Balance Transfer and Money Transfer explanation?

saint_david

I've got an Amazon Mastercard that I haven't used in a long time. I've had a letter offering me 0% on new balance transfers for 12 months and 0% on new money transfers for 12 months. I know what it means by balance transfer, but what is it referring to when it says new money transfer?

Sorry for being clueless but I just want clarification. Once this questions answered I've got another easy one lined up

Tixy

Money transfer from amazon is when they will pay money into a current account for you. People also refer to them as super balance transfers if you've heard of those.

Which might be useful if you have an overdraft or other debts that are not credit cards that you want to switch to a 0% rate. Or if you want to purchase something in cash and spread the cost out it can sometimes work out cheaper than getting a loan.

saint_david

Tixy wrote: »

Money transfer from amazon is when they will pay money into a current account for you.
Which might be useful if you have an overdraft or other debts that are not credit cards that you want to switch to a 0% rate.

So if I purchased something with a different credit card I couldn't use the amazon money transfer to pay it off?

Tixy

You could sort of - you'd have to do a money transfer to your current account - and then pay off the other card from your bank account (as a normal payment).

You'd incur the money transfer fee, which is usually a higher % than the regular balance transfer fee.

In which case you'd usually be better doing a 'normal' balance transfer between the 2 cards as it would be cheaper (unless other card is also issued by MBNA)

saint_david

Tixy wrote: »

You could sort of - you'd have to do a money transfer to your current account - and then pay off the other card from your bank account (as a normal payment).

You'd incur the money transfer fee, which is usually a higher % than the regular balance transfer fee.

In which case you'd usually be better doing a 'normal' balance transfer between the 2 cards as it would be cheaper (unless other card is also issued by MBNA)

Which leads me on to my next question...

If I make a purchase on the other credit card (Tesco) and then do an immediate balance transfer to the amazon card, am I still charged interest on the Tesco card?

Tixy

Does the tesco card currently have a balance on it from the previous statement? Or is it currently clear?

If its currently clear and you make a purchase on the card then providing the amount of the purchase is paid off in full before the next due date (as per your next statement) then you will pay no interest on the transaction.
A balance transfer usually takes up to a week from you requesting it with amazon - to it being credited with the other bank. So if you have no balance you should be fine (assuming its not a gambling transaction).

If you currently have a balance on the tesco card and you don't clear it in full each month, then you will be charged interest daily on the purchase from the date you make your purchase to when the transaction is repaid (ie the date the amazon transfer is credited to your account.

Just to add another potential confusion - if you really want a 0% purchase offer, you could try calling amazon saying you see they have offered you a balance transfer offer but that is not of any interest to you, would they be prepared to offer you a 0% on purchases offer instead. Its worth a shot and would save you the transfer fee if they did happen to agree to it.

saint_david

Tixy wrote: »

Does the tesco card currently have a balance on it from the previous statement? Or is it currently clear?

If its currently clear and you make a purchase on the card then providing the amount of the purchase is paid off in full before the next due date (as per your next statement) then you will pay no interest on the transaction.
A balance transfer usually takes up to a week from you requesting it with amazon - to it being credited with the other bank. So if you have no balance you should be fine (assuming its not a gambling transaction).

If you currently have a balance on the tesco card and you don't clear it in full each month, then you will be charged interest daily on the purchase from the date you make your purchase to when the transaction is repaid (ie the date the amazon transfer is credited to your account.

Yes the Tesco card is clear so purchasing on this then transferring the balance to the Amazon card sounds like the best option Thankyou VERY much for your advice!

edit: just read the part about asking for a 0% purchase offer. That would be even better...I'll investigate.

Tixy

Or (sorry to keep thinking of other possibilities) you could even try phoning tesco and asking if they can offer you a 0% on purchases promo deal. Which if they did would again save the balance transfer fee.

If neither will offer 0% on purchases then yes sensible to buy on tesco and transfer to amazon.

saint_david

Tixy wrote: »

Or (sorry to keep thinking of other possibilities) you could even try phoning tesco and asking if they can offer you a 0% on purchases promo deal. Which if they did would again save the balance transfer fee.

If neither will offer 0% on purchases then yes sensible to buy on tesco and transfer to amazon.

I phoned them both but they couldn't offer 0% on purchases - when I took them out initially it was with a 0% on purchases promo so that's probably why.