Pay off loan with credit card - Would it be a 'Purchase'?

stayinganonymous

I have had a Barclay loan for the past 4 years but I still have another year and a half to go (I would be finished this January but added extra time by refinancing to get some more money about 1.5 years into my loan). My loan is about 23% APR and although I can afford the repayments still, the interest keeps bothering me lately.

I already have 3 credit cards but none have any offers currently and one already has a balance transfer on anyway. I am thinking of applying for another with a 0% offer for at least 12 months and paying off my loan with it at the same monthly repayments (£160) to get it cleared quicker and no more interest. But I am unsure how I would do this? Would it be classed as a Purchase? so therefore I would need a card offering a good 0% on purchases. If not then I'll have to think of another way to do it.

YorkshireBoy

It's unlikely Barclays would accept payment by credit card.

You have several options...

The Virgin Balance Transfer Card...0% on money transfers for 20 months with a 4% fee.

M&S Sterling travellers cheques...0% for 15 months with a 1% fee.

Both the above will get you cash into your current account*, from where you can settle the loan.

However, your available credit and current indebtedness may be a problem (both in terms of acceptance and sufficient credit limit). For example, what's your:

Income
Available credit (cards, overdrafts, etc)
Used credit (the existing balance transfer)
Other debts, ie mortgage.


* If you go the M&S route, please check your current account provider will accept travellers cheques. Some won't, others charge a small fee, but some accept them FOC.

stayinganonymous

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

It's unlikely Barclays would accept payment by credit card.

You have several options...

The Virgin Balance Transfer Card...0% on money transfers for 20 months with a 4% fee.

M&S Sterling travellers cheques...0% for 15 months with a 1% fee.

However, your available credit and current indebtedness may be a problem (both in terms of acceptance and sufficient credit limit). For example, what's your:

Income
Available credit (cards, overdrafts, etc)
Used credit (the existing balance transfer)
Other debts, ie mortgage.

Thank you for your help YorkshireBoy

If I apply for another card and for some reason I am not accepted then I'll just have to continue with the loan, which should be ok but I would have liked to save some money.

I currently owe about £3000 (including interest) on the loan. About £2000 on the 1 credit card (0% balance transfer). I only have a £100 bank overdraft which I never use. No other debts or mortgage. My income, not including my partners is £20k. I applied for a Post Office credit card earlier this year and an MBNA about a year ago and was accepted and I am still in the same circumstances then as I am now (apart from the loan is a little less and credit card balance now).

I'll call Barclays to confirm whether they'll accept payment via credit card, if not I'll look into the ones above. Thanks for your help