Advice on balance transfer

crazyshady

I am currently paying a Bank of Scotland credit card which has £1,154 still to be paid on it. The minimum payment this month is £31 and next months estimated interest is said to be £20. So I don't know if it will be £31 again and £20 of it is interest.

I also have a Barclaycard with a £1000 spend limit on it and £53 spent on it. Minimum payment is £5 per month and it's a credit score building card so I have £946 left to spend on that card.

Today I got a letter offering me a balance transfer of up to £1000 to Barclaycard. I was actually on an Arrangement to Pay with the Bank of Scotland for over a year so because I wasn't paying any interest the balance was reduced significantly, I was paying £50 per month. This balance transfer is 0% interest up till 1st November 2019 and a 1.9% transfer fee applies.

I don't know is it worth transferring what I can to the Barclaycard and having a year interest free and keep paying £50 a month and then before the 12 months end just paying the £300 or whatever it is to clear it or do I just stick with the Bank of Scotland and pay £50 a month and whatever extra I can, maybe even another £50 so that's £100 per month and the more that is paid off maybe the interest will get lower as the various things that were bought are paid off. What do you think I should do? I have to make the £31 payment to Bank of Scotland by the 16th so only 4 days from now. Do I still pay that even if I make a transfer? Obviously I can't transfer everything over as I only have a £1000 limit or do I try and get an increase in my limit? How long does it take them to transfer the balance? Do I pay the 1.9% fee right away or is that added to my balance? I think that works out at £20 on the £1,154 but I can't transfer all of that over. What's the best thing to do and the best way to go about it?


Thanks!

[Deleted User]

You should definitely do the BT. It will save you on interest for a year.

The fee will be added to your balance. Make the scheduled BoS payments.

Once BT'd, pay the minimum on the Bcard and throw as much as you can at the BoS balance.

crazyshady

Another thing I want to ask is, currently my minimum payment on the Barclaycard is £5.00 per month. If i done the balance transfer, would my minimum payment per month still be £5 and the balance transfer would not be affected or because I already owe money on the card would it suddenly shoot up? And also if i transfer the £846 to the Barclaycard and I pay £100 off in the next month and then I buy something at £10, will my minimum payment still be £5 or does ANYTHING i buy from here on out affect the OVERALL balance? If i transfer £846, get the balance down to £900 and then buy something at £10 is it now a case of......you will now be charged interest on a £910 balance and here's your minimum payment and it's back to £50 a month with £30 interest like I was doing with Bank of Scotland?

[Deleted User]

No. Your minimum payment will be based on your new balance.

crazyshady

Do you have any idea what a minimum payment would be on a balance of £900/£1000?

[Deleted User]

Assuming it's this -

£5 (or the total outstanding balance if it's less than £5)
2.25% of your main balance plus any purchase plan instalments due for that month (if you have a plan)
Default charges and annual fees, plus interest, plus 1% of your main balance

https://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal/credit-cards/interest-calculator

It'll be around £22, assuming you're not in arrears. But you need to check.

crazyshady

I don't know. It's this one here. The minimum payment has always been £5 and it's at over £50 just now.

https://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal/credit-cards/initial

crazyshady

It says this on my statement.

Interest charged £1.38

Simple standard rate p.a 30.56% (35.2% compound equivalent)
Simple cash rate p.a 30.56% (35.2% compound equivalent)


And then in transactions.

Interest On Your Standard Balance
INTEREST 2.5466%

[Deleted User]

From your link -

Minimum Repayment
The highest of:

£5 (or the full outstanding balance if it's less than £5)
2.5% of your main balance plus any purchase plan instalments due for that month
An amount equal to any interest, default fees or account maintenance fees that have been added to your account since your last statement, plus 1% of the rest of your main balance plus any purchase plan instalments due for that month
If you only make the minimum payment each month it will take you longer and cost you more to clear your balance.

crazyshady

So it should be around £22?

[Deleted User]

£25 and a few pence on a £1000 balance.