Stoozing: Make Free Cash from Credit Cards article discussion

XXXX

I wanted to apply for a Barcalys cashback card to replace the current non-cashback Barclaycard I have, but their system on the web did not seem to allow me to do that. It seems only available to new customers. So I called in to complain and ask to close my current card to make myself a NEW customer again.

Guess what happened, unexpectedly Barclays instantly put £30 free credit into my card. Now I have no reason to close the card at least for the time being.

Keep an open mind, you never know what might happen next.

Moggles_2

XXXX wrote: »

I wanted to apply for a Barclaycard Cashback card to replace the current non-cashback Barclaycard I have, but their system on the web did not seem to allow me to do that. It seems only available to new customers.

That's right. Currently, Barclaycard Breathe and OnePulse are the only cards available to existing customers, others by invitation only.

So I called in to complain and ask to close my current card to make myself a NEW customer again. Guess what happened, unexpectedly Barclaycard instantly put £30 free credit into my card. Now I have no reason to close the card, at least for the time being. Keep an open mind, you never know what might happen next.

Indeed. More 'free money' anecdotes here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1997211

Gazzamania_2

I'm looking at the Virgin Mastercard. They are offering a transfer of 95% of total balance 5k into my current account until Aug 2010 at 0%, but I did not ask them what fees were charged at the time, does anyone happen to know?.

Private message me!

vramesh

Hi, I am not a regular member on this board but have a quick question and wonder if anyone can help please?

I have a Virgin card and the balance on it is zero. Can I do a balance transfer to this Virgin card and withdraw the cash? Will I be charged for doing this?

Many thanks guys!

YorkshireBoy

vramesh wrote: »

I have a Virgin card and the balance on it is zero. Can I do a balance transfer to this Virgin card and withdraw the cash? Will I be charged for doing this?

If I understand your plan you're wanting to transfer a ficticious balance from Virgin to another card? And then ask Virgin to refund you the positive balance created?

It may work, as others have reported some success when doing the same, but if the sum involved was large then Virgin could invoke their AML procedures. One possible outcome is that they'll return the cash from whence it came, meaning you could have wasted a (3%?) BT fee.

As to any fee charged by Virgin, then I'd expect any online SBT request to apply one automatically...even if using a positive balance. Maybe you'll have a better chance of avoiding it if you make the request by phone?

vramesh

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

If I understand your plan you're wanting to transfer a ficticious balance from Virgin to another card? And then ask Virgin to refund you the positive balance created?

It may work, as others have reported some success when doing the same, but if the sum involved was large then Virgin could invoke their AML procedures. One possible outcome is that they'll return the cash from whence it came, meaning you could have wasted a (3%?) BT fee.

As to any fee charged by Virgin, then I'd expect any online SBT request to apply one automatically...even if using a positive balance. Maybe you'll have a better chance of avoiding it if you make the request by phone?

Many thanks Yorkieboy!

I am sure if I have read on this forum that I can use cards like Virgin as "Piggyback" cards. Anyone actually got any experience of doing this?

Thanks again all for the help.

JimmyTheWig

vramesh wrote: »

I am sure if I have read on this forum that I can use cards like Virgin as "Piggyback" cards. Anyone actually got any experience of doing this?

The only card you can really do this with is Egg Money. Many people here have lots of experience doing this.

If you are happy to pay two lots of fees then you could do the transfer of debt from your overdraft to your Virgin card first (you may see this as a transfer of money from your Virgin card to your current account, but Virgin won't use those terms) and then transfer the debt from your Virgin card to your other card.
You're probably talking a 7% total fee here.
Remember that this is a fee on the whole balance. If you've got a 0% interest deal on the other card and you are paying the balance off in a year, this is the equivalent of around 14% interest. Can you do better elsewhere?

kernalpop

Gazzamania wrote: »

I'm looking at the Virgin Mastercard. They are offering a transfer of 95% of total balance 5k into my current account until Aug 2010 at 0%, but I did not ask them what fees were charged at the time, does anyone happen to know?.

Private message me!

It's 4%. I just got this for 5k too and bought a new car!!! lol

Tamwolf

Has anyone ever 'stoozed' a mortgage??
i have been toying with the idea for a while & my sketching out in a spreadsheet seems to make it viable. I have a blindingly good lifetime tracker with woolwich at 0.19% above base rate (therefore 0.69% currently) & a savings account with A & L at 3.15,
currently owe 46k will be paid off in 3 yrs at 1320 per month
they wont let me go interest only, but will extend my term to 26 years, making payments 164ish, meaning i could bank 1200 per month, & pay lump sum/full amount at any time in future if financial circumstances change.
i can't see a catch, but???
any input greatfully received, cheers.

JimmyTheWig

Tamwolf wrote: »

Has anyone ever 'stoozed' a mortgage??

Yes, we're doing it with ours. We changed to interest-only.
The only catch is if they charge you to change the term. They did charge us, but we worked out that we still couldn't lose.

We are on a fixed mortgage rate and knew that we would more than cover the charge with a fixed rate regular saver in the first year. So it was no risk.
You need to consider the possibility of rates changing to a point where this is no longer viable. If they are not charging you to make this change then there is no risk as you can just change back. If they are charging you then you need to determine how quickly you can make back the money charged and therefore whether it is worth it.