Is this breaking any T&Cs or just cheeky?

thegfb

Hi,

Basically the situation is this:

I bought a TV from Argos by applying for an Argos card, and opted to pay nothing for 9 months. My plan was (before the 9 months was up) to transfer the £400-odd balance onto my new Tesco credit card which offers up to 27 months interest free on balance transfers then spread the repayments a little thinner and pay no interest. However I hit a snag when I realised (after I had received my Tesco card) that I cannot transfer the Argos card balance.

So, what I now intend to do is transfer the £400-odd onto my Tesco card and pay onto my other credit card effectively giving me the money in a positive balance, then transfer this straight into my bank account from the other card (avoiding the high interest rates on money transfers by doing it immediately). Once the money is in my bank account, I can settle the Argos card balance by debit card.

Is this 'wrong' in any way or is it just good thinking?

If you want to give me an earbashing about not fully researching the limitations on the Tesco card etc then fill your boots, as long as you can answer my question

InsideInsurance

The problem will be that the third card (a) may refuse to accept the balance transfer because it leaves a positive balance or (b) may insist that it is repaid back to the account it came from (ie your Tesco Card rather than your bank account)

meer53

Putting a credit card into a positive balance is sometimes a breach of the t & c's, check with your card issuer. Plus not all cards allow credit balances to be transferred to a bank account.

thegfb

Ok, I have paid more than £400 before to put a positive balance on this CC account when I wanted to buy a few bits for my house (via credit card to get the added consumer protection though I didn't know at the time that only small amount of overall cost needed to be funded via a CC for protection under CCA) and the company had no problems accepting the positive balance at that time.

I suppose I've got nothing to lose by trying, if they insist it goes back on the Tesco card what I will do is wait 3 months, apply for a 0% money transfer card and if successful use this to credit my bank account then transfer the balance on this card to the Tesco card. Does that sound like a good plan B?

Edit - if I end up in scenario b) I could just use the positive balance to buy groceries, fuel etc for a few weeks that I'd otherwise be buying on my debit card and use the debit card to pay off the Argos card? Where there's a will there's a way

YorkshireBoy

If the Tesco card has a reasonable 0% on purchases period you could buy Sterling travellers cheques (1.25% fee), pay them into your bank account, and settle the Argos debt from there.

Out of interest, who's the other card provider?

Re the worst case scenario, ie if your Tesco BT is bounded back, you'll have paid a circa 3% BT fee for nothing! 1.25% sounds like a bargain now.

thegfb

Hi YorkshireBoy, the other CC is a Natwest Mastercard (current accounts are with Natwest too).

Only 3 months 0% on purchases which I could afford if push came to shove but ideally wanted to leave it a bit longer and spread the repayments a little thinner, as I've just moved in to a new house and I've still got unexpected costs cropping up

YorkshireBoy

thegfb wrote: »

Hi YorkshireBoy, the other CC is a Natwest Mastercard (current accounts are with Natwest too).

Check out the 'money transfer' feature on the NatWest card*.

They'll pay cash into your current account fee-free and at your purchase rate of interest. Swiftly BT this debt to Tesco and you've got your desired outcome, with little, or even no, interest payable.


* You'll find you have an 'advance limit', typically 30-50% of your credit limit. Hopefully you've sufficient credit limit available?

thegfb

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Check out the 'money transfer' feature on the NatWest card*.

They'll pay cash into your current account fee-free and at your purchase rate of interest. Swiftly BT this debt to Tesco and you've got your desired outcome, with little, or even no, interest payable.


* You'll find you have an 'advance limit', typically 30-50% of your credit limit. Hopefully you've sufficient credit limit available?

Credit limit is £900 so will be a close call but worth a go

thegfb

Well, a quick update. My advance limit wasn't quite enough so I BT'd the money over to put a positive balance on my NW card, then within minutes of the funds being shown available via online banking I requested the money transferred into my NW current account and it went without a hitch. All good

chattychappy

thegfb wrote: »

Ok, I have paid more than £400 before to put a positive balance on this CC account when I wanted to buy a few bits for my house (via credit card to get the added consumer protection though I didn't know at the time that only small amount of overall cost needed to be funded via a CC for protection under CCA) and the company had no problems accepting the positive balance at that time.

You probably lose S75 protection if a transaction is wholly financed out of a positive balance. The Act isn't explicit and to my knowledge it's never been tested in the higher courts. S75 is onerous on a CC and CCs use all means (fair and foul, sometimes) to avoid paying out. If they are on the ball they would spot this and use it to deny a claim - something that could be upheld by the FOS. You are probably still better off than paying cash - there are still chargeback possibilities.

guesswho2000

Even simpler, get a Visa Credit card, pay your Argos card by selecting Visa Debit and entering the CC details, job done.