Balance transfer more than debt

andy1988

Hi,

I've just got a credit card with a 0% balance transfer (16 months at 1.99%) and would like to take advantage of it before the 'transfer window' expires. I don't have enough credit card debt to do this, but I will within the next few months.

I would like to use the maximum balance on this card to transfer funds to my every-day credit card, leaving my every-day card with a positive balance in excees of £1,000. I know credit card companies will issue a cheque or BACS for positive balances incurred due to a refund, but presuming I left those funds on the card would the BT payment be rejected or a refund forced on me at some stage?

Thanks,
Andrew

P.S. it's from a Virgin card to a Tesco card

[Deleted User]

If you put your card into a positive balance, it's possible that the excess may be returned to wherever it came from and/or cause your account to be closed. Or you may get away with it.

It's your own gamble at the end of the day.

Consumerist

If the new card also comes with 0% on purchases then you could do your regular shopping on the card over the next few months and save the cash to pay off the other debt.

The credit-balance option would be a risky strategy, I think.

Edit
It looks to me that the Tesco card does come with 16 months of 0% on purchases as well as the 0% BT.

david39

If it's the MBNA card, these usually have a Super Balance Transfer option - that is, they will directly transfer money to your bank account so that you can do what you like with it.

Note, they usually charge an extra 0.5% transfer fee for this, so if the standard BT fee was 3%, the Super BT would be 3.5%.

Also note that on most BTs, you can usually only transfer 95% of your available money - this is so that the BT transfer fee does not take you over the limit.

andy1988

Thanks for your replies, Virgin do offer a money transfer but it's 4% fee opposed to the 1.99% BT fee so isn't really cost effective. I just want to make the most of the balance they've offered me, seems silly to have a 0% card sat there with only 50% of its balance used up, whilst the full allowance is counting against my credit. Monthly fuel bills come to £300, etc...so there's plenty to spend, it would just be more convenient if their BT window was more than 2 months.

Purchases are only 6 months on this card, while that's better than nothing I could end up in a mess in 6 months time if I've got £1,500 of purchases about to be charged at 15%.

Consumerist

andy1988 wrote: »

Virgin do offer a money transfer but it's 4% fee opposed to the 1.99% BT fee so isn't really cost effective.

How cost effective the 4% fee is will depend on how much the debt would cost you if you didn't put it on to a 0% BT card. Or are you stoozing rather than just trying to minimise debt costs?

Edit
If you are stoozing then you might be better off posting in the <MSE Stoozing forum>.

andy1988

I am stoozing, apologies for any confusion. However I have got my answer now, that is a positive balance isn't a guarantee. So to be safe I'll find a non-credit card holder family member who wishes to make a large purchase and who can give me cash in return for the use of my card. Or buy a few jerry cans of fuel :rotfl:, beats price hikes too!

thenudeone

Some electricity supplier will offer a discount for paying a year's usage in advance - if you need a genuine large balance to transfer.

gglaze

I've done this, by accident, in the past - for example, having already made the min payment on the card, and then forgetting or miscalculating the rest of the balance due, and then making a BT for more than that remaining balance, even by just a bit, like £10 extra. The time I did it (can't remember which card), a strange block was put on my card, I recall I couldn't use the card to purchase anything, but I also obviously couldn't make any payments to the card. Really weird situation, had to call in a few times to get the block removed and get it all sorted out. I think maybe they ultimately did send a cheque and I ended up being unable to use the card for a couple weeks until the cheque was deposited and fully processed? In short, a huge hassle for a stupid mistake, and I won't make that miscalculation again. Just don't do it.