0% Balance transfers on cards with purchases

totallytopcat

Hello,

I saw a post just now that says purchases are paid off before BTs. I had an offer letter through from a high street bank card. I've had the bank card for over 20 years. I transferred a balance. I continued to use the card and pay off the purchases balance each month plus a 1/10th of the BT. However I was charged interest this month. When I complained the complaints department said the highest value item is paid off first and then all other values and so the interest is being computed daily on the purchases and these are the amounts making up the balance on my card not the BT. I am so shocked! I asked what I needed to do to obtain the 0% interest for the BT and was told to pay off the full balance on the card this month. This is a scam surely?

I am very careful with money and the offer of the 0% BT was up to end March. I have just carried out another transaction which I was going to transfer to this card and obtain the 12 months 0% BT. Now though I feel less confident I will get this. Also when I asked if this offer is still available on my card I was told no it had been retracted by their marketing department. Outrageous.

Can I ask for all the fees of the BT to be repaid and tfr the balance again to another card please?

thenudeone

You can't claim for anything back.

Virtually all cards work exactly the same way.

Purchases are interest free if you pay THE WHOLE STATEMENT BALANCE OFF EVERY MONTH.
Simply paying off all of the purchases each month doesn't count.

This will be in the T&Cs although it catches a lot of people out.

The golden rule still applies - never mix purchases and 0% offers on the same card.

There is nothing outrageous, except that some people sign financial agreements that they clearly don't read or understand.

totallytopcat

There is nothing outrageous, except that some people sign financial agreements that they clearly don't read or understand

Thing is I called to ensure how I was thinking was the correct understanding. To be advised that I could make purchases and still obtain 0% on a remainder balance I feel is misleading. However, I am not a financial expert.

For this reason I'm sorry I feel it is outrageous especially as the interest charged by credit cards is so high.

CLAPTON

totallytopcat wrote: »

Hello,

I saw a post just now that says purchases are paid off before BTs. I had an offer letter through from a high street bank card. I've had the bank card for over 20 years. I transferred a balance. I continued to use the card and pay off the purchases balance each month plus a 1/10th of the BT. However I was charged interest this month. When I complained the complaints department said the highest value item is paid off first and then all other values and so the interest is being computed daily on the purchases and these are the amounts making up the balance on my card not the BT. I am so shocked! I asked what I needed to do to obtain the 0% interest for the BT and was told to pay off the full balance on the card this month. This is a scam surely?

I am very careful with money and the offer of the 0% BT was up to end March. I have just carried out another transaction which I was going to transfer to this card and obtain the 12 months 0% BT. Now though I feel less confident I will get this. Also when I asked if this offer is still available on my card I was told no it had been retracted by their marketing department. Outrageous.

Can I ask for all the fees of the BT to be repaid and tfr the balance again to another card please?

simple

don't spend on a 0%BT card
have two cards


there are exception but you would need to read and understand the T&Cs

antuk

thenudeone wrote: »

Purchases are interest free if you pay THE WHOLE STATEMENT BALANCE OFF EVERY MONTH.
Simply paying off all of the purchases each month doesn't count.

This isn't totally accurate. Most banks keep the purchases and balance transfer amounts separate. Provided they apply payments in a highest rate first order then you can get back to 0% by clearing the purchases (and the compound interest the month later). It takes a month or two to get to totally 0 interest, there will be a couple of pence here or there. I managed to do this sucessfully with Halifax on a card a friend of mine had and spent on while there was a 0% BT on it.

thenudeone

antuk wrote: »

This isn't totally accurate. Most banks keep the purchases and balance transfer amounts separate. Provided they apply payments in a highest rate first order then you can get back to 0% by clearing the purchases (and the compound interest the month later). It takes a month or two to get to totally 0 interest, there will be a couple of pence here or there.

But even if you do what yuo suggest, you are still paying interest on the purchases yopu'd already made, for every day you've borrowed the money [therefore my statement was 100% accurate].

But I agree that it is a good idea to stop making any further purchases on that card as soon as you realise what's happened - to stop you being charged interest on any more purchases. The 0% BT offer is completely unaffected as long as you make the minimum payments each month.

totallytopcat

OK I have a dilemma. I need to transfer a balance from card B to card A. Card A has the original balance transfer which I can transfer to card B for 0% interest but I cannot do it until I have transferred the balance for card B to card A to take advantage of a 0% BT for 6 months. If I have a balance from a prior month with purchases and current purchases, do I need to pay off the purchases balance and then a few days later can I transfer the balance from card B to card A? Or in transferring the balance during an open statement period with other purchases on it mean any payments will be applied to the highest value item in the statement period first?
I do have the cash available to pay off both BTs but that will leave me with no cash available. I have a disabled daughter and I like to have a kitty of cash to hand just in case any benefit payments are stopped/changed etc. Also as I work for my own company, if she becomes ill I have no earnings. Help with this would be very appreciated as I'm a little lost with what credit card companies are saying to me re their repayment T&Cs on the phone and then doing something different once I've made the BT.