Balance transfer FROM AA Credit Card

Wainysweak

Hi,

Has anyone managed to transfer a balance FROM the new AA Balance Transfer credit card to another credit card?
I got the AA card in January without realising it was a Bank of Ireland card and transferred a balance on to it. I am not a fan of the Bank of Ireland and would like to move my balance away from them as soon as possible, but i have had two balance transfers rejected by two different credit cards that I have signed up for.
The first, TSB, told me that they do not transfer from The AA at all after attempts online and a very lengthy phone call. Due to this, I signed up for a new Bank of Scotland card after calling them and confirming the transfer would be ok. I put The AA card details in and the next day got an email saying it was unsuccessful and to wait for my card before trying again.

I have spoken to Bank of Ireland and they told me there should be no issue, but on past dealings I am wary to listen to anything they say.

Not only is this an issue because I can't transfer my balance now, but when the 0% interest free period runs out there could be a lot of people unable to move their balance to another provider.

Has anyone managed to move their balance away from them?

grumbler

Wainysweak wrote: »

...I am not a fan of the Bank of Ireland and would like to move my balance away from them as soon as possible,

I can understand if one has to be a fun of a bank to trust them with his money, but I don't see why one has to be a fun to borrow from them and would waste money on BTs to stop borrowing.

Makes no sense to me.

Wainysweak

Thank you, this isn't a thread discussing the merits or not of balance transfers, it is a genuine question regarding moving away from one provider to another.

Candyapple

What were the reasons TSB and BOS gave for rejecting the transfers?

Are you doing something wrong at your end perhaps such as trying to transfer to a debit card? A card in someone else's name? Is the transfer more than 95% of your credit limit?

Wainysweak

Thanks for the reply Candyapple,

TSB's reason was that they do not transfer from The AA and more specifically cards beginning with 52568.
I haven't discussed it with BoS yet as the email stated I should await my card arriving before contacting them and trying again.

It was definitely going from one credit card to another, both in my name at my address. I've never had an issue with being accepted for a card or performing a transfer in the past either. The transfer was for less than a third of the available balance on the new cards.

I think it could be a real concern for anyone who gets the AA card but does not intend paying off the balance before the end of the interest free period.

Candyapple

Wainysweak wrote: »

Thanks for the reply Candyapple,

TSB's reason was that they do not transfer from The AA and more specifically cards beginning with 52568.
I haven't discussed it with BoS yet as the email stated I should await my card arriving before contacting them and trying again.

It was definitely going from one credit card to another, both in my name at my address. I've never had an issue with being accepted for a card or performing a transfer in the past either. The transfer was for less than a third of the available balance on the new cards.

I think it could be a real concern for anyone who gets the AA card but does not intend paying off the balance before the end of the interest free period.

How curious! I know some card companies won't process Amex charge cards because of the 15 digits, ditto to some store cards, but I can't say I've ever heard of this.

Does your card have 16 digits?

I know that Halifax/Lloyds will cancel any balance transfers you entered at the application stage because you need to receive your card and activate it first (stupid how they don't tell you this!) and given that BOS are part of the same group, this could possibly be the reason why it got cancelled. I would do as BOS say, wait until you have the card first and see how you get on. If it still gets cancelled after that then you need to get to the bottom of what is going on if 2 providers are not willing to accept a transfer from them - possibly contact Ombudsman etc.

Wainysweak

Yes it is a normal Mastercard with 16 digits.

That's interesting about Lloyds/Halifax, as you say BoS are the same group so i would imagine the same applies. I'll definitely try again when the card arrives this week and update the thread.

Thanks for your help!

Wainysweak

Hi,
Just an update...

I received the BoS card today, activated it and tried to do the transfer online. The transfer was rejected in the same way as the TSB card.

I also tried transferring it onto an old zero balance Barclaycard Platinum card that i have as i received an offer through the post with a 0% rate. Same again - transfer rejected.

I'm going to speak to the AA card support and ask them if they can shed any light on it. If anyone is reading this and considering getting an AA card, I'd highly recommend looking elsewhere if you aren't planning on paying the balance off before the 0% rate runs out.

Candyapple

Thanks for the update. Hope you manage to get to the bottom of it.

Creditcardchaos_2

I have had the same problem over this last week with trying to transfer from AA to Halifax. Initially I attempted to do it online which was rejected so I proceeded to ring the Halifax. They suggested that I contact the AA to see if there was a problem. The AA said that it may be because they have recently moved from the BoScotland to the BoIreland and suggested getting the Halifax to generate the BT manually. I tried that which they attempted to do, 4 days later I received a letter apologising that the BT couldn't be done. What do I do???

Candyapple

Creditcardchaos wrote: »

I have had the same problem over this last week with trying to transfer from AA to Halifax. Initially I attempted to do it online which was rejected so I proceeded to ring the Halifax. They suggested that I contact the AA to see if there was a problem. The AA said that it may be because they have recently moved from the BoScotland to the BoIreland and suggested getting the Halifax to generate the BT manually. I tried that which they attempted to do, 4 days later I received a letter apologising that the BT couldn't be done. What do I do???

You are the third person now who has reported the same issues:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5469253


"The AA said that it may be because they have recently moved from the BoScotland to the BoIreland"

That's a lie, AA card has never been owned by BoS, has always been BoI - unless someone knows different?

What to do? Make a budget and throw as much money as possible to clearing your debt because it looks like it won't be possible to move your balance to any other provider.