Having problems with "tarting" credit cards!

barnishroader

Hi,
I currently have 2 cards, Barclaycard (approx 2k balance) and MBNA (approx 5k balance).
In the past ive always been able to balance transfer before the 0% periods ended.
the MBNA deal ended on 17th October but when i applied for a new card im getting turned down.
So far ive tried Halifax, Nationwode & Santander (who i have my current account with) and Barclaycard wont let me transfer to another of their cards.

I know i shouldnt have let myself get to this stage but i really need to get the interest charges off these cards ASAP as my work situation is unsteady atm and my wife is on maternity leave.

Can anyone advise my best option to go for?

sistafromanothermista

If you go onto your barclaycard online, do you have any 'deals' open to you? (0% balance transfer deals?) obv this will only work if you have a limit enough to cover the BT from the MBNA card, or vice versa?

Could your wife not open a 0% card and transfer over to her name?

YorkshireBoy

Total debt? (all cards and overdraft)
Total available credit? (all cards and overdraft facilities)
Income?

Have you viewed your credit reports lately? If not, they may hold a clue?

Moved recently? On the electoral roll?

MrSilk

In my opinion, shifting debt from one card to another once the 0% runs out is dangerous, what where to happen if you had a high debt to salary ratio and you could no longer obtain a 0% card? I'm 99.9% sure that you wouldn't be able to clear the balance within a few months, thus incurring £100s in interest.

Best to check your credit file.

sistafromanothermista

MrSilk wrote: »

In my opinion, shifting debt from one card to another once the 0% runs out is dangerous, what where to happen if you had a high debt to salary ratio and you could no longer obtain a 0% card? I'm 99.9% sure that you wouldn't be able to clear the balance within a few months, thus incurring £100s in interest.

Best to check your credit file.

This is what is happening to me

barnishroader

Thanks for all the responses.
Ill try a general response here.

@sista - Barclaycard have no deals on for me
I am not sure whether either card i have is in joint names or not and not sure how to find out.
It might be an option to open one in my wifes name but to be honest i deal with all financial matters and would prefer to manage this myself!

@Yorks - total card debt is 7260.18 with credit limits of 7900
I have 2 current accounts Santander has an overdraft of 450.
Barclays has a 6320 overdraft and reserve facility which is linked to my mortgage, which is with them.
I enquired about possibly using that money to pay off the cards and was told that the interest is 4.99%SVR
At present the credit card charges are:
MBNA 1.2989% on £780 and 1.4495% on £4400
Barclaycard 1.667% on £130 and 1.527% on £1940
I know these are APR's but how could i work out if it would be cheaper to pay off the balances with the Barclays overdraft facility?

I dont wish to post my income on here but it is +20k as is my wifes.

I have my credit report, from about 3 months ago.
To be honest im not sure what to make of it as i dont know how to tell if its good or bad.
we havent moved recently and are on the electoral register.

@MrSilk - I understand the risks of tarting but its too late to do anything about them. I think my problem that im looking help for is as you say, not being able to get a 0% card, but the debt/salary ratio is ok i think.

barnishroader

update:
Just got my wife to apply for barclaycard and try to BT both balances.
She was accepted with a 11.5k limit!
Only the MBNA transfer was accepted but at least its a start!
It did say we could try the other transfer again when we activate our cards so ill maybe look into that before trying another card company.


Can i ask, if the MBNA and Barclaycard cards were just in my name, would that affect the success of getting a different card under my wifes name if i was added as an additional cardholder?
If they were just in my name, she wouldnt have had any credit card debts.
Before trying Barclaycard, we tried Tesco and they turned us down and i had added myself as an additional cardholder.
With the Barclaycard successful application i didnt add myself until after it had been accepted.

guesswho2000

barryheffron wrote: »

update:
Just got my wife to apply for barclaycard and try to BT both balances.
She was accepted with a 11.5k limit!
Only the MBNA transfer was accepted but at least its a start!
It did say we could try the other transfer again when we activate our cards so ill maybe look into that before trying another card company.

You won't be able to transfer the other balance at all, Barclaycard won't let you BT between two of their own cards, not even in different names. This is common to all (as far as I know) card issuers.

The only way around it is to money transfer to a current account and use the cash to pay off the card (an option which Barclaycard almost never offer, I've held a card for over seven years and the option has always been unavailable in online banking).

However, your other card is MBNA, one of the SBT issuers. They'll probably let you do a money transfer, even if it's at a high interest rate or whatever, which you can then BT to the new Barclaycard as normal.

barnishroader

Good thinking!
I'll transfer to my current account when the balance on mbna has cleared and then pay off barclaycard with that.

barnishroader

barryheffron wrote: »

I enquired about possibly using that money to pay off the cards and was told that the interest is 4.99%SVR
At present the credit card charges are:
MBNA 1.2989% on £780 and 1.4495% on £4400
Barclaycard 1.667% on £130 and 1.527% on £1940
I know these are APR's but how could i work out if it would be cheaper to pay off the balances with the Barclays overdraft facility?

Just out of interest, how do i compare these rates of interest?

YorkshireBoy

barryheffron wrote: »

Just out of interest, how do i compare these rates of interest?

Your SVR figure is an annual rate of interest.

The card figures you've given are monthly rates.

There's a monthly to annual (and vice versa) interest rate conversion tool here...

http://www.stoozing.com/mon2yr.htm