Stupid question re. credit limit on new approval

lobsta100

Hi all

I have a (probably stupid) question re. a new credit card application.

I am looking to ideally shift a couple of balances on existing cards to a new balance transfer card to try and eliminate the interest charges on these while I reduce the balances.

Per the credit club, I will almost certainly be eligible for the top card, however my main issue is the unknown of how much they will grant me as my initial credit limit for the transfer(s).

My balances on the existing cards are c. £6,200 and c. £9400. I have very low credit utilisation but am I right in saying there is absolutely no way of knowing (even roughly) how much I am likely to get granted as a limit?

Thanks in advance

[Deleted User]

Nope. Not until full application and you are accepted.

Only MBNA and Nationwide give you “estimates” but even those aren’t accurate

lobsta100

!!! wrote: »

Nope. Not until full application and you are accepted.

Only MBNA and Nationwide give you “estimates” but even those aren’t accurate

Thanks Gary

This is what I suspected. I guess there is nothing to lose, only gain as even the ability to transfer only a part of one balance will reduce the interest cost. It would just be frustrating to have to manage 3 cards instead of 1 or 2!

[Deleted User]

Even if you can part transfer the balance or a mixture of both it’s better than nothing.

chelseablue

Virgin gave me quite a high limit when I applied (£11,000)

lobsta100

chelseablue wrote: »

Virgin gave me quite a high limit when I applied (£11,000)

Thanks that's useful to know as the 2 top deals that it seems I am likely to get are with HSBC or Virgin. I have had cards with Virgin in the past (since paid off and closed) - no idea if that counts in my favour!

chelseablue

lobsta100 wrote: »

Thanks that's useful to know as the 2 top deals that it seems I am likely to get are with HSBC or Virgin. I have had cards with Virgin in the past (since paid off and closed) - no idea if that counts in my favour!

I applied for the 30 months 0% balance transfer card and they asked how much I was looking to transfer.

It was a £13,000 limit I needed and they offered £11,000 so I just transferred over what I could

onlyfoolsandparking

I think (and this is only my opinion) you stand a better chance of a decent limit with Virgin and as Gary has advised better to transfer whatever amount you can than nothing at all.


Don't worry about having 3 cards, that's nothing in the grand scheme, I have 10 and have not paid any interest (apart from small BT fees) in years. The more cards you have the more you deals you can choose from providing you have a bit of discipline in using them too although I'm hoping that is obvious to you.

lobsta100

onlyfoolsandparking wrote: »

I think (and this is only my opinion) you stand a better chance of a decent limit with Virgin and as Gary has advised better to transfer whatever amount you can than nothing at all.


Don't worry about having 3 cards, that's nothing in the grand scheme, I have 10 and have not paid any interest (apart from small BT fees) in years. The more cards you have the more you deals you can choose from providing you have a bit of discipline in using them too although I'm hoping that is obvious to you.

Thanks for this. In the end I went for the Halifax zero fee 20 mnths 0% deal as 20 months is long enough (hopefully) and the zero fee appealed given the balance to be transferred is sizeable.

I am just waiting now to find out if fully approved - I was pre-approved and have filled out all the forms and been shown I will receive an expected £15,000 limit so now I just need to wait and hope for that approval email!

vacheron

lobsta100 wrote: »

Thanks that's useful to know as the 2 top deals that it seems I am likely to get are with HSBC or Virgin. I have had cards with Virgin in the past (since paid off and closed) - no idea if that counts in my favour!

I got a surprisingly good limit from HSBC when in reality, nobody in their right mind should have lent me another penny!

Their systems and methods are a bit antiquated compared to many, but I'll put up with that for a big pile of 0% cash

MBNA and Virgin Money were also pretty generous previously.