Balance transfer best practice

oduilleain

Hi folks,

I have recently maxed out two credit cards £2000 limit on both to be able to move to England for a better job. Both cards have pretty high interest at this point and i was thinking about balance transferring to 1 0% card. My first question would be, how long should i wait after being added to the electoral roll here to apply for said balance transfer and secondly, what should i do with the cards that will now have 0 balances? Cut them up but keep them open? Close the accounts?

Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to reply. And please feel free to be detailed, I'm not very bright when it comes to this stuff haha!

Kind regards,

O'Duilleain

[Deleted User]

It depends on what cards and debt you have. Generally speaking, you'll want to keep them open, but it depends.

If you're currently paying interest, try an eligibility checker. If declined, wait a month or two before reapplying.

born_again

Does your bank offer a 0% balance transfer card?

oduilleain

MBNA and Barclaycard. The MSE eligibility tracker says i'm all set but that was in my old address last week. I assume because im not yet on the electoral roll it might come back a different result.

oduilleain

I bank with Santander and yes they do. I have a loan with them too. Oddly enough i never actually considered them as an option!

jay1804

Santander has an eligibility checker now, try them.