Bypassing credit card cash fees

Simpleton85

Help me MSE! You're my only hope.

I ran into an unexpected financial meltdown this month, my car failed its MOT and due to my ineptness I miscalculated how much money I'd have left after I paid the mechanics.

By the end of this month, I need £200 in my bank to cover my direct debits. I'm not paid until half way through next month.

I have a credit card. Barclaycard say they're not interested in doing a money transfer into my account, I need to find a way to transfer £200 from my credit card into my bank. It's basically my only hope of paying my DDs on time.

I tried to Moneygram myself the funds using my credit card, but they wouldn't accept the transaction as apparantly you can't be both the sender and the recipient.

Can anyone else think of a way I can get the funds from the credit card into my bank without using a cash machine? Cash fee with my card is 35% monthly! I applied for a card with money transfer facility but always get turned down and now don't have time to get a new card.

Many thanks for your help

D

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

PayPal to a (trusted) friend?

redcard

So you get charged 35% monthly in a cash withdrawal?

Simpleton85

redcard wrote: »

So you get charged 35% monthly in a cash withdrawal?

Scratch that, it's 35% annually, so I guess c.2.52% monthly.

Would anybody happen to know how this works? As my username suggests I'm not savvy with these things.

For instance, I withdraw £200 from my Barclaycard in cash. I obviously can't pay it all back in one go - let's say I go for the minimum payment of 12% of the balance. Do Barclays simply charge me 2.52% of £200 + 12%?

I'm sorry I'm such an idiot, please be gentle.

Simpleton85

Fruit_and_Nut_Case wrote: »

PayPal to a (trusted) friend?

I thought that too, thanks for the suggestion. Currently my PayPal account is locked as I haven't used it for ten years and don't know the password any more. The recover password screen gives you an option to email you a reminder which never gets through to me. I tried calling them and they basically can't help.

So in other words that idea is on hold. Thank you though.

leeroy2009

hi bud, I don't know the exact charge you will incur as it depends on how long you borrow this money for.


if you cant borrow off friends family then your cheapest option is to take £200 off the Barclaycard and stick it in your bank to cover those direct debits, if you pay it back within say a month its probably gona cost you less then a 10er in total including all fees.


pay it off longer and yes as a rough estimate it will be your annual rate, /12, but as your cash withdrawal balance drops you will pay less interest if you need a few months to pay it back, so it will be /12 of the cash balance not the amount you took out of the machine.


but act fast as your been charged daily interest the minute that machine spits your cash out, im 100% sure there is no 56 days free interest as there would be for a purchase, or do you have time to ring the direct debit takers up and pay using your Barclaycard? instead of them taking the direct debit - only thing is I wouldn't be able to promise you that they would not take the direct debit aswell!


for future keep more on top of your finances, as you will know by now that the garage bill should of went on the Barclaycard in first place, someone probably right now is working out the exact figure you will pay back by using the barclaycard

moshoodo1

Try a company called worldremit, I have used them before. just send the money to may be a friend or your wife. they accept credit card .

jonesMUFCforever

Just take the cash out of an ATM - Take the hit on the fee and clear as soon as possible when you get paid.


Or have you asked your bank for an overdraft?


Or can you put some bills or shopping on your card until after you have been paid?

InsideInsurance

Simpleton85 wrote: »

I thought that too, thanks for the suggestion. Currently my PayPal account is locked as I haven't used it for ten years and don't know the password any more. The recover password screen gives you an option to email you a reminder which never gets through to me. I tried calling them and they basically can't help.

So in other words that idea is on hold. Thank you though.

Set up a new one then. As its 10 years since you used it the current card wont be associated with the account as the one you had at the time will have expired.

You will have a fee to pay, or more accurately your friend will, but this may be less than the credit card charge depending on how long you need to repay it

simongregson

Best bet is to ask the bank for an overdraft, most let you apply online.


Other than that, despite high interest, getting the cash from your credit card is probably the best way. You need to make sure that next month you cut back enough to pay back the borrowed money enough to start paying it off, you don't want a repeat the next month as that's how you get more into debt.


And next time you have an unexpected bill, stick it on your credit card as a purchase. You may well find that the interest free period on your card is enough to tide over your cash flow until the end of the month, and even if not purchase interest is cheaper than cash advance interest and fees.

shortcrust

My local pub does cashback on credit cards. They just put the total as a purchase. Don't know if it a common thing.