Unoffical Existing Customer Balance Transfers

dallas85

does anyone have any experience with Nationwide - I am £200 off my credit limit at the moment and want to try and reduce the interest rate for a few months while I clear it. just wondering if anyone has ever tried with them and whether it is worth me calling to threaten to transfer the balance? thanks in advance!

Moggles_2

dallas85 wrote: »

Does anyone have any experience with Nationwide? I am £200 off my credit limit at the moment and want to try and reduce the interest rate for a few months while I clear it. just wondering if anyone has ever tried with them and whether it is worth me calling to threaten to transfer the balance?

You can negotiate a lower rate with some lenders. Nationwide is not one of them, IME.
(The Society is not renowned for follow-on offers by post either.)
Still, there's no harm in asking. You've nothing to lose really.

dallas85

thanks for your help Moggles - I may give them a try, and may give applying for a 0% card a try as I don't need to apply for any credit in the next 6 months so hopefully won't hurt too much if I get declined.

Moggles_2

dallas85 wrote: »

thanks for your help Moggles. I may give them a try and may give applying for a 0% card a try as I don't need to apply for any credit in the next 6 months so hopefully won't hurt too much if I get declined.

Sounds like a plan
Provided that your credit files can take it, a new 0% BT card is a better bet.

For instance, the Halifax Plus credit card is a straight forward, no-strings deal.

13 months at 0% is currently available to new customers on balance transfers made in the first 90 days. There's a 3% BT fee.
IME (and from feedback here), credit limits are generous and the minimum monthly payment is just 1% of the balance shifted

http://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/pluscard136.aspifaxith

mrbigd

Just got offered 5.9% until end of May 2010 with Egg but with 2.99% fee, not great but much better than the 20% on Tesco's!

Will be phoning round others first before I accept this.

Moggles_2

mrbigd wrote: »

Just got offered 5.9% until end of May 2010 with Egg but with 2.99% fee, not great but much better than the 20% on Tesco's!Will be phoning round others first before I accept this.

If you want to avoid a credit check, this offer's fair to middling, but for a 3% fee you can stll get 0% for 6 months, 9 months and even 12 months from Barclaycard, RBS and MBNA

I was cold-called by Virgin last night offering 0% for 9 months with the usual 2.98% BT fee, 4% for money transfers.

Please keep us posted.

MrGrumpy1964

Does anyone have a copy of marketing letters that Capital One sent out last year offering existing customers balance transfer rates for life e.g. "6.9% for the life of the balance transfer" - especially those from around July/August 2008 ?

They now seem to be claiming they never made such offers to customers who have had their rates increased 100% or more in the last few months/weeks. They seem to have put everyone who took up those offers onto what they now call in their systems Standard Balance Transfer Interest Rates - despite the fact their marketing material offered a rate for life. This seems to be their way round justifying the rate increase - as their system says so.

They are asking people to produce copies of any letters they may have received over a year ago if they disagree with their system. Not many people will have kept promotional letters for that long, but if anyone has one it will help prove they were making such offers at the time.

Let me know if anyone has useful information. In the US a class action has been taken against Capital One for similar sharp practices on increasing interest rates. Your help is much appreciated.

See new thread about this subject:

Capital One rate increases - can anyone help ?

gkb_2

Anyone had any follow on offers recetly from Nat West, I cleared my card a 2/3 months ago but having rung every few weeks have not had a sniff of an offer and could do with one with a Virgin Card coming to the end of a 0% deal. If anyone has had any joy did you go down the threatening to close the card route or just get it when you asked through the normal customer service number ?

Have been offered 5.99% + 3% fee from Egg for 6 months but that is pretty rubbish so after a better deal from one of the cards I hold but dont have a balance, can you negotiate with Egg at all ?

Thanks

SpamValley

Haven't used my Virgin Mastercard in ages, since I'm one of the folk they bumped up to a standard 30% APR or thereabouts. No deals for ages either.

But suddenly today I log in and find I'm being offered 6.9% life of balance for transfers before February. Utterly handy since I have 7k on an HSBC deal which expires in February.

Seems a no-brainer, but I'm finding the transfer fee hard to swallow - 5%. Are they moveable at all on that? Should I call and try to haggle, or just be thankful that I'll save quite a bit more than that over the 3 years or so it'll take me to pay off that 7k, and that 6.9% is probably better than most loan rates at the moment anyways?

Moggles_2

SpamValley wrote: »

Haven't used my Virgin Mastercard in ages, since I'm one of the folk they bumped up to a standard 30% APR. No deals for ages either. But suddenly today I log in and find I'm being offered 6.9% life of balance for transfers before February. Utterly handy since I have 7k on an HSBC deal which expires in February. Seems a no-brainer, but I'm finding the transfer fee hard to swallow - 5%. Are they moveable at all on that? Should I call and try to haggle... ?

Yes, definitely.

If you ring Virgin Card Services on 01244 673700, you'll avoid the perishing 0870 numbers.

If staff won't budge, I'd call MBNA's loyalty department on 0800 783 1116 (during office hours) and see what they can do