Do I balance transfer?

RandomGuy235

Hi all, just wondering if anyone who has been in my position can offer some advice.

I have a credit card with Aqua with a limit of £2,450 and my balance is currently £990 - a utilisation of 40%. About 6 months ago, the balance was £2,200 so I'm ecstatic at how much I've paid off to date.

I constantly check my credit club on here and the report looks good. My score is 924 (though I know not to worry about this too much), the report shows that my credit use is good and is no longer concerned about having a high utilisation of credit.

I should be able to pay the whole balance off by June or July. I have worked this out with the interest being added each month (last month was £35). If I did a balance transfer, I could pay this off by May or June instead.

On my credit club, I have a few offers for a 0% balance transfer that show up as 100% accepted. One of these has a BT fee of 0.06% which means it would cost me £5.94.

The reason I need some advice is because I can see the benefits of going ahead with the above but what I don't know is..

Will I even get enough of a limit to balance transfer?
If I was given a limit of £1,000, wouldn't this make my credit utilisation look really high again?
With the above, wouldn't this have an impact on my credit report which I've built up nicely over the last few months?
And also there's the doubt in my mind about having a hard search on my credit report.

I'm torn to be honest. Part of me says go ahead and save the amount of interest that I am paying but the sceptic in me in saying stick with what I have been doing so that I can continue to build up my credit history as I have been. Any advice that anyone could offer is most welcomed.

YorkshireBoy

Make the BT card application. If utilisation worries you, keep the Aqua card open so your overall utilisation (across both cards) actually reduces!

If the Aqua APR is high, then the savings will be large, even over a few months.

Plus...you will probably have a lower purchases APR rate on the new card (assuming it's not sub-prime?), should an emergency arise going forward.

Just out of interest, which card has a 0.06% BT fee? EDIT: I see you've made a typo. It's 0.6%.

[Deleted User]

You should definitely try. You may not get a limit to cover it all but you can transfer what you can.

Your utilisation will go down, not up, assuming you don't close the old card. And if you only currently have one card, you should keep it open.

Fireflyaway

I disagree with the above. You have made brilliant progress. Opening another card will show another credit search and the time you have held your accounts is taken into account too. Its just shuffling stuff about. Yeah you might save a bit of interest but that might encourage you to not be so determined to pay it off as quick. Pay off aqua and then either use it for small purchases and pay in full each month or close it.

YorkshireBoy

Fireflyaway wrote: »

I disagree with the above. You have made brilliant progress. Opening another card will show another credit search and the time you have held your accounts is taken into account too. Its just shuffling stuff about. Yeah you might save a bit of interest but that might encourage you to not be so determined to pay it off as quick. Pay off aqua and then either use it for small purchases and pay in full each month or close it.

July is 6 months away. Interest in that time would be approaching £100. I'd want to avoid that if I could. And what if an unforeseen event occurs between now and then? A couple of years extra 0% would come in very useful. OP has already demonstrated they have willpower and determination, so that shouldn't be a concern.


I do concede that average age of accounts would reduce, but we don't know how long they've had the Aqua card. If a short time then the impact would be negligible in my opinion.

RandomGuy235

Thanks all, yes sorry meant to type 0.6% for the fee.

I've had the Aqua for nearly 2 years now.