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Balance Transfer / Too Many Cards, Apply for another?
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Vxs
Posts: 39 Forumite
Hi All,
Before I apply for ANOTHER credit card I thought I would seek some advice,
Currently I have the following Cards:
MBNA Credit Card - (Credit Limit: £6000) - £0 Balance.
Nationwide Credit Card - (Credit Limit: £4500) - £0 Balance.
Barclaycard Credit Card - (Credit Limit: £5500) £4,761.28 Balance.
I want to Transfer the balance from the Barclaycard to a 0% interest card as in March my Barclaycard 0% comes to an end.
My Nationwide card limit is not enough to take the balance, plus Nationwide have never been that favourable with 0% deals and charge transfer fee's, although I have not looked at them recently.
My MBNA card is £0 on it now, but it is used frequently and fully paid off each month, I fear its used often enough to never be offered any good deals by them and again I think they charge a transfer fee.
Is Halifax the only real contender to Apply for currently, for a 0% transfer fee and rate?
I am worried that all these cards, along with my authorised overdraft limit on my current account is going to effect my chances of getting yet ANOTHER card, and in June I am hoping to remortgage when my fixed rate term ends and I don't want any rejection or failed credit applications against me.
For the record my credit score on Experian/Clear Score/Noodle is very high/good, never missed a mortgage payment or credit card payment.
So is the Halifax card the one to go to? should I be worried about rejection seeing as my total credit available is £17050 even though I'm only using 4,761 available to me?
Any advice much appreciated.
Thank you
Before I apply for ANOTHER credit card I thought I would seek some advice,
Currently I have the following Cards:
MBNA Credit Card - (Credit Limit: £6000) - £0 Balance.
Nationwide Credit Card - (Credit Limit: £4500) - £0 Balance.
Barclaycard Credit Card - (Credit Limit: £5500) £4,761.28 Balance.
I want to Transfer the balance from the Barclaycard to a 0% interest card as in March my Barclaycard 0% comes to an end.
My Nationwide card limit is not enough to take the balance, plus Nationwide have never been that favourable with 0% deals and charge transfer fee's, although I have not looked at them recently.
My MBNA card is £0 on it now, but it is used frequently and fully paid off each month, I fear its used often enough to never be offered any good deals by them and again I think they charge a transfer fee.
Is Halifax the only real contender to Apply for currently, for a 0% transfer fee and rate?
I am worried that all these cards, along with my authorised overdraft limit on my current account is going to effect my chances of getting yet ANOTHER card, and in June I am hoping to remortgage when my fixed rate term ends and I don't want any rejection or failed credit applications against me.
For the record my credit score on Experian/Clear Score/Noodle is very high/good, never missed a mortgage payment or credit card payment.
So is the Halifax card the one to go to? should I be worried about rejection seeing as my total credit available is £17050 even though I'm only using 4,761 available to me?
Any advice much appreciated.
Thank you
0
Comments
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What is your annual salary?
How much is your overdraft and do you use it?
Any other credit cards? Loans? Car finance etc?
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/balance-transfer-credit-cards
Don't forget that you can also hold more than 1 MBNA card, Barclaycard etc and you might find that a money transfer card from MBNA would be an easier option. MBNA also allow you to split limits (if you took one out and they gave you a low limit).I'm a Board Guide on the Credit Cards, Loans, Credit Files & Ratings boards. I'm a volunteer to help the boards run smoothly, and I can move and merge threads there. Any views are mine and not the official line of moneysavingexpert.com0 -
Annual Salary around 32k, Current account overdraft isn't used, no other loans, or car finance just the mortgage. My only short term debt is the Barclaycard.
Applying for another card with MBNA is the same as Applying for another card with a new lender no? plus MBNA normally charge a handling fee I thought, never known them to do 0% Transfer Fee and 0% interest.
Thanks for replying so fast.0 -
My next card application will be for the Halifax no fee 0% balance transfer card (25 mths). In fact, I may apply tonight as there is also £23 available via topcashback.
I have a lower salary than yourself and higher available balance (by approx £1k) and credit limit (by about £4k). Approx £2500 available overdraft. I don't envision a problem getting a card but will post back re my experience.0 -
You want to apply for another card yet you have only knocked off £800 or so your current BT card before it's expiry. On a salary of £32k and little outgoings why the small amount paid off?? So with 2 empty cards you want to apply for another just to save a few quid in interest. Surely you can chip off £500 a time.0
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I understand your point WillyWonga but without airing all my dirty laundry online to get advice, I have had other things to pay off up until this point, hence why I have 0 balances on the other cards and a current account in credit / albeit only just.
Long story short My dad died, I took on extra responsibilities for my family and the Barclaycard 0% deal was not a 23 month one, I had used that previously, the current deal on the Barclaycard was only from last September on a Purchase I made which they gave me until March at 0%.
