Opinions please.

sooty69_2

I need to choose a balance transfer card and I wonder if the community have any opinions on which is the best card to apply for.

Income £28k in a job held for 16 months after 12 months of unemployment, credit card debt is £17685 over 5 cards (70% of available credit utilised) all on 0% existing customer offers, mostly Barclaycard.

In November I paid a £5000 car loan off a year early and my bank balance with Santander is healthy with regular direct debit payments to my A&L/Santander mortgage. My overdraft limit has been almost tripled (currently unused, but requested to profit from the Royal Mail flotation) and 12 months ago I was accepted for a Santander 123 card (not taken due to no transfer offer) when I moved my Santander account to a 123 account.

However I need to transfer a balance this month of £4700 from Barclaycard with an expiring 0% offer.

Last 2 credit applications were a mixed bag - Bank of Scotland (successful - £1500 in August) and Lloyds was unsuccessful in October. I have 18 months history of steady repayments, none missed.

My opinion is that my debt utilisation to income and to available credit is far too high and this is damaging my chances of new credit.

I hope that in June I can reduce my debt by £5000 on top of my direct debit payments. I could also reduce my Barclaycard credit limit by £5000 but this would max out the card and it could take 2 weeks to show on the credit files.


MBNA and Santander are 2 remaining cards left for me to apply.

Do I choose MBNA that has a generous current promotion (previously rejected in November 2012, after a flurry of failed credit applications) on the basis that a national TV advertising campaign (29 months @2.89% fee) and my improving credit history stands me in good stead

OR

Do I choose Santander balance transfer card on the basis of recent evidence and that my own bank has a better knowledge of my financial affairs but with the distinct possibility that I might be given a low credit limit (£1500). My thinking is that a possible computer rejection could be overturned by human reviewer and thereby save a wasted application.

Opinions please.

forgotmyname

Just bumping this up to hide a spam post.

But your own bank maybe a better option. I really think you need to work on getting the total down though. Rather than shifting it around.

There is going to be a point where you can no longer shift anything and the interest rates increase.

Cash_Flow

sooty69 wrote: »

I need to choose a balance transfer card and I wonder if the community have any opinions on which is the best card to apply for.

Income £28k in a job held for 16 months after 12 months of unemployment, credit card debt is £17685 over 5 cards (70% of available credit utilised) all on 0% existing customer offers, mostly Barclaycard.

In November I paid a £5000 car loan off a year early and my bank balance with Santander is healthy with regular direct debit payments to my A&L/Santander mortgage. My overdraft limit has been almost tripled (currently unused, but requested to profit from the Royal Mail flotation) and 12 months ago I was accepted for a Santander 123 card (not taken due to no transfer offer) when I moved my Santander account to a 123 account.

However I need to transfer a balance this month of £4700 from Barclaycard with an expiring 0% offer.

Last 2 credit applications were a mixed bag - Bank of Scotland (successful - £1500 in August) and Lloyds was unsuccessful in October. I have 18 months history of steady repayments, none missed.

My opinion is that my debt utilisation to income and to available credit is far too high and this is damaging my chances of new credit.

I hope that in June I can reduce my debt by £5000 on top of my direct debit payments. I could also reduce my Barclaycard credit limit by £5000 but this would max out the card and it could take 2 weeks to show on the credit files.


MBNA and Santander are 2 remaining cards left for me to apply.

Do I choose MBNA that has a generous current promotion (previously rejected in November 2012, after a flurry of failed credit applications) on the basis that a national TV advertising campaign (29 months @2.89% fee) and my improving credit history stands me in good stead

OR

Do I choose Santander balance transfer card on the basis of recent evidence and that my own bank has a better knowledge of my financial affairs but with the distinct possibility that I might be given a low credit limit (£1500). My thinking is that a possible computer rejection could be overturned by human reviewer and thereby save a wasted application.

Opinions please.

Before you waste a search with MBNA maybe you should use the fluid card pre credit checker

https://apply.fluid.co.uk/long-balance-transfer-card/form

They are backed by MBNA so maybe worth a try?

sooty69_2

Thanks Cash Flow, will try.