The Best Balance Transfers article discussion area

luv_my_brass

Thanks moggles, I wasn't being lazy, I had read through the options, just wondered if anyone had come across anything else, or indeed could make recommendations. Approx £120 transfer fee would wipe out any feasible interest I could make by putting the loan into my savings account :-(

luv_my_brass

Moggles wrote: »

While the majority of lenders now charge balance transfer fees - a trend started by MBNA - just three, AFAIK, charge interest on BT fees.

Barclaycard, LTSB and Royal Bank Of Scotland treat these handling charges as purchase transactions which are paid off last, so the BT fee is left sitting on successive monthly statements attracting interest.

In the case of RBS, I believe you can pay the handling fee with your first monthly payment and avoid this practice.

Mostly, I shuffle my 0% interest free loans between MBNA & Capital One, they have always shown the handling fee on the first statement so it has been paid off first. For £5000 it used to be only £50, which still gave me reasonable interest on their money but this seems to have come to an end ....sigh......:rolleyes:

fjf_felix

Hi, I'm thinking applying for a Capital One credit card. It offers excellent conditions and the less fees on balance transfers. However after reading an American article about "Credit card companies' evil tricks" on MSN I'm a bit concerned...
According to this article, Capital One (US) does not report its customers' credit limits. When a lender doesn't report a customer's credit limit, the bureaus typically use the "highest balance charged" as a proxy for the limit. The problem comes when borrowers charge about the same amount each month. Here's how it works: If you use $300 of a $1,000 limit that's properly reported, the all-important credit-scoring formulas figure your "credit utilization" at 30%, and that's good. If your limit isn't reported and the highest balance you ever had was $300, it looks like you're using 100% of your available credit -- and that's bad.
My questions is: is it the same in the UK? Is Capital One (UK) and other companies not reporting customers' credit limits?

Many Thanks,
Felix

deedukes

I applied for a 14 month 0% balance transfer barclaycard. They gave me one - with a £250 limit. I don't have a bad credit rating, never had such a response before. To add insult to injury they say they will reconsider after 3 months - of course the balance transfer offer only lasts 60 days. They did send me a different card to the one I applied for but it was still a 14 mth deal. has anyone else experienced this and what did they do about it?

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by jba2007
My wife recently applied for a Capital One Card via the links from this site and instead of the 0% 13 month deal which she was accepted for, Capital One sent details of a 34.9% balance transfer deal. According to the guys at Capital One this isn't the first time this has happened and is a problem with their back office functions.
To make matters worse my other half was told to re-apply for the card! Still awaiting a response from Capital One on what they will do. Anyone else had a similar experience?

Well, I got instant acceptance when I applied to Capital One recently & the card arrived on cue, so cannot speak from experience, but I certainly wouldn't re-apply to C1.

Provided that your wife's credit file can take it, I'd select another 0% BT card. The competition for customers is fierce and there are plenty of credit cards to choose from

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by luv_my_brass
Mostly, I shuffle my 0% interest free loans between MBNA & Capital One ... For £5000 it used to be only £50, which still gave me reasonable interest on their money, but this seems to have come to an end ....sigh..:rolleyes:

For a free BT, I can recommend Ulster Bank for balances under £4000.
Please see #657 above.

Note: applications are by phone or post. The bank does not accept online applications.

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by fjf_felix
After reading an American article about "Credit card companies' evil tricks" on MSN, I'm a bit concerned.

According to this article, Capital One (US) does not report its customers' credit limits. When a lender doesn't report a customer's credit limit, the bureaus typically use the "highest balance charged" as a proxy for the limit. The problem comes when borrowers charge about the same amount each month. Here's how it works: If you use $300 of a $1,000 limit that's properly reported, the all-important credit-scoring formulas figure your "credit utilization" at 30%, and that's good. If your limit isn't reported and the highest balance you ever had was $300, it looks like you're using 100% of your available credit -- and that's bad.

My questions is: is it the same in the UK? Is Capital One (UK) and other companies not reporting customers' credit limits?

Have you checked your credit reports lately? This is the information UK lenders see when you apply for a new credit card (For help, see the *How to obtain credit reports* sticky.)

In 10 years of credit card shuffling with more than 30 cards (not all at once of course), I've not known Capital One, or any other lender, to neglect to report my credit limit to the credit reference agencies.

There have been two or three posts from puzzled MSEs recently, who found no trace of a credit search following a C1 card application, but the lack of a footprint does not affect anyone's credit rating.

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by deedukes
I applied for a 14 month 0% balance transfer Barclaycard. They gave me one with a £250 limit. I don't have a bad credit rating, never had such a response before. To add insult to injury they say they will reconsider after 3 months - of course the balance transfer offer only lasts 60 days. They did send me a different card from the one I applied for, but it was still a 14 month deal. Has anyone else experienced this and what did they do about it?

Well, Barclaycard isn't known for generous credit limits. That said, you've been handed
a very low limit.

Do you hold other cards from the Barclays stable?

Have you checked your credit reports recently? Mistakes do happen.

Also, it pays to check the available credit showing on your credit files. (Even cards with a zero balance are viewed as available credit unless marked "settled")

For tips to improve credit limits next time round, have a look at the *Credit Rating* articles on the main site. In particular, Martin's *Check and Improve your Credit Score* article.

I've been shuffling credit cards for more than 10 years to pay off the mortgage early, but I still go through this very handy checklist now and again before making a new cc application

taffytim22

Moggles wrote: »

The bank does not accept online applications. If you email your name and full address, you'll receive your application form by post.

Many thanks for this and the previous post :money::money::money::money:

tubster

I've now got a Barclaycard, 0 per cent for 14 months and the max £5000 stoozing limit... but I want to get the promotional £50 voucher for a purchase.

Now If I buy something for a pound I get to pay 14.9 per cent on it for a year; and someone advised above that minimum interest payment is a pound a month, which would cost 12 or 13 quid. So how about I buy something now, pay it off as quick as I can (can't you make a payment whenever you like, if you do a transfer from a bank?) THEN go for the balance transfer once I'm sure my balance is zero. Does anyone know how quickly it is possible to pay off a purchase on a card?

According to the stoozing calculator, I'd stand to make about £300 if I put the 5000 in ICICI savings account (basic tax payer); minus the 2.5 per cent transfer fee would be £125 plus £19 interest on the fee over the term which makes approx £150 profit.

Come to think of it the difference in profit for an extra month would be £22, so maybe I should just make the purchase, do the transfer and not worry about the minimum interest fee.

Anything I'm forgetting here?

Tubster