Bank loan or credit card application ??

sumguy

Recently I was approached by Barclaycard offering a guaranteed Barclaycard Platinum card, I accepted it....

I need to purchase a second hand car... my question is this.... reserving the Barclaycard for a balance transfer which I will sort out shortly... is my best move to apply for a Creditcard with a super balance transfer or M&S with the travellers cheques option or do I approach my own bank for a loan.

I understand that a search will take place on my file, so I am wondering which is the most likely option for me to be successful??

Thanks in advance.

paddyrg

Useful info would be your annual salary, the credit limit of the card, and any other loans or credit (incl store cards, etc) you currently have

sumguy

3 cards.
4.4k balance - 4.5k limit
2k balance - 2.5k limit
0 balance - 5.5k limit

Self employed - £32k

I am aware of my debts, I will be balance transfering the 4.5 over to my new card this week, for 16 months 0%.

YorkshireBoy

sumguy wrote: »

is my best move to apply for a Creditcard with a super balance transfer or M&S with the travellers cheques option or do I approach my own bank for a loan.

The first option will cost you 4% for 18 months 0%.

The second option will cost you 1% for 15 months 0%

The third option will cost you anywhere from 10-20% APR

How long will it take you to repay the debt?

And you haven't said how much you're looking to borrow!...because, although you're only using half of it, you're nudging 40% of your income already in available credit on the cards you have. What about the mortgage? Do you have one?

paddyrg

Hmmm right at the moment you may find you get worse loan offers than if you didn't have the new card, as it will be seen as you having 12.5k *available* credit - and self-employed I suspect the rough reckoner of "half annual salary" of available credit won't apply as you may be regarded as a higher credit risk. Get rid of any cards you're not using, and also remember to try ratesetter.com and zopa.com as well. Ratesetter starts at under 5% for prime variable rate borrowers.

sumguy

Repayment terms depend on what type of borrowing I am successful with. If its a loan, then Id like to pay about £150 a month over 5 years... if its a creditcard then Ill have about 18 months...

My goal would be to borrow anything from 5k to 7.5k.

I appreciate all the responses... can people highlight which of the options is more likely please.

Kind regards.