Balance Transfers From America

snowdog

Hi all.

I recently married an American woman who now lives with me here in the UK.

We're gradually paying off her American credit cards but were looking into transferring the balance of some of them onto a 0% UK card to lighten the load, (our monthly interest charges are quite extortionate), and to try & simplify our financial life, rather than sending money to America every month.

A couple of them are Mastercard & one is Amex. I'm not sure what the others are, because she cut the cards up but she seems to think they're with a smaller US based company called Synchrony.

Just wondered if this were possible?

Financial dealings between here & America have proven to be anything but seamless (& American banks are in the dark ages) but as the cards are Mastercard, etc., maybe they'll be governed by a more international set of rules?

Thanks.

[Deleted User]

You'll need a money transfer option and then send across the pond from your bank account (converting it to dollars at some point).

born_again

You would be best asking a card provider if they are willing to do this. But you will need card/account info is they are prepared to do it. As well as take a hit on exchange rate charge as well as a balance transfer fee.

My gut feeling is the answer is NO.

Terry_Towelling

Bit surprised that she doesn't know where all of her debts are - doesn't she get statements mailed to her? How does she know what to pay if she doesn't know who the creditors are?

The card payment schemes don't really make any difference, I think, because all you would be doing (in essence) is making a payment to the card accounts.

As zx81 says, you will need to take a Money Transfer (MT) Card, put the cash into your UK bank account and then arrange to convert it and pay it into the US accounts. Most MT's come with a reasonably large % fee attached, so you might want to assess the size of the debts and see what interest rates she is paying before committing yourself.

As she is new to the UK, she may struggle to get enough UK finance to cover her US debts, so I am guessing it is your intention to take over some of her debts into your name (remember, you can't get a joint credit card here in the UK; you can get multiple cards on a single account but only the primary cardholder is classed as the debtor). If you are happy to do this (and why wouldn't you be - you're in love?) then best of luck!

snowdog

Maybe I wasn't clear. Each month, we send money to her US bank account & she uses that to make the monthly payments on her various cards. We just figured that if we could get some of those balances transferred to a 0% UK credit card it would reduce the interest we're having to pay each month & move the debt to the UK, where it would be easier to manage.

[Deleted User]

That's why you want a money transfer offer. It's how you will lower the interest.

What is your objection to it?

Terry_Towelling

snowdog wrote: »

Maybe I wasn't clear. Each month, we send money to her US bank account & she uses that to make the monthly payments on her various cards. We just figured that if we could get some of those balances transferred to a 0% UK credit card it would reduce the interest we're having to pay each month & move the debt to the UK, where it would be easier to manage.

No, you were perfectly clear and fully understood. As advised, you need a card that offers Money Transfers at 0% interest. Your card issuer will debit your credit card account with the amount and send it to your bank account for you. Then you can send that cash to the US to pay off the card debts there and Bob's your Uncle; you have a 0% UK card debt to service instead of the US card at whatever interest rate.

The issues are the MT fee that will likely be charged (up to 4%) and getting a UK card with a large enough credit limit to accommodate what you need. If your wife is new to the UK, she will likely have a thin credit profile and not be eligible for much in the way of credit card offers. That would imply that you will need to open accounts in your name to take her debts on. Yes, she can pay them off for you but the debts are then legally yours. It's just something that you need to be clear on - as I'm sure you are anyway.

Ben8282

A couple of them are Mastercard & one is Amex. I'm not sure what the others are, because she cut the cards up but she seems to think they're with a smaller US based company called Synchrony.
The lack of clarity here is HOW she makes the monthly payments to her various cards from her US bank account if she has cut them up and doesn't know who issued them or what the card numbers are? The Mastercard cards were not issued by Mastercard were they? They were issued by a bank or credit card company. As to this Synchrony that you have chosen to mention for inexplicable reasons, it appears to be some sort of savings bank with no mention of credit cards as far as I can see.
EDIT. There also appears to be a finance company called Synchrony which looks as if it offers HP agreement type finance for purchases from selected retailers.

born_again

As I said 1st you need to find out if any will do a transfer. So maybe speak to your bank and ask.

As TT above, other than finding a card provider that will do the balance transfer. Do you want the risk of you being liable for the debt.
While Visa, Amex & Mastercard are taken worldwide. That will make no difference to a UK card provider taking over a USA balance.
Other option depending on what % interest she is paying stateside would be a straight loan. While you won't get 0%. You may get a cheaper interest rate.

What sort of amount are we talking about?