Loan from money transfer credit card

maxthepolarbear

I'm hoping to get a short term loan of around £10k and reading on MSE it suggests getting a money transfer credit could be the best option. Out of the three cards (MBNA, Virgin, Tesco) that are recommended, which card am I likely to get the biggest credit limit? I appreciate it will depend on my personal circumstances but I'm trying to see if one provider is more generous than the rest.

I don't currently have any debts other than a mortgage which I have been paying on time each month. I have a few credit cards totaling c£25k credit limit which I clear off every month. My credit utilisation has been around 5% to 10% in the last year or so. My credit score is 990+ on moneysavingexpert credit club and 630+ out of 710 on credit karma.

Thanks. 

[Deleted User]

They all have the potential to offer a decent rate. But it sounds as if your credit history is less than ideal and your current limits appear to be on the low side.

Try an eligibility checker on each of the lenders' sites, but you may well struggle to get 10k, even over multiple cards.

born_again

Unless your cards have a offer on. I would not think they would give you a 0% money transfer.
Expecting to get a new card with at least a £10K limit, given your current level of potential availability of debt is not going to be easy. 

Any reason that you can not use a credit card for the payment? As a money transfer has no S75 protection.

maxthepolarbear

Thank you both - out of curiosity why is the existing level of credit a drawback? E.g. if I'm only using c10% of my credit isn't that a good thing as I'm not really "in debt" (and I pay off my bills every month)?

teachfast

Current credit is good

born_again

maxthepolarbear said:

Thank you both - out of curiosity why is the existing level of credit a drawback? E.g. if I'm only using c10% of my credit isn't that a good thing as I'm not really "in debt" (and I pay off my bills every month)?

Credit is a lot tighter now.
While you may pay it back each month now, what if something happens? Could you afford to make minimum payments on that £25K credit, As well as a further £10K?
That is how a bank will look at it. Affordability

You really need to look at amount of available credit against your income, less expenditure. So Mortgage & other household bills.

Forget the credit score (not seen by lenders) forget the % of your debt you are using now.

MallyGirl

it depends on how short term you are really meaning. All money transfer cards at the moment come with a 3 or 4% fee to get the 0% offer.

Anecdotally Tesco have always given me lower offers than others - they gave me a limit that was a quarter of that from Barclaycard.

yksi

If it were me, I'd look at my existing banks and get a quote for a personal loan. They often have no early repayment penalties and seem to have more chance of saying yes to the loan than a bank with whom you don't already bank.

My experience might not be typical but I got a lower interest cost this way than any money transfer offers and I had a similar overall credit limit to yours. For what it's worth I am paying 11% - and I had ZERO money transfer offers charging less than 20%. I have already overpaid my loan substantially and am ok with 11% because I know it's short-term. Your situation seems as little better as you have a mortgage, so you might see a loan offer at around 3%.