Money Transfer Cards max balance

coriordan

Hi,
Long time lurker first time poster.


I am looking at getting around £5K cash out of a credit card, hoping that it is the cheapest way of doing so. I need it for about a year, although two would be a bonus.


I don't have any debt apart from a mortgage and about £1K on an Amex which I pay off each month, and about £200 of overdraft I dip in and out.


My total available credit is: £1000 + £1750 overdrafts (came with 2 current accounts, one is unused) and £8,500 credit cards (2,500 in one, unused and £6K on the amex). Obviously to withdraw this in cash will be prohibitively expensive. In saying the above I think that my credit rating isn't too bad. I was pretty surprised that Amex gave me so much.


What is the maximum limit one can extract on a money (current account) transfer credit card and am I right in thinking these exist? I think the least hassle would be to get as much as I can on a money transfer card and stick it in my current account. I am happy to accept the 2-3% fees. I think Virgin, Lloyds and MBNA do these, but not totally certain.


Secondly, would it be possible to get, say 2 credit cards, withdraw the balance on one in cash (i'm happy to suck up the 2-3% fee) then use a balance transfer card to settle it to give me 2 years at 0%? Are there restrictions on how much one can withdraw?


Finally, is it possible to buy currency (GBP or otherwise) on a 0% purchases credit card. If so, would I pay interest as if it were a cash withdrawal or would I only pay the 3% withdrawal fee?


Thank you for any help.

Candyapple

coriordan wrote: »

What is the maximum limit one can extract on a money (current account) transfer credit card and am I right in thinking these exist? I think the least hassle would be to get as much as I can on a money transfer card and stick it in my current account. I am happy to accept the 2-3% fees. I think Virgin, Lloyds and MBNA do these, but not totally certain.

Max limit you can transfer with a money transfer card is usually 90 - 95% of whatever credit limit you've been given. So if you are wanting to withdraw £5k, you need a credit card with at least £5.5k limit.

Virgin/MBNA are your best bet as they give generous limits.

coriordan wrote: »

Secondly, would it be possible to get, say 2 credit cards, withdraw the balance on one in cash (i'm happy to suck up the 2-3% fee) then use a balance transfer card to settle it to give me 2 years at 0%? Are there restrictions on how much one can withdraw?

Yes you could do that, however it would rely on your second card having a large enough limit to cater for the £5k balance transfer and unless you have a high salary, what with your current credit limits/overdrafts, plus the hypoethetical £5k card added on top, you'd need to be earning at least £40k for it to be possible.

However, MBNA offer 0% on money transfers for up to 24 months with 1.99% handling fee:
https://www.mbna.co.uk/compare-credit-cards/money-transfer-credit-cards/mbna/

coriordan wrote: »

Finally, is it possible to buy currency (GBP or otherwise) on a 0% purchases credit card. If so, would I pay interest as if it were a cash withdrawal or would I only pay the 3% withdrawal fee?

I've never tried it so can't comment. Don't forget, a 0% purchases card is totally different from a money transfer card.

If you want a 0% purchases card, best to take it out separately from the money transfer card.

coriordan

Many thanks candyapple for the comprehensive reply. I have researched the Virgin one and applied for that as they have an offer which expires tomorrow. We shall see what happens. I think transfer rate is only 2% (for now) but happy to pay 4% if it goes up.


If Virgin decline I may decide to cancel the whole idea as I don't want a load of rejected credit applications on my report (although Experian says I have none for the last 6 months which I know is nonsense as the Amex and mortgage are within that period). That said I am grateful for the MBNA card so may look into that as well.


Interesting to note about the cash withdrawal - I hadn't really thought about requiring 10K credit limit, but that makes sense! Probably once all ideas have dried up, but I don't plan on pressing the idea too hard.


I appreciate the purchases cards are very different from transfer cards - I was wondering if the purchase of FX (even GBP) constitutes a purchase or a cash withdrawal by the card owner?

alipops1986

I applied for the Virgin 40 month 0% CC with 4% money transfer fee and got 7k limit, with the ability to transfer maximum of £6550.

Would recommend trying them for sure.

coriordan

Perfect. Got my application in so waiting on the response now!

Candyapple

coriordan wrote: »

Perfect. Got my application in so waiting on the response now!

Did you not get an instant response on the screen like the poster above you?

Also, Experian is not the only credit reference agency - you have Equifax and Call Credit too so even if your mortgage doesn't show up on your Experian file, it probably shows up on one or both of the other two - hence why you need copies of all 3 of your reports to give an overall picture and see that everything is ok.

coriordan

No it wasn't immediate for me. Looking at the website they said it takes 10 days, so waiting on that.


The reason Experian wasn't working is because I hadn't updated my addresses. It's now sorted.