Balance Transfer with no outstanding balance

mrnomoneybags

Hi All,

I've searched but can't seem to find an answer

What would happen if I did a balance transfer from a new card to an old card........ but the old card has no outstanding balance.


Thanks

Sandtree

It would put the credit card into a positive balance which is a breach of the terms and conditions for many cards and it is likely the old card bank would bounce the payment back to the new card bank automatically 

PS. the breach is to intentionally put it into a positive balance... clearly life can also do so if you buy something, pay off the balance and then get a refund, this isnt a breach

Ebe_Scrooge

As above, it's against the T&Cs of most (all?) cards to intentionally put a card into credit.  I'm curious as to why you would want to even consider doing this - it seems a pointless exercise.  Even if you were able to do the transfer, you'd be paying a transfer fee and/or interest for no reason.

Sandtree

Ebe_Scrooge said:

As above, it's against the T&Cs of most (all?) cards to intentionally put a card into credit.  I'm curious as to why you would want to even consider doing this - it seems a pointless exercise.  Even if you were able to do the transfer, you'd be paying a transfer fee and/or interest for no reason.

At a guess its either the usual want to buy something for £3k but only have £2k limit, can I put the balance into positive by £1k to be able to use the card or a plan to get an effective money transfer with a BT offer, ie put the card into positive balance then withdraw that positive balance

Fingerbobs

As others have said, this is nearly always (if not always?) against the T&Cs, but I have done it a few times in the past for various reasons and got away with it. Your mileage may vary. 

emmajones1976

I haven often put an account into credit and not had the card closed/blocked immediately. I would suggest if its in credit by a four figure amount for a couple of days only then its not going to matter, but this isnt an opinion I can back up.

MallyGirl

The risk is that they bounce the money back but your originating card still charges you the BT fee

emmajones1976

How would they bounce the money back? It would be paid using the BACS system, they wouldnt have any idea where it came from surely. When I have someone pay into my bank account and doesnt tell me the sort code and account number it came from.

Brie

what @Fingerbobs said.  Me too.

I have normally rung the card company or send a secure message online to advise them I am doing this and why.  

Santander is normally the card in question as we use it when travelling (ah distant memories....) and want to ensure we've enough to cover hotels etc.  They won't up the limit but they are incredibly slow at any refunds of credit which are only done by request.  

[Deleted User]

emmajones1976 said:

I haven often put an account into credit and not had the card closed/blocked immediately. I would suggest if its in credit by a four figure amount for a couple of days only then its not going to matter, but this isnt an opinion I can back up.

It tends to be deliberate stuff that causes it - e.g. you paying money directly onto the card, accidentally loading the card from a BT or overpaying by mistake is less so, but they'd normally expect you to request the money back or spend it sharpish as they don't want a credit card in credit.

emmajones1976 said:

How would they bounce the money back? It would be paid using the BACS system, they wouldnt have any idea where it came from surely. When I have someone pay into my bank account and doesnt tell me the sort code and account number it came from.

Automatically return it using the payment reference - that you can't see those details doesn't mean they can't