Balance transfer interest charge?

Charliex

Hi, please could anyone advise me on this situation.
My post office 2 year 0% credit card is coming to an end on the 8th December.
I have applied to transfer the balance to a virgin credit card, which has been accepted. I received a notification today that they balance has been requested.
If the transfer is not completed before the 8th, is it likely that I might have to pay an interest charge on my old card as the balance would technically still be with them, or in the process of being moved over to the new card?
Thank you for any advice.

Dobbibill

If the BT is not done by the time the promo offer ends then interest will be calculated and added to the following statement.


Be sure not to ignore any follow up mail after the BT.

Charliex

thank you. Is there anything I can do to avoid this? I’ve got exactly two weeks for the transfer to take place. Never done this before.

Dobbibill

If Virgin have confirmed the BT has been requested then I would think it will be processed in time before the 8th Dec.

Keep an eye on the Virgin account/correspondence so no delays slip through unnoticed.

Charliex

Thank you for your reply. I have received a text message from virgin saying the transfer has been processed and no further action is required from me but my balance is still showing as the same on the post office credit card. Lesson learnt from this.

CakeCrusader

It takes time for the funds to show on your old card, give it until Tuesday/Wednesday (as it's the weekend so it won't go through until Monday and it will take a few working days).

Craig1981

sometimes the actual transfer will only take place once your new card has been activated, but seems like Virgin say they have processed and nothing further to do, so allow around 5 working days for this to take place. the last balance transfer i did took 2 days to show as a pending payment, around 3-4 to have been cleared

chattychappy

And bear in mind you will only be charged interest for the days you run off the promo offer. Even on standard interest rates, this shouldn't be too much - about 50p per day on a balance of £1000 (based on PO's published standard rate of APR19.9%).

It's different from the situation where you lose "up to 56 days interest free on purchases" by paying a statement balance just one day short or just £1 short of the full balance.

Charliex

Thank you for the advice. I was thinking I might end with a huge charge but if it’s calculated daily, then even if the BT is not completed by the 8th, it won be as bad as I thought.

nick74

I've recently done a balance transfer to Virgin (from MBNA) and it was very quick, cleared funds by faster payment showing in the MBNA account the next day. I hadn't received or activated the Virgin card by that point.

I suspect the apparent delay you are experiencing is down PO Credit Card's relatively antiquated systems and the funds are probably already with them, just not updated online yet.

maxximus75

Virgin seem to process balance transfers after they approve the account and before the card attives so I would say that you are more than fine.