When I remortgage in June I expect to lend a little extra to payoff the rest of the 4k but until then I want to be interest free if possible at no charge for swapping. Halifax seems to be the logical choice but always worth asking for advice.
TheShape I feel the same from what I have seen, I don't really expect a problem in my circumstances but having nearly 18k of available credit and applying for more just to get interest free was concerning me that I might have an issue and I don't want a credit rejection before a re-mortgage application.
Thanks0 -
...I don't want a credit rejection before a re-mortgage application.I don't want any rejection or failed credit applications against me.0
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Based on the 32 months BT card (link below) if you transferred £4,761 to Halifax, the fee (0.7%) would be £33.33. Halifax are currently offering £20 themselves cash back for taking this card out and Top Cash Back are offering £22 (rate varies by a couple of quid depending on your membership level) for taking out the card. So £42 minus £33.33 equals £8.67 in credit, so they are paying you to take out the card and you get 0% for 32 months.
https://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/#comparison
Or you could try the MBNA card (link below) which when transferring £4,761 the fee (0.64%) would be £30.47. MBNA are currently offering £20 cash back for taking the card out so effectively the fee would be £10.47 for 0% for 32 months.
https://apply.mbna.co.uk/UKNeoCCapp/entry?utm_source=Money_Saving_Expert&utm_medium=Aggregators&utm_campaign=MSE&utm_content=0&sc=1OCMCPLIAA008FC&mc=OCACPL00A99&dclid=CMzboubm6tECFeOi7Qod-VwLZA
The reason I added in this card is because MBNA are known for giving higher limits and you're going to need at least a £5k limit if you want to transfer £4,761 as most companies only allow 95% of the credit limit to be used for balance transfers. So assuming you applied and MBNA only gave you a £2k limit, all you need to do is call them and ask them to split your limit from your other MBNA card to your new card and that way the transfer would be possible. With Halifax, you are an unknown quantity. You may get a high limit, you may get a low limit. But you wouldn't be able to do anything about it if you did get a small limit, not for the first 6 months anyway. In my experience with MBNA if you are a current customer and have run your account well, they give you a high limit on your second card too.I'm a Board Guide on the Credit Cards, Loans, Credit Files & Ratings boards. I'm a volunteer to help the boards run smoothly, and I can move and merge threads there. Any views are mine and not the official line of moneysavingexpert.com0 -
Candyapple wrote: »Based on the 32 months BT card (link below) if you transferred £4,761 to Halifax, the fee (0.7%) would be £33.33. Halifax are currently offering £20 themselves cash back for taking this card out and Top Cash Back are offering £22 (rate varies by a couple of quid depending on your membership level) for taking out the card. So £42 minus £33.33 equals £8.67 in credit, so they are paying you to take out the card and you get 0% for 32 months.
https://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/#comparison
Well in the end I applied for the Halifax 32month BT card, only needed a 5k limit but they offered me £7300 which went through fine.
Thanks for the advice and break down Candyapple :T0 -
I understand you've taken on a lot financially since your sad news and I'm sorry to hear that.
Consider paying off the debt within the 32 months rather than adding to your mortgage though otherwise all the 0% shuffling may have been for next to nothing gain if you then add it to a mortgage for the full term*
*This obviously depend on your mortgage rate and term but turning unsecured debts into secured debts is never recommended.I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Budgeting & Bank Accounts, Credit Cards, Credit File & Ratings and Energy boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
If you can't be the best -
Just be better than you were yesterday.0 -
I understand you've taken on a lot financially since your sad news and I'm sorry to hear that.
Consider paying off the debt within the 32 months rather than adding to your mortgage though other all the 0% shuffling may have been for next to nothing gain if you then add it to a mortgage for the full term*
*This obviously depend on your mortgage rate and term but turning unsecured debts into secured debts is never recommended.
Hi and thanks for the advice.
I am only really adding it to the mortgage because this last bit of debt was acquired by purchasing new Windows/Doors for the house and my 2yr fixed rate mortgage is coming to an end this July.
When my Dad died I had to take on the mortgage, otherwise my Mother/Sister would not have a place to live, nor I to be fair. The windows were long over due and after some bad weather 1 window was in disrepair so I put new doors/windows on the Credit Card with the view to pay myself back when/if we remortgaged after the 2yrs was up.
Things haven't really changed in 2 years, I am still paying the mortgage and my Mother paying other bills, I don't want to incur charges/fee's for remortgaging just to pay off this amount, but I also don't want to pay off the windows/doors completely out of my own pocket. The expense was for the house and towards its value so seems right to me I pay myself back?
Whether this is the financially sound thing to do I guess wasn't really in my chain of thought.
The 2yr fixed rate is up soon, so I either allow Virgin Money's variable rate to enact or find another fixed rate.
I was hoping to find another fixed rate with my current lender or another lender whilst borrowing a bit more to pay myself back the 5k for Windows/Doors in hope it wouldn't lead to too many charges/fee's or am I being naive ?
Thanks again0
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