The Best Balance Transfers article discussion area

Moggles_2

Hi luv_my_brass

Phoenix79's suggestion (#40) was withdrawn some time ago, unfortunately.

If you're looking for a totally free BT, I can recommend the Ulster Bank Gold card (not to be confused with the Ulster Rugby card, which is a completely separate animal run by the Bank of Ireland.)

The Ulster Bank cards offer 0% BTs for 6 months from account opening and there's no handling fee. Issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland, they're well worth considering for balances under £4,000

Note: applications are by phone or post. The bank does not accept online applications. Once set up though, your account can be viewed online.

Alternatively, the John Lewis card offers 0% BTs for 6 months, 2% handling fee capped
at £50.

For those reading this who are not already Capital One cardholders, the no-fee C1 Balance Transfer card is worth considering as well. This deal, which offers interest-free BTs with no handling charges, has about 5 more months to run to April 2008.

Note: this card requires an "excellent" credit rating, so please check you can meet the criteria listed on the Capital One website before you apply.

luv_my_brass

Moggles wrote: »

Hi luv_my_brass

Phoenix79's suggestion (#40) was withdrawn some time ago, unfortunately.

If you're looking for a totally free BT, I can recommend the Ulster Bank Gold card (not to be confused with the Ulster Rugby card, which is a completely separate animal run by the Bank of Ireland.)

The Ulster Bank cards offer 0% BTs for 6 months from account opening and there's no handling fee. Issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland, they're well worth considering for balances under £4,000

Note: applications are by phone or post. The bank does not accept online applications. Once set up though, your account can be viewed online.

Alternatively, the John Lewis card offers 0% BTs for 6 months, 2% handling fee capped
at £50.

For those reading this who are not already Capital One cardholders, the no-fee C1 Balance Transfer card is worth considering as well. This deal, which offers interest-free BTs with no handling charges, has about 5 more months to run to April 2008.

Note: this card requires an "excellent" credit rating, so please check you can meet the criteria listed on the Capital One website before you apply.

Thanks moggles, I must have got lost amongst the posts, didn't realise it was an old one.
I decided to go for a longer term BT and had been considering Virgin, but as it is part of the MBNA Group, I went onto the MBNA page instead as I'm an old customer of theirs and have been accepted.
They are doing 12month BTs @ 0% for a handling fee of 3%. The interest I shall get after deducting their fee is still worth having though :-)
and in the past, have only had to pay back a minimal amount per month, which suits me.

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by luv_my_brass
I decided to go for a longer term BT and had been considering Virgin, but as it is part of the MBNA Group, I went onto the MBNA page instead, as I'm an old customer of theirs and have been accepted. They are doing 12 month BTs @ 0% for a handling fee of 3%. The interest I shall get after deducting their fee is still worth having though and, in the past, have only had to pay back a minimal amount per month, which suits me.

There's a 3% handling fee, as you say, but credit limits tend to be generous and cards issued by MBNA still have the lowest minimum payments available, ranging from £5 to £25, depending on the brand of card.
:beer:

IoweIoweitsofftoworkIgo

deborah71 wrote: »

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.

Hi, both me & DH took out these cards, but neither of us have been charged a CBT fee as a purchase, it has however been added onto the CBT balance with 0% interest.

tsiganliya

Hi everyone!
Thanks for all the tips so far, this chat room is giving me a lot of confidence in sorting out the mess I'm in...

However, I am a newby and soz if some of my qs have already been answered...

I have a lot of qs, but I'll go one at a time and start with a q I haven't found anything on on this thread:
My Barclaycard has been with Credit Solutions (a credit collectors company) for a few years now. I'm paying £14/month and apparantly my bill is not accumulating any interest. (I say "apparently", as they are very difficult to talk to and I don't trust anything they say.)
Can I transfer my debt with them on to a 0% BT (if I ever get one) and would it be worth it?
Any other tips on how to deal with this kind of debt / pointers to other theads... - much appreciated!

Moggles_2

Hi tsiganliya

Welcome to MSE!

Presumably you have a bank account and you're registered on the electoral roll.

There are no shortcuts to rebuilding a good credit history. For tips to improve your chances of a 0% balance transfer card, have a look at the *Credit Rating* articles on the main site, in particular Martin's *Check and Improve your credit score* article.

For further advice, you may want to post again on the Debt-Free Wannabe board.

Very best
M

ValerieBiscuit

Hi am new to this and need a little advice please.
Recently bought a new laptop from Comet and am paying for it at £50 per month on their Edge card ( made one payment so far )
Due to the fact that is operated by GE Money think that the APR rate is very high - 24.9%. Can anyone advise a better deal using another card to transfer to ??? possibly with 0% interest for as many months as possible.
The amount outstanding at the moment is £400. ( know its not much compared with some but would rather pay as little interest as possible )
Thanks everyone in advance.

Moggles_2

Hi ValerieBiscuit

Welcome to MSE & the credit card boards!

Which credit cards do you currently hold?

luv_my_brass

Moggles wrote: »

Well, I can certainly recommend the Virgin card, but it's underwritten by MBNA. As you already have an MBNA card, I'd plump for Tesco, which belongs to the Royal Bank of Scotland stable

I was wondering about the Tesco one too, as their BT charge is 'only' 2.5 %, but as they are not too generous with their loans, glad I settled for MBNA. I've been happy enough with Captial One and do tend to switch between these two Companies to take advantage of their 0% and long term loans. The trouble with taking out the short term with no BT fee is that you soon have to think about transferring again and wondering if you will be accepted. I suppose it depends what you want the loan for - mine is not for spending.

Moggles_2

O

riginally Posted by luv_my_brass
I was wondering about the Tesco one too, as their BT charge is 'only' 2.5 %, but as they are not too generous with their loans, glad I settled for MBNA.

It's not an exact science of course but, judging from the posts on this thread, you're more likely to get a generous credit limit with MBNA, whereas the Royal Bank of Scotland stable, which includes Tesco, is known for its 'responsible' credit limits. That's certainly been my experience as well.