The Best Balance Transfers article discussion area

Moggles_2

Hi snow-garden

Welcome to MSE & the credit card boards!

Congratulations on reducing your HSBC balance.

The short answer to your question is no. Provided that you've kept within Egg's terms & conditions, your card and loan will contribute positively to your credit rating.

Very best
M

northernken

Hello

Not sure if anyone else has had this experience but I applied for the above card which offers O% until the end of April 08 and more importantly does not charge a balance transfer fee. I was accepted through the online application process however they then wrote to me 7 days later advising that I had been unseccessful in my application for this card but I could have another card with a large credit limit and balance transfer etc. The critical difference is that this card charges a 3% fee on balance transfers. Is this a trick to lure you in and then once they find you are transferring a balance they offer you the more expensive card?

I have a very high credit rating and no missed payments etc, I was told I could appeal in writing but as they won't tell me why they rejected me I don't really know what I am appealing against?!

If anyone else has experienec of this I would be interested on any advice.

Cheers

baps82

Hi all!

I'm new to this so apologies if this is posted in the wrong place.

Could anyone please tell me if it's possible to do a balance transfer to my girlfriend's alliance & leicester card from my Egg Money card, or would she need to take out an Egg Money card in her own name?

Thanks in advance.

Moggles_2

Hi baps & welcome to the credit card board!

Please bear in mind, the person whose card the balance is switched to, becomes soley liable for the debt. If you were to fall out, you couldn't ask the lender to charge your girlfriend for any remaining balance.

From the lender's perspective, it's not a problem. Customer services may ask you for the name on the account, but this is purely an additional verification check. At the end of the day, the card company is after your business. They're not really interested in knowing who ran up the debt, as long as you, their customer, pay up on time each month!

deborah71_2

I want to warn everybody about the post office credit card scam yes they offer 0% on balance transfers but they count the balance transfer fee as a purchase and charge interest on that i have been caught out don't let it happen to you.

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by northernken
I applied for the above [Capital One Balance Transfer card] which offers 0% until the end of April 08 and more importantly does not charge a balance transfer fee. I was accepted through the online application process however they then wrote to me 7 days later advising that I had been unseccessful in my application for this card but I could have another card with a large credit limit and balance transfer etc. The critical difference is that this card charges a 3% fee on balance transfers. Is this a trick to lure you in and then once they find you are transferring a balance they offer you the more expensive card?

Some of us got instant acceptance for the Capital One Balance Transfer card, so I don't think it's a trick. Lenders launch these 0% promotions, which are sometimes heavily advertised, to draw in new customers. Often they are flooded with applications and can afford to cherry-pick applicants.

I have a very high credit rating and no missed payments etc.

Congratulations on having no missed payments. Lenders score us differently, so there's no such thing as a universally high credit rating.

I would keep an open mind about the reason(s) you were unsuccessful. None of us knows how individual credit card companies view our applications. Fortunately, there are ways to improve your chances of acceptance when you appeal.

Have you looked at your credit file recently? This is the information potential lenders see when you apply for a new credit card, so it's worth checking whenever you're rejected. Mistakes do happen. (For help, see the *How to obtain credit reports* sticky.)

For tips to improve your chances of success, have a look at the *Credit Rating* articles on the main site. In particular, Martin's *Check and Improve your Credit Score*article

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by deborah71
I want to warn everybody about the Post Office credit card scam. Yes, they offer 0% on balance transfers, but they count the balance transfer fee as a purchase and charge interest on that. I have been caught out. Don't let it happen to you.

Whilst the majority of lenders now charge balance transfer fees - a trend started by MBNA - just three, AFAIK, currently charge interest on BT fees.
Bank of Ireland, LloydsTSB 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.

Capital One, Citi, Co-op and MBNA have never charged interest on BT fees.

Egg and Barclaycard have now dropped the practice.

In the case of RBS, you can pay the handling fee in addition to your first monthly payment and avoid interest.

snow_garden

Moggles wrote: »

Hi snow-garden

Welcome to MSE & the credit card boards!

Congratulations on reducing your HSBC balance.

The short answer to your question is no. Provided that you've kept within Egg's terms & conditions, your card and loan will contribute positively to your credit rating.

Very best
M

Heres hoping Im going to apply for it in January when I get my HSBC one below 1000 cos I am worried that is as high as they will let me have it and don't want to risk having a refusal

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by snow_garden
I'm going to apply for it [the Virgin credit card] in January when I get my HSBC card below £1000, cos I am worried that is as high as they will let me have it and don't want to risk having a refusal.

Please be aware that the Virgin balance transfer offer could be withdrawn at any time.
The risk in waiting until January is that the current 0% for 15 months deal may not be on offer then.

Have you applied for other credit cards in the last three months and been turned down or handed a low limit?

If you were declined recently by other lenders, it's probably a good idea to wait.

On the other hand, if this would be your sole application for credit, I would not delay until January, if I were you

luv_my_brass

Phoenix79 wrote: »

HSBC are doing 12 months at 0%
http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/personal/cards-home

Halifax One and Barclaycard Flexi-Rate are 12 months 0% as well

I'm in the same boat as chuffy, so clicked on the link above only to find an ad for 0% interest on purchases, scanned the site but could not find anything for transferring a balance at 0%.