CC balance transfers

Grzegorz_Kowalski

I've got the 3 CC:

Capital One APR 30% £2000 in debt (£3250 limit)
Aqua: APR 43% £800 in debt (£3000)
Vanquis: APR 30% £1500 in debt (£2500)

I have decided to try some balance transfers and surprisingly, despite my poor credit rating, Barclays has offered me a £3800 on 37 months 0% card.

I do not intend to spend on CC anymore in foreseeable future (OK, except some very small, contactless purchases, but not more than a £100 a month), and overall I'm trying to pay off about £350 of the debt monthly.

In terms of Credit Rating improvement, what would be the best way to use the available balance transfer feature?

I was thinking about paying off the Aqua and Vanquis first, cut the cards and close accounts, but some stoozing discussions claim that it is better to leave the available credit as high as it's possible.

shiwen55

I'd suggest clear Aqua and Vanquis (zero) and pay the rest towards Capital One.


That's what I would do. You'd rather paying 3 cards x amount (say £50 each, £150), you'd be paying 2 cards x amount (£50 each, £100). You'd have £50 in your pocket.


That's me anyway.


shiwen55

Dobbibill

Move as much as possible off those cards on to BC.

Do a partial BT on the card that's left to clear as much as you can.

Set up a DD to pay at least the minimum payment on time, if you miss the due date, you may lose the offer.

Don't do purchases on the BC - you will incur interest while there's a BT on it.

Throw as much as you can at the remaining card to clear to zero before you start using it for those occasional contactless purchases, then clear in full.

If you are going to chose which cards to keep/close - maybe opt for keeping the longest held card........you are evidencing your history of managing financial commitments which is what future lenders look at.

moatmeister

that seems sensible to me, however are you saying the credit limit on new Barc is £3800 or is that the max balance transfer availability?

If that is the case your max BT availability (with a barclaycard) will be 90% of your credit limit, so in this case £3420

I would expect the min payment to be 2.25% ie about £77 which as you are no doubt aware MUST be met every month without fail to retain the 0% offer. So make sure you set up a DD!!!!

So in this situation, aqua and vanquis are less respectable brands than capital one which is just about a mainstream card so work on getting rid of those two first. If your not panning on doing anything that involves a further credit search in the next 6 months I would pay off aqua and close it otherwise keep it open with a zero balance.

I would pay off vanquis but keep it open for now. Let it roll over to the next statement period then use it for your day to day spending but pay it off IN FULL by the due date every month.

So that is £2300 paid off. Use the rest of your BT to pay down Cap 1 and then work on paying the balance.

If you throw £350/month at this you will soon get it sorted, but most most importantly budget to pay as much over the minimum payment on the barclaycard as you can, ideally at least £100/ month and dont spend on it. that will pretty much clear the balance within the offer period, and they will likely send you another 0% offer when you have reduced the balance a bit which may be useful in the future.

moatmeister

Also, consider what Dobbibill said in post 2 about the length of time of cards held. That is very sensible in terms of credit history

Grzegorz_Kowalski

Thank you all for the comments and advice. I will pay off the Aqua and Vanquis: I will close Aquacard and leave Vanquis for small purchases with full repayment each month.. Capital one card is with me for more than a decade. I have just politely asked them to reduce the APR to some modest number ;-)

moatmeister

Great! glad to be of help. Let us know if you have any success reducing interest rate!

Grzegorz_Kowalski

No success, sadly. Capital1 has refused my polite request to reduce the interest. Instead, they have offered me a _possibility_ to apply for another card with 0% interest. Where is the logic in that?

Moatmeister - yes, you were right 3800 available means I can use 90% for the Balance Transfers.

Slight off topic. Whenever I was making payments (internet banking transfers) to Aqua, I could see the money instantly (as a pending transaction)). Capital1, within less than one hour (log off/log in - done), Vanquis always next day. Do you know how quickly Barclays acknowledges payments?

moatmeister

Barclays accepts faster payments so you will see and be able to use any credits done by internet banking within 2 hours (usually instantly) showing as an increase in your available balance and as a pending credit.