New Balance Transfer Discussion Area

macwise

I had an interesting experience with a financial institutions recently which I'd liek to share with y'all.

I had an out-of-control overdraft which I thought I should pay off by applying for an SBT credit card and hadn't quite got round to it when I was doing some phone banking and happened to mention to the operator my plans for paying off the overdraft. He suggested I apply for their own Halifax One card, which would suit the job so I immediately did there and then. A week later, it arrived and I discovered that it was not possible to pay off my Halifax overdraft with a Halifax card. Had I read the BBT article a little closer, I realise I probably would have known this already.

Anyway, I rang them to find out why I had been sold this product for a purpose it clearly was not capable of. I was put through to a friendly, yet officious sounding man, who said that the operator could not possibly have known that that was my intention as all staff know that this is impossible. "And anyway", he told me "credit cards never pay off overdrafts or loans, only other credit card balances". So I told him what little I know of super balance transfers and he said he had never heard of them and he told me I must be mistaken. However, I insisted that I know it does exist because I've done it before, so he said he'd check with his supervisor. He came back to the phone a few seconds later and told me (in no uncertain terms) that there is no such thing!

Obviously I was incensed, so I told him he needs to get on the internet and check out moneysavingexpert.com and learn a thing or two about credit cards and super balance transfers.

Just to satisfy your curiosity, I did pay off my overdraft in the end, using my egg card and then transfered the egg balance on to the new card which is 0% for 12 months.

tamtam10000

I have just remortgaged and paid off most of my credit cards, but have a flexible egg loan that I'd like to pay a big lump of on a SBT card if I can.

However, last time I applied for a credit card to do the shuffle a few months ago I was turned down (by Capital One! THAT'S how bad it was :eek: ).

So, what I need to know is, how long I should leave it after I cancel my old cards, before I'm likely to be accepted for new ones at a decent limit etc?

Anybody got any ideas?

Many thanks!

YorkshireBoy

tamtam10000 wrote:

Anybody got any ideas?

I can't answer your question about how long you should wait, but would suggest before you do anything to get hold of your credit report from one of the credit reference agencies...

https://www.equifax.co.uk and https://www.experian.co.uk

...and have a look for anything there that could be causing the problem, looking specifically for:

1. You're on the electoral role
2. Your amount of available credit isn't excessive to your income. You say you've just re-mortgaged and paid off most of your credit cards. If you've funded the credit card settlement with the re-mortgage money, then this could be a problem if you've not properly closed down your old cards. ie if they're not showing 'S' for settled on your credit report - because you've actually INCREASED your available credit.
3. Your current balances (credit cards & overdraft) aren't excessively high
4. Good payment history (lots of '0's, ie zeros against your payment information. The odd '1' might be OK, but more than this could be a problem)
5. You haven't had too many credit searches against you recently
6. Any financial associations that you were perhaps unaware of (or thought you had terminated)

Other than that, it's just the usual stuff like salary, stable background (ie not too many house moves), on the electoral roll at every address you lived for the last 6 years, and a reasonable length of employment.

Money_Man_Steve

Interesting note for anyone with a Citi credit card:

I got a Citi Visa card about five or six months ago - the one with 1% cashback - as recommended by Martin on this very site!

I just got some credit card cheques in the post from Citi today, with a very reasonable 4.9% APR 'life of balance' transfer offer. This matches the best life of balance deal from Amex in Martin's article, with the added benefit that you can use the cheques to pay off an overdraft or other bills. I've had a look at the T&C's that were enclosed with the Citi cheques, and there's no mention of a balance transfer fee.

Of course, repayments are biased towards the balances with the cheaper 4.9% rate first. That means that the offer should only be used if you clear your Citi balance first, do the transfer at the 4.9% rate, and then don't spend on the card until you have paid off the amount that you have transferred...

tamtam10000

YorkshireBoy wrote:

2. Your amount of available credit isn't excessive to your income. You say you've just re-mortgaged and paid off most of your credit cards. If you've funded the credit card settlement with the re-mortgage money, then this could be a problem if you've not properly closed down your old cards. ie if they're not showing 'S' for settled on your credit report - because you've actually INCREASED your available credit.

Aha! I hadn't thought about it that way. :T I will wait until my cards all say they're closed and then get my credit files as you suggest.

Thanks!

jesc99

Hi All.
I recently applied for a Virgin card offering 0% for 9mths with no BT fee. After hearing nothing for 3-4wks, I phoned today to be told I'd been approved. When I asked why I had had to contact Virgin to find out I'd been approved, I was told that they had been swamped with recent applications. When I asked about BTs, I was told that a BT fee of 2%, capped at £50 would be applied. I pointed out that, at the time of application, there was no BT fee and it was their delay processing the application that meant that I had had to wait for 4wks, and was told that a previous customer had raised this point before but Virgin still applied the BT fee.
Has anyone else had similar experiences? I want to borrow £10K for 9mths to pay off my offset mortgage - is it worth doing inspite of the BT fee?

michaels

Money_Man_Steve wrote:

Interesting note for anyone with a Citi credit card:

I got a Citi Visa card about five or six months ago - the one with 1% cashback - as recommended by Martin on this very site!

I just got some credit card cheques in the post from Citi today, with a very reasonable 4.9% APR 'life of balance' transfer offer. This matches the best life of balance deal from Amex in Martin's article, with the added benefit that you can use the cheques to pay off an overdraft or other bills. I've had a look at the T&C's that were enclosed with the Citi cheques, and there's no mention of a balance transfer fee.

Of course, repayments are biased towards the balances with the cheaper 4.9% rate first. That means that the offer should only be used if you clear your Citi balance first, do the transfer at the 4.9% rate, and then don't spend on the card until you have paid off the amount that you have transferred...

I wonder if this applies to eveyone - I got this card to just as a backup just in case cap one downgraded my circle card - now I would appreciate the chance to borrow flexibly at 4.9% - I think I will give them a call

Smudge32

Could someone put my jangling nerves at ease please?

I've currently got £3500 on credit cards. £2000 on Lloyds 0%, £1500 Sainsburys 0%, both deals finishing Jan 06.

I've just seen this Capital One card 0% until 1/1/07. Reading Martins article, he says it may be worth it due to the length. There's a 2% BT fee - £70.

My question is do you reckon I should go for this and pay £70, or BT in January for a shorter 0% card paying nothing? Not sure what my credit score is like.

Greeny2_2

Great article but Capital One don't include the 16 month transfer offer on their web site. How then do I apply on line?

ler01kjh

Can anyone give me their calculated advice?

I have received a letter from MBNA offering me a balance transfer. They will give me 0% until March (5 months), to a limit of £18,000. They will charge me an unlimited 2% transfer fee for this.

My plan would be to put this in a savings account. I currently receive 5.65% pa from Cahoot.

Please can someone advice whether I should take MBNA up on the offer, and what interest rate my savings account would need to fall to when I am 'break even'.

Many thanks...