free period like you get on purchases.

Nearly always? Who doesn't?

Milarky

There's a thread I started entitled 'IFP Balance Transferers' trying to identify the opportunities for this very thing:

http://forum.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=Questions;action=display;num=1087367702

The way to discover which cards do/do not allow balance transfers to benefit from the normal interest free period is to look in the summary box, which all card issuers now (helpfully!) provide.

[I did suggest that discussing what cards currently do IFP-BTs might lead to those particular loopholes being closed, but I think we should just share this information freely on the same basis that we blatantly promote 'stoozing' on this site. I hope that the Mod 'concurs'?]