Purchases post Balance Transfer Yes or No 26 September 2006 at 12:29PM in Stoozing: free cash from credit cards 7 replies 1K views

pppp

I've recently done a balance transfer with the post office to pay off a mint credit card.
The MINT Credit Card had a credit limit of £2700
The Post Office Credit Card has a limit of £4400

Martin's advice is to never ever ever spend on a credit card after a BT, however, the post office advise me that purchases up to £4400 would be a t 0% for 6 months just the same as the BT.

Can anyone advise whether i should ignore martin's advice and go ahead and increase my stozing pot to £4400.

Thanks

frivolous_fay

Most balance transfer 0% deals don't coincide with 0% on purchases, but if your T&Cs explicitly say you have both 0% deals, there shouldn't be a problem spending.

grumbler

pppp wrote:

...Martin's advice is to never ever ever spend on a credit card after a BT, however, the post office advise me that purchases up to £4400 would be a t 0% for 6 months just the same as the BT....

In fact Martin's advice is:

Never, ever, ever, ever, ever … spend on a card after balance transferring to it! ... The only exception are the few cards which offer the same cheap rate for spending and balance transfers, for the same length of time; then it's not an issue.

Best Balance Transfers: cut existing credit card debt costs

Moggles_2

The short answer is Yes

In July, I signed up with Bank of Ireland. The bank's Post Office card offers 0% balance transfers with no handling charges for 6 months.

What's more, unlike many of its competitors, the free balance transfers can be made for the entire 6 month introductory period and you get 0% on retail purchases for 6 months as well.

For a straightforward, no-tricks deal, it's hard to beat IMO.

Moggles_2

If there's anyone out there who's still considering this card, you need to get a move on!

This deal has been on offer since the card launched last January. PO staff have warned that the terms & conditions will be rejigged next month. A capped 2.5% balance transfer fee is anticipated from 2 October 2006.

Bisoy

pppp wrote:

I've recently done a balance transfer with the post office to pay off a mint credit card.
The MINT Credit Card had a credit limit of £2700
The Post Office Credit Card has a limit of £4400

Martin's advice is to never ever ever spend on a credit card after a BT, however, the post office advise me that purchases up to £4400 would be a t 0% for 6 months just the same as the BT.

Can anyone advise whether i should ignore martin's advice and go ahead and increase my stozing pot to £4400.

Thanks

You should not have problems using this card for purchases also for the length of time the 6 months 0% promo period as with the BT.

Don't you have a SBT card where you can transfer the rest of your PO credit limit? and if you have cash back card then use it for purchases instead of your PO card. If you haven't got one consider getting it. Good luck

doberryfirkin

Simple question I guess. Once you BT the debt from card A to card B, do you then close down card A? I know the advice is not to spend on card B.

Moggles_2

Unless a card has a particular benefit such as regular, low interest promotions for existing customers, zero commission on foreign transactions like the Nationwide and Saga cards or 50% off airport lounge access such as Egg, then I would cancel.

Firstly, having loadsa money available to you, even if not utilised, can put off potential lenders and secondly, by cancelling a card you can re-apply to that provider as a 'new' customer and take advantage of any introductory deals on offer.