Transfer balance and then back again?

fobe

I currently have two credit cards:
- A Halifax card with a balance of zero
- A Virgin card with a balance of £3500

Virgin are currently offering 0% on balance transfers made before 31/1/2013, so my question is: Can I transfer some/all of the £3500 from the Virgin card to the Halifax card, and then transfer it straight back again to qualify for the 0% rate? Or is there some minimum period required between transfers?

gglaze

Probably yes. I've heard of cards detecting and stopping this kind of bounceback BT before - but I've done it with no problems a few times. Of course you will have some days of interest on the Halifax during the meantime - but if you keep on top of it every day you can minimise it.

Don't just go and initiate both transfers simultaneously, or you risk over-crediting the Halifax card before you get the debt from the Virgin card. The right way to do it is go ahead and make the transfer from Virgin to Halifax, then wait until you see (at least) the pending transaction confirmed against your Halifax available credit, and preferably after you see the credit applied against your Virgin card. Then once it's clear, go ahead and make the transfer back to Virgin. With any luck you can get by with only 2-3 days interest on the Halifax. Start the process on a Monday to get it done before the weekend.

Good luck!

fobe

Thanks. A few days interest in the Halifax account is neither here nor there. A whole month isn't a problem either. I just didn't want to transfer the balance and then find out I had to wait 90 days or something before being allowed to move it again, and thus missing out on the 0% Virgin rate.

1931modela

I have a question on BT, is there not a fee to pay when you BT

sfax

How long is the 0% period on Virgin? Doesn't seem a great idea if it costs 6% of the total balance for anything less than 18 months

fobe

Until Dec 2013. The transfer fees add about £200, but at 0% I'd save ~£70 per month in interest, so I'd be ~£600 better off - which would go towards paying off the balance quicker, thus saving more overall.

sfax

fobe wrote: »

Until Dec 2013. The transfer fees add about £200, but at 0% I'd save ~£70 per month in interest, so I'd be ~£600 better off - which would go towards paying off the balance quicker, thus saving more overall.

It's a no brainer if you're paying nearly 30% APR at the moment. Go for it

thenudeone

In theory - yes it's possible, and it's not against any terms.

But there is a slim possibility that once you've cleared the account, Virgin review your account and reduce your limit so you can't transfer it back. But this is unlikely given that you're a good enough customer to get 0% offers.

gglaze

1931modela wrote: »

I have a question on BT, is there not a fee to pay when you BT

Sometimes. It depends on the BT offer from your credit card company - some offers charge a transfer fee, some do not.

Tixy

Have you asked Halifax if they can offer you a 0% balance transfer deal at all? If not worth calling to ask them. Or you might want to consider trying to apply for a different new card with a BT offer.

Then you'd only need to do the 1 transfer, saving transfer fees and eliminating the risk of your credit limit being reduced and not be able to do the second transfer.

Paully232000

I have done the same thing with virgin (albeit a few years ago), transferred from virgin to natwest, waited about a month, and then transferred it all back to virgin for their 0% deal.