Credit Card + large purchase advice.

dickibobboy

I'm after a little advice really. Here's the situation.

Currently -

Halifax Credit Card - clear, £2300 limit. Interest on everything now applies

Santander Credit Card - owe £70 on it. £3000 limit, interest on everything now.

Wanting to make a purchase of around £2000 towards a car.

There are many cards offering around 24 months interest free on balance transfers. My plan was to apply for one of those. Make the purchase on a current cars then transfer the balance and have a long period of interest free.

When applying with Natwest the credit limit they would give me for a card was only around £460 so not really any use.

Found a letter that was from Halifax last week, offer for 24 months on balance transfers on my current account but only if I transfer before 31st January which is too early for using the card, needs to be around the end of Feb.

Spoke to Santander as they offer a long period interest free on balance transfers on a certain credit card. Such offer cannot be applied to my existing accound so I would have to apply for the specific account. I have applied but have to wait to find out any details of the account. I imagine the credit limit will also be low although I'm wondering if they can do anything because of the high one I have on my existing Samtander Zero account.

Does anyone have any other suggestions on what I could do?

Thanks

bengal-stripe

dickibobboy wrote: »

Halifax Credit Card - clear, £2300 limit. Interest on everything now applies

Santander Credit Card - owe £70 on it. £3000 limit, interest on everything now.

A balance transfer card is no good to you, as you have no balance to transfer. You want a card that gives you 0% on purchases (presuming your car dealer accepts CC).

molerat

The majority of dealers will charge 2 - 3% on a CC purchase.

jonesMUFCforever

bengal-stripe wrote: »

A balance transfer card is no good to you, as you have no balance to transfer. You want a card that gives you 0% on purchases (presuming your car dealer accepts CC).

I think OP was planning to buy on one card then balance transfer it to another.
I agree though that your suggestion of a purchase free card would be the cheaper option.

dickibobboy

Thanks for your responses,

The. O% purchase card is probably the best way however there may be issues with the low credit limit and they only last around 15 months unlike the 24month offers for balance transfer cards.

It would be ideal if I could use the Barclays card I have already to transfer a balance onto it but as I won't be wanting to make the purchase until around the end of Feb I probably won't be able to take up the offer.

It's too bad I can't just walk up to my bank and pay myself £2000 on the credit card !

Waiting to see what Santander come back with and see what they can do if the credit limit is low. If the can move some credit limit from my other card I have with them like they say could be possible that would be great. Hmmm

Thanks!

YorkshireBoy

You're going about this the wrong way!


Why pay a dealer 2-3% and then pay another 2-3% for a BT?


The way to go in my opinion is a money transfer from MBNA, with 29 months 0% on cash into your current account for a 4% fee.


Having said that, it may be too late now for two reasons:


1. You're racking up searches, and
2. The £460 offered by NatWest says your credit history isn't the best?


Why is the Halifax offer too early? Take the cash now, buy the car at the end of Feb, and save yourself the 2-3% fee charged by the dealer. Even better, you may get a discount for cash!

dickibobboy

The low credit limit is probably due to my income being low although it makes sense to try other ways.

The Halifax offer would be too late as I have no way of transferring a balance to it as I can't purchase anything yet. How would I get the cash from a card and transfer the balance over before the 31st?

The problem is I don't actually know what I am buying as of yet just that I need £2k from a card.

boo_star

I think you're out of options to be honest.

As Natwest have only offered £460 as a limit, it's unlikely others would offer much more, almost certainly not the £2000 you require.

Save or put it on the lowest interest card would appear to be your only options.