Halifax Credit Cheques

Scotianet

I have been sent Halifax Credit cheques and told that I can transfer existing credit card balances to my credit card using these.. Thing is I would like to know if I can transfer an existing debt from a PC that I bought from Tiny... the Debt is at 29.9 % APR but my card transfer would work out at 6.9% APR... this seems a good deal but the company who do Tiny's credit said the last time that I couldn't pay off this debt with a Credit card.... does anyone know if it would be possible to pay it with these cheques..????

It would save me a load of interest ...

rocking_horse

Check Tiny wont do you over with penalties.The cheques,if the same as mine are not the same as a credit card transfer and I think would be OK. On the bumf it says to use them where you would not normally use a card but would use a cheque.

JasonW_2

Are you sure these cheques arent counted as cash advances, and carry a huge 18%+ interest charge??

Bank of Scotland used to send me these all the time and I used to keep ripping them up. Check and check again before you use them so you dont get burned!

JW

rocking_horse

JasonW wrote:

Are you sure these cheques arent counted as cash advances, and carry a huge 18%+ interest charge??

Bank of Scotland used to send me these all the time and I used to keep ripping them up. Check and check again before you use them so you dont get burned!

JW

Mine were OK. I phoned and got a credit increase before using them too.

JasonW_2

I dont mean to offend you at all, but are you sure?

If you are and you checked it out, then great Its just a stunt that CC companies try. Normally you dont get any interest free period paying with them, and it bumps that onto the cash advance rate as if you had drawn money from an ATM. Thats why they make it sound great that you can do balance transfers, as its the same as writing the other lender a cheque to clear the balance from your current account, but instead of getting a special BT rate, bang! you're paying 4 times the interest in some cases for the same thing.

Just be careful. Hopefully someone can confirm or deny this. I hope you are right and get a good deal with them.

edit: found some links to back up what Im saying http://www.prudentminds.com/newsarticle7591974.html
http://www.epolitix.com/EN/ForumBriefs/200410/09591c3e-0d42-460a-9e98-50df3b884b03.htm


JW

scattycat_3

CC cheque promos are used in two ways to boost the card company's income.

Either part of an offer to get you to start using a card that is dormant or "under used", or to tempt you to spend on a card that has been used for a 0% transfer, thus incurring interest.

Read the terms and conditions in the accompanying letter very carefully. See if there is a fee/charge for using the cheque, sometimes 2%, sometimes nil. Check that it is 6.9% interest the cheque payment will incur, sometimes it will be treated as a cash withdrawal, sometimes as a normal card purchase. If you are unsure, phone them and ask, it will be Dunfirmline or Cardiff.

You probably have landed lucky, but also check with Tiny about settlement costs. Must be better than 29.9%.

HTHs Scat

Scotianet

Right, here goes letter in front of me.. (My main concern was that Tiny wouldn't let me pay off my Debt with these Cheques) Now I have all these other concerns to look at.. Anyway the just of the letter is "Transfer a balance using these credit card cheques before 28th February 2005 and save money with a low rate of 6.9% APR that lasts the full lifetime of the balance you transfer" the small print on the letter states that if they are used after the 28th February then the APR will be 21.9% APR So it looks good up til now.... it might even be better if I do this and then find out I can then try and transfer this to a 6 month 0% card after a while who knows?
Thanks to all who have replied to this as it gives me some hope of getting rid of a bad debt quicker and cheaper just hope Tiny go for it.

scattycat_3

Seth,or mabe not (random signiature?).(edit cos some other MSEers have Seth too:rolleyes: )

The cheque will be treated as a standard bank cheque by Tiny.

As you already have the Halifax card, I would just transfer the debt to the card before the end of Feb, the sooner the better as Tiny will have to present it to the bank for it to appear on your card before the 28th.

As to putting it onto a 0% card, that depends on the amount and how long you will need/want to pay it off. It will take time and trouble to get approval for a 0% card.


You dont say how much, so to give you some figures to go on.

Say the cheque was for £1000, dont forget the interest charge will reduce as you pay it off. At first it would be £5.75 in first full month.
If you pay £50 + the months interest (£55.75 in 1st month) at end of year you will have paid £600 off capital and still owe £400, but interest will have dropped to £2.30 a month.

HTHs Scat

deemy2004

halifax are like that

The offer you get on the credit card cheques varies, sometimes its 0%, no charges, sometimes its treated as purchases , sometimes its with a 2% fee, check and read and keep the terms and conditions !

Once I recall they told me I would get £10 cashback for every £1k I spent using the cheques. Never paid up !

johnllew

JasonW wrote:

Are you sure these cheques arent counted as cash advances, and carry a huge 18%+ interest charge??

Bank of Scotland used to send me these all the time and I used to keep ripping them up.

Up until October 2003, most Bank of Scotland cheques were treated as purchases with the normal 56 day interest-free period and no handling fee. I used them for short term "stoozing" for years on several BoS card accounts and made several thousand ££s out of it.

Not all credit card cheques should be thrown away.

rocking_horse

The cheques are at 6.9% as stated .There is no extra charge for use. Make sure you leave enough to cover the interest charged still on the card.Ie if you have a 5K balance then write out the cheque for a bit less,dont know howmuch interest that would be,perhaps someone will let us know.