Do the banks ever get wise to tarting?

sarahs999

Obviously banks hate tarts as they don't make any money from them. Can they track your tarting history, and do they? I just ask as I've been a super good tart for several years now, starting with debts of around ten grand which are now at about seven, but haven't paid a penny of interest.

WIll they eventually stop offering me cards?

Joe_Bloggs

Card providers can make an instant 2-3% on uncapped balance transfers. over a six month deal this works out as 4-6% per annum on fees alone.
J_B.

sdj25

well the fact that they now charge a hefty 2-3% fee on transfers, I guess this is to pay for some of the tarting.

As long as you keep the cards down to a minimum ( I see you have 2 at the moment) then you should be fine for a while to come.

The market does seem to be heading away from BT promotions & is trying to push cashback / points card, so the 12month offers may start dissapearing soon.

sarahs999

Yes, good point. I'd forgotten about fees. Still, if you do it carefully even with fees it works out cheaper than many life of balance offers.

Guess I'll just be careful how many cards I get.

S

myrnahaz

I think they're all pretty much aware of tarts by now. I've just been accepted (yesterday, after picking up tips on this site) for a virgin 12 month interest free BT. I said that I wanted to transfer £7,500 but the guy on the phone apologised that he could only offer me £8,000 but then happily added that at least it would cover my BT which is probably what I wanted to do - I almost felt guilty that he knew my secret. I'm scared to feel too thrilled until I actually get the card in my hand.

sdj25

sarahs999 wrote:

Yes, good point. I'd forgotten about fees. Still, if you do it carefully even with fees it works out cheaper than many life of balance offers.

Or does it? With the new M&S card, you may be able to save a bit of money:

In another post I have just explained to a user that it would cost him £30 for the initial transfer. With some rough calculations he would gain an interest of roughly £50 for the first year. The following presumes you are paying off the min payment each month.

After year 1. 0% (£30) vs 3.9% (£80)

In the second year, the interest charged on the M&S card would total about £36. However, you would also have to transfer the balance to another card if you were "tarting":

After year 2. 0% (£30) vs 3.9% (£36)

Still ahead. But if we take a look at year 3, we see that the Life of Balance takes over.

After year 3. 0% (£30) vs 3.9% (£26)

yes, it's still less so far on the Zero percents (£90 vs £142). But a quick look at year 4 shows that the M&S card is gaining quickly.

After year 4. 0% (£30) vs 3.9% (£19)

So an instance where tarting isn't so great. Another couple of points to take into consideration, what if there are no 12 month offers on? What if it were just 6months? That would cost £60/yr instead of £30.

Just a couple of things to think about.
SDJ

(Please please please do not take these figures as 100% accurate, they are just a few calculations I scribbled down on paper.)
I am not an accountant, and I have 'assumed' a lot of information

Moggles_2

To take up the OP's original question, can lenders track your tarting history, and do they?

Whilst they cannot possibly be unaware of the existence of card tarts, I'm sure lenders do not track individual applicant's histories.

In 10 years of credit card shuffling with more than 30 cards (not all at once of course) I regularly sign up for new 0% balance transfer deals with impunity. If anyone had checked my track record, the offers would have dried up a long time ago!

Btw, I've managed to avoid balance transfer fees altogether but if my cashback's any indication, I'd say the credit card companies are still doing very nicely.