Unoffical Existing Customer Balance Transfers

gypsymoth

Hey all

I'm trying to finance a new car purchase and need a cash figure of £10k to put into the dealers account.

I'd like to use my existing credit facilities and 0% offers, the idea being that I'd just move the balance around.

Based on conversations I've had with my various credit card companies, here's what I've got

MBNA Platinum - 0% until 17th Nov 2010... credit available = £5000
IF/Halifax - 0% for 6 months OR 4.49% for life of balance ... credit available = £10000
Barclaycard - 0% until Dec 2010 ... credit available = £9000
Mint - 3.9% for 6 months.... credit available = £10000
Egg - 7.9% until Sept 2010.... credit available = £7800

Now on the face of it, the Barclays deal looks best but I need cash in my current account and only Mint will allow me to take cash off the card.
The catch? They dont give you a promotional rate on it, and the APR is 24% from day 1!

The money needs to be in the car dealer's account by April 10th (or thereabouts). I'm considering moving 10K from Mint on 1st April, then simultaneously (or maybe just before) putting £9k on Barclaycard and £1k on MBNA
Assuming they take 7 days to process this, my exposure to the horrific Mint APR of 24% should be minimal.

Does this appear a sound idea? Would MINT penalise me for getting the balance off my account so quickly? I'm concerned theres a minimum term for the balance

Any suggestions on how I could free up cash from my cards gratefully received

Thanks, L

udydudy

gypsymoth wrote: »

........MBNA Platinum - 0% until 17th Nov 2010... credit available = £5000
IF/Halifax - 0% for 6 months OR 4.49% for life of balance ... credit available = £10000
Barclaycard - 0% until Dec 2010 ... credit available = £9000
Mint - 3.9% for 6 months.... credit available = £10000
Egg - 7.9% until Sept 2010.... credit available = £7800
......................, L

I would say mint is no go as there will also be a transaction charge of 2 or 3% other than the high interest rate from date of withdrawal. if you still want to go ahead with mint. you could do the BT to MBNA & Barclays and then withdraw after a few days. The money will take 5-7 days atleast to reach mint so if you withdraw on day 4 or later you will pay interest for a shorter period. if lucky only for day 1.

The only flip side to your arrangement is 1) you will pay mint the cash advance fee 2) you will pay hight interest on the cash withdrawal 3) you will also be paying MBNA/Barclays a BT fee. So your cost will be around 5 to 6% depending on the fee for a period of 9 months which is 8% per annum if annualized. and the fact that you have to pay it all back in 9 months.

Halifax is an option with thier 4.49% there will ofcourse be a 2.98% BT fee. they do not transfer to bank account but you could ask for credit card cheques to be sent across. And then pay the dealer by way of cheque. that way the cost will be cheaper if you decide to pay it back over say 2 years. if you intend to pay it back in 9 months the mint option is better.

You could also ask MBNA to send you credit card cheques for that offer so you will save one set of fees on the £1000 that you intend to put there. maybe ask them for 9 months 0% and see if they bite.

I do not know if barclays give credit card cheques.

CannyJock

gypsymoth wrote: »

I'm trying to finance a new car purchase and need a cash figure of £10k to put into the dealers account.

I'd like to use my existing credit facilities and 0% offers, the idea being that I'd just move the balance around.

MBNA will transfer a 95% of your credit limit to your current account for a 4% fee - it's a money transfer not a cash withdrawal. Most dealers will accept a credit card payment, but they'll add a transaction fee onto the cost (2-3%). Pay for it with one card and arrange the BT the same day to another one and you should avoid any interest charges, just a BT fee.

gypsymoth

CannyJock wrote: »

MBNA will transfer a 95% of your credit limit to your current account for a 4% fee - it's a money transfer not a cash withdrawal. Most dealers will accept a credit card payment, but they'll add a transaction fee onto the cost (2-3%). Pay for it with one card and arrange the BT the same day to another one and you should avoid any interest charges, just a BT fee.

thanks for the advice

unfortunately this Audi dealership only accepts cleared funds intheir account before their release the car

udydudy - I've ordered those cheques. thank you

CannyJock

gypsymoth wrote: »

thanks for the advice

unfortunately this Audi dealership only accepts cleared funds intheir account before their release the car

udydudy - I've ordered those cheques. thank you

A credit card cheque will take longer to clear into their bank account than a credit card payment will to appear in their merchant account, and a card payment for the value you speak about will be above their shopfloor limit and undergo full validation as soon as you punch in your PIN ....

udydudy

CannyJock wrote: »

A credit card cheque will take longer to clear into their bank account than a credit card payment will to appear in their merchant account, and a card payment for the value you speak about will be above their shopfloor limit and undergo full validation as soon as you punch in your PIN ....

A credit card cheque takes as long as any other cheque to clear. Infact the only difference between the credit card and the cheque it self is that once the card is swiped and pin entered successfully, the merchant takes that as cleared funds. Though they would recieve the cleared amount in their bank only on the third day from the merchant services.(I work for a retail merchant).

A cheque would take the normal 3 days for funds to be available in their bank and 5 days to be declared as cleared in their bank.(i.e only after 5 days is the merchant can be guaranteed it will not bounce).

The OP has said that the funds need to be cleared by 10th April which would mean it needs to be banked by the dealer on or before 5th April which is a monday. Which give sthe OP 11 working days for the cheques to reach him/her which IMHO is sufficient time fo rthe cheque to reach and delivered to the dealer.

xcherryheadx

I have a Barclaycard with the 0% deal running out in May and converting to 12.9% with circa 2k outstanding, they've sent me cheques for balance transfers with lifetime rate of 6.9% which I was thinking about using for either my other credit card (15.9%) or my overdraft (Halifax, £1 per day). I'm totally confused about what will work out best. :eek:

I also tried getting another credit card to transfer to but haven't got a chance with MBNA because of previous account issues and have just got turned down by Sainsburys (despite having a credit score of 999 @ creditexpert)

Any help would be gratefully received..!!:D

udydudy

Egg 1.9% for 6 months 2.98% BT Fee
Virgin/MBNA 6.9 for life 4% Fee (money transfer) or 2.98% BT Fee

mrbigd

ASDA 12 months 0%, 2.99% fee.

udydudy

mrbigd wrote: »

ASDA 12 months 0%, 2.99% fee.

is that a follow on offer or initial offer?? isnt asda card a sanander product??