Transfer verse Loan

Rosie888

I called my bank to ask if they would reduce my APR as I was looking to transfer the balance to another provider. They asked if I had considered a loan at 5.1% over 3/4/5/7 years and gave me the breakdown on payments. I don't really want to repay my card off like this but I can't pay the full amount off in a short time at the moment. Has anybody else done this rather than transferring? Help please x

Tixy

What APR are you paying on the card currently?

Are you able to get a new 0% deal?

How much are you able to afford a month? can you afford the monthly repayments over a 3year term? You will still be able to make overpayments at any time if you want to/can afford to.

I guess you need to compare the overall interest cost of the offered loan to what you might pay in balance transfer fees assuming you can keep shifting the debt to new deal and taking in to account how much you expect to be able to pay towards the debt each month.

jamesd

You can take the loan to clear the card. Then perhaps seek a 0% for purchases credit card and put as much normal spending as possible on the card. Use the money spent on the card to make overpayments on the loan. This may even be cheaper than a balance transfer fee. Depends on how long it takes to clear the loan balance.

Usually best to take the longest term and just overpay as you're able. That gives you flexibility to increase or decrease as you need to.

Avoid any loan with an initial fee when you anticipate making lots of overpayments.

How long do you think it would take to clear the amount owed if you had no interest to pay? Just to give some context for estimates about relative costs.

StuC75

If you dont like what they are looking to offer, then revert to your original plan of moving to different card provider..

Rosie888

Thanks for your replies/feedback appreciate it.