Confused, re 0% switch

janthemum

Hi, I dont normally venture over to this board so bear with me as I may sound thick!

I have a Amazon credit card (balance £700) and paying a lot in interest every month so decided to switch to 0%.

I applied for a Virgin card and was accepeted and put in my details for them to take over the other balance on 0%.

However I got a letter saying they are in the same 'group' so couldnt do it. So I now need to cancel the virgin card and look for another 0% one I can transfer to.

2 questions is it best to close virgin card before or after I find and (hopefully accepted on new card) would closing it before or after affect my credit history detrementally?

Which card is it best to change to in a different 'group' ? a barclaycard or sainsbury or tesco card (are they different groups to the amazon/virgin)

I just find it all a bit confusing.

PS at present I am just paying minimum each month but if on 0% interest I will put this up to clear debt in the time of the 0%.

Thanks!

Tixy

Amazon/virgin are both backed by MBNA.
There is a list here to see who issues each card which you may find helpful- http://www.stoozing.com/cards.php

How long ago did you apply for the virgin card? if its very recent then it probably won't make any difference whether you cancel before you apply for another one (as the search will be on file whatever and the account probably isn't yet on your credit file).

If you did decide to cancel the card first you would need to wait a month or more for the account to show as closed on your credit file.

As an alternative you could consider doing a money transfer. This is where you transfer £700 from your new virgin card to your current account - you then use that to pay off your amazon card.
Virgin is one of the cards that allows a transfer to your bank account - although the BT fee is 4% of the balance rather than 2.89% (I think its 2.89). So it will cost you a bit more, but would save the hassle of having to apply again/ the possibility of being rejected.

janthemum

Thanks for your reply.

I will give the link you gave me a good read and see which one does 0% deals.

Regards jan:)

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

janthemum wrote: »

Hi, I dont normally venture over to this board so bear with me as I may sound thick!

You don't sound thick at all. At least you didn't ask us to bare with you like some people do. :T

fozmcfc

TBH the interest on £700 on a mainstream card can't be that high. It would only be slightly high, if you withdrawn £700 in cash out on it.

Fair enough look to balance transfer away and save some interest, but if you are struggling with just a £700 balance and only paying the minimum (if you can afford more, then you are crazy just paying the minimum anyway) you need to look at your overall financial postion.

Your post suggests that if you get another 0% transfer card, you shouldn't spend on it, cut it up and just work towards clearing it off in the 0% period.

janthemum

Hi I know its not a lot in real terms about £10 interest a month but that makes £120 over a year which is a lot but I know I would have to pay a 3% or something fee to transfer it to the 0% which would be about £20 therefore 'only' £100, but still thats £100.

But you are right maybe I should just try and pay off as much off as I can each month which would be £125 a month maximum and then forget about switching, then in about 6 months time it would be paid.

Thanks for your advice.

ideally I hate credit cards and once paid I will just keep it for real emergancies and when you get the insurance for when you spend over £100 and then pay off straight away.

I just get tempted when I see nice clothes....:o

fozmcfc

Haha, yeah it is very tempting, always having you don't need it conversations with myself.

But when used properly cards can have benefits, apart from the guarantee you get when spending over £100 on them.

Of course the more you pay the less the interest each month.

Using the calculator in the link below you can judge whether it's worth transferring.

http://www.stoozing.com/btcalc.htm

The stoozing site also has handy tables of 0% balance transfer and purchase cards.