Graduate Loan Discussion Area

psittack

Hi everyone,

Sorry if I'm being dull, but I've searched the forum & can't find an answer.

I've got a HSBC loan at a Graduate rate of 5.9% - they tend to be pretty generous with graduate/post grad stuff.

One thing I'd like to know is - how do you pay off a loan with a credit card without a super balance transfer?

I tried to pay off my £4500 loan with my HSBC Mastercard (with intent to immediately transfer it to my much lower APR Capital One card).

There's no early repayment penalties on the loan, so if I pay it off right now I get an interest rebate of over £500, hence my desire to save this cash & transfer to CC.

The operator said that would be fine, but then the system wouldn't let her do it - she then put me on hold & 'checked with a supervisor'.

When she came back I was told it's not possible to pay off a loan with either my HSBC or Capital One credit card. A total 180 degree turn on what she's just told me.

Surprisingly. the only option available was to withdraw cash from the credit card to pay the loan off. This would incur a cost in the bank's favour - cash withdrawal percent is 1.75, this means a charge of £68 to pay off my loan.

After she told me this she couldn't get me off the phone fast enough, which makes me wonder if she really did speak to anyone, or whether she knew what I was up to & said no, even though it IS possible to pay it off with a credit card.

Needless to say, I'm not happy either way.

My question to all of you is this:

Have any of you succesfully paid off a bank loan using a credit card, without using a super balance transfer and without incurring any costs?
If so, then how?

Surely it's possible - after all, CC companies boast about how their cards are accepted in millions of outlets worldwide...

If not, then I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet & pay the cost incurred.

stoopid, capitalist banks. :P

System

I have recently graduated as a vet after 5 long years at Uni, and now wish to take the summer off, go on holiday, catch up with some of my friends who left uni before me and generally relax before starting in October time.

However, financially, its not looking great. My student loan payments have now ceased so I have no income at present. I approached my bank (RBS) who run professional loan schemes for law and medical students, but one must be employed to take advantage of them. Is this always the case with loans? I thought they might understand that I've been working like a slave for the last few years and would like a bit of time off before carrying on working like a slave for the next 35 years - during which time I'm sure the bank will make its share of money out of me somehow.

Any advice would be much appreciated as my parents are getting a little hacked off with my perpetual begging.

Many thanks,

Rick

Situation -
RBS Student Royalties : £2000 overdrawn
RBS CC : £1000 limit reached
Halifax Student Account : £1250 overdrawn
Owe Student Loan Company ~£12,000

DiggingOut

No one will loan you money unless they think there is a reasonable chance you will pay it back. They will look at all your debt and the fact that you aren't working and say, "How in the world do you intend to pay us back?"

If you have a job that is definitely starting in October, that will help, but if not, you aren't a very good risk to someone who doesn't know you and know that you will pay. For all the bank knows, you may not intend to start working until October 2010, and you will just borrow more money and then go bankrupt, leaving them with nothing.

Sorry, but that's the way it is. I doubt you will be able to get a loan.

gerrard1980

Hi

I graduated a year ago and have an overdraft with abbey of £1600 which they are calling in completely on 1 September (they're playing on small print(which i should have noticed)and won't budge at all on this).

I don't have the funds to pay any significant amount of that sum in the next month or so ..

and to complicate things I am going abroad on an internship for 12mths in about three weeks; it won't pay much after expenses, therefore I'm not sure if I can realistically convert it to a loan and pay much of it off in that year

I have no other significant debts or overdraft.

Ideally i need away to defer as much of the 1600 as possible for a year

I'm looking at maybe getting an egg card but that only gives me 6mths but might be my best option

Anyone know any other cards that do overdraft balance transfers?

Or would using a new overdraft on a different current account work out better... or a loan I can defer payment on.. please help

After 12mths I don't mind if that 1600 has grown (atleast not too much) as I'll have more options and hopefully enough income to start repaying it.

Any suggestions warmly appreciated

Thanks

gerrard1980

Hi,

I graduated a year ago, and am about to go on 12mth work placement abroad. Before I go I need to urgently consolidate some debt(called in overdraft as mentioned in a previous post) and raise some funds for travel.

I've come to the conclusion a graduate loan might be my best bet. However I have recently been having trouble getting credit from anywhere.

Just wondering if a poor credit rating would have a similar impact on my hopes of getting a graduate loan. I've had my account with barclays for 6-7 years with no problems whatsoever - regular payments in, rarely overdrawn for long. I can put forward a good case to my manager of why I need the loan, possibly explain my poor rating and show a committment and a little proof as to my ability to repay (can show paid for accomomdation and a small but sufficient wage for the next 12mths)

However I was just wondering to what extent my manager would take into account my case ie how flexible he could be in light of my apparent bad credit history (some late payments, a possible default(which can be easily explained) but nothing outstanding as of now.)

Anyone with any experience/advice of graduate loans?

Thanks

gerrard1980

Thanks for the response

Gonna try and see if I can get a graduate loan with my main account (barclays) or see if I can settle something with Abbey. Hopefully shouldn't be a problem as although I have a bad credit score for some reason I should be able to explain that and show evidence of ability to repay.

If not I'll have to try other banks and I'll give lloyds ago..

Thanks again

love2shop_3

Hi folks,
A little advice needed. I currently have a graduate loan for £4000 with NatWest. I was wondering if any of you clever people could tell me if there is a way to transfer this over to a 0% 6 month interest loan with a different company? How do people best advise to get rid of smallish loans quickly?
Thanks for your time,
Will

DiggingOut

How do people best advise to get rid of smallish loans quickly?

Make large payments?

You might be able to get a 0% credit card (try MBNA, they tend to give large limits, and you might get 9 months, or even 12). The risk is that you will reach the end of the 9 months and still owe lots of money which then begins to rack up interest at credit card rates.

With MBNA or Egg, you can tell them you want to pay off a loan, and they will do a balance transfer to your current account (most credit cards won't do this). Then, you use the funds to pay off the loan.

Don't spend on the card, it is just there to clear your loan. MBNA's minimum payment for 0% deals is only £5, but you have to do more than that or your debt will hit you later. But since the debt is at 0%, there is no need to rush. Just make regular and large payments to a savings account, so you can earn interest on the money you owe them.

When you near the end of the 0% deal, if you don't have enough to pay the debt off, apply for another 0% card, and transfer the balance to that.

The risk is that you won't make significant payments to your savings, and will end up with lots of credit card debt at high interest. So you have to be disciplined.

How much can you afford to pay a month to reduce your debt?

LucyL_3

i am looking for the best graduate loan for £8000 for a musical instrument (am a music teacher) and my natwest graduate account says i can have £8000 over 5 years for £160.12 a month overall paying £9607.
I live in guernsey - are there any better (cheaper) ways than natwest to have £8000 without paying more than £160 a month?

padleydi_2

My son is a new graduate and needs a loan to pay for a course that is essential to his work. Can anyone recommend a bank that willl give cheap loans to graduates> ???

mzmoneypenny

Hi there

Have a look here: http://www.support4learning.org.uk/money/banks_grad.htm

They have details of loans/overdrafts/credit cards and bank accounts.

Depending on how much he needs, might even be able to get the money from an interest free overdraft?

Hope this helps!