Beginning my stoozing adventure (or is it folly)

JohnRo

Hello folks,

Sorry if this gets a bit long winded and is probably no big deal but I seek some clarification and hopefully benefit from the experience and knowledge of others in here.

I'm completely debt free, never had any credit or debt problems whatsoever and looking to stooze my monthly rent and as much penalty free monthly spending as possible on a new 0% purchase card starting next month.

The first step, this month. was to get a long (22month) 0% balance transfer card and stooze that in a high interest account instead of paying off the balance in full each and every month as I do currently.

I'm always a little nervous that disclosing details is a breach of some clause or other but regardless.. I have just applied and been accepted for a barclaycard platinum, credit limit £3700

As part of that application I declared a balance transfer from my existing credit card of ~£1700, this was intended as a whole of outstanding balance transfer leaving the existing card clear.

Unfortunately between that application, acceptance and the opportunity for said transfer to take place, the existing card had an automated monthly repayment land which wiped off ~£600 from the proposed balance transfer.

No problem other than reducing the transfer amount I thought so contacted Barclaycard by email to explain as much and received a response that went into little detail and had me more than a little stumped.

It reads - (the poor grammar is theirs)

"I would like to inform you that it will not effect the barclaycard application that you had made for the balance transfer.The amount of balance transfer will remain the same as you had applied during the application time. It will not get adjusted to the new amount. I hope that this information will help you."

I'm really struggling to process this, how can they transfer an amount from my existing card to their card that isn't actually there to be transferred?

Do I receive a cash back for the difference on my old card?

Does that incur charges?

I apologise if I'm just being thick but cannot figure out how this is going to work. So, any input is very much appreciated.

JohnRo

For what its worth I received a second reply to the questions above from Barclaycard that was much clearer. The balance transfer is simply credited to my old card, with no additional charges. I suspected as much but obviously wasn't sure.

When requesting a balance transfer does the company actually look at what is owed on the card where the balance is being transferred from or do they just initiate an automated credit push to the old card?

I have the facility to balance transfer another amount up to £1200 but wonder if they will allow me to transfer a new amount from (credit to) the same old card again?

oliverW_2

I haven't tried Stoozing since the credit crunch. Is it really worth all the effort these days as the interest rates are so low?

JohnRo wrote: »

Hello folks,

Sorry if this gets a bit long winded and is probably no big deal but I seek some clarification and hopefully benefit from the experience and knowledge of others in here.

I'm completely debt free, never had any credit or debt problems whatsoever and looking to stooze my monthly rent and as much penalty free monthly spending as possible on a new 0% purchase card starting next month.

The first step, this month. was to get a long (22month) 0% balance transfer card and stooze that in a high interest account instead of paying off the balance in full each and every month as I do currently.

I'm always a little nervous that disclosing details is a breach of some clause or other but regardless.. I have just applied and been accepted for a barclaycard platinum, credit limit £3700

As part of that application I declared a balance transfer from my existing credit card of ~£1700, this was intended as a whole of outstanding balance transfer leaving the existing card clear.

Unfortunately between that application, acceptance and the opportunity for said transfer to take place, the existing card had an automated monthly repayment land which wiped off ~£600 from the proposed balance transfer.

No problem other than reducing the transfer amount I thought so contacted Barclaycard by email to explain as much and received a response that went into little detail and had me more than a little stumped.

It reads - (the poor grammar is theirs)

"I would like to inform you that it will not effect the barclaycard application that you had made for the balance transfer.The amount of balance transfer will remain the same as you had applied during the application time. It will not get adjusted to the new amount. I hope that this information will help you."

I'm really struggling to process this, how can they transfer an amount from my existing card to their card that isn't actually there to be transferred?

Do I receive a cash back for the difference on my old card?

Does that incur charges?

I apologise if I'm just being thick but cannot figure out how this is going to work. So, any input is very much appreciated.

CLAPTON

the danger here is that the card you are BT from may reject the BT as it will send the card into positive territory
so barclaycard don't know or care how much is on your other card; but your other card may not like the balance becoming positive.

also does the barclaycard charge a BT fee? if it does then they will probably wipe out any interest you earn.

and does your landlord accept credit card payments?

JohnRo

thanks for the reply. I have done a little ground work so I'm not just heading into it blind or fooling myself it's going to make me a fortune.

My rent can be paid on a credit card without additional charge, I checked this specifically and had it confirmed by my landlord.

My existing card has informed me that the transfer will simply apply a credit to my existing credit card and that they're quite happy to transfer that to my current account or a nominated account elsewhere without penalty or charge.

As for the rates, 0% for 22 months with a 2.9% fee on BT gives me some elbow room as that's an effective 1.6% APR. I can get a 3.2% return (after tax) on that quite easily. I know the minimum monthly repayments will eat into that interest rate difference but it's very little hassle to set up this first card in the grand scheme of things and these are just the first baby steps so hopefully over time I can let things snowball nicely. Ultimately it's all down to what is on offer from the usurers but I might as well do some reverse engineering on what few crumbs they are offering and use what's available.

The 0% purchase card might prove a little more demanding but haven't received conformation yet, I'll just move my rent and regular spending onto that to start with and see how it goes with the credit limits and such.

I have the financial discipline to manage it all, that's really not an issue at all. It was just that initial hurdle of being new to this and being uncertain of the BT mechanics.

pqrdef

JohnRo wrote: »

My existing card has informed me that the transfer will simply apply a credit to my existing credit card and that they're quite happy to transfer that to my current account or a nominated account elsewhere without penalty or charge.

A lot of people will be interested in that. Have we discovered a new mule card?

JohnRo

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