Why do Balance Transfers take so long to show on card being paid off?

theesel1994

I made a balance transfer from RBS to MBNA on Friday. On the Monday it showed up as a pending transaction at MBNA. By Tuesday it had gone through with the balance transfer fee also showing. But it still isn't showing at RBS. Yet purchases I made at three different shops on the Monday are showing on the RBS card.

Is it so they can charge me the interst on these extra days - and charge interest from day one of the purchases?

MBNA are a lot faster at showing things generally - if I use their card in a shop, by the time I get home it is showing up as "pending transactions" online.

CannyJock

A balance transfer will always appear on the receiving card first.

If you have a think about the mechanics, it's pretty straight forward.
1. You asked MBNA to transfer a balance from the RBS card.
2. MBNA add the amount to your balance with them and add the balance transfer fee.
3. MBNA send a payment to RBS for the amount you asked them to transfer.
4. The payment is made by BACS (or all mine have to date) so takes at least 3 days.
5. RBS apply the payment to your account with them when they have cleared funds.

Purchases and payments are applied to your account through completely different procedures, so there's no point trying to compare them.

RBS will charge you interest until the payment from MBNA is cleared at their side - remember a BT is just a payment between card companies