0% balance and purchase credit card 7 August 2022 at 12:52PM in Credit cards 13 replies 222 views

older_wiser

I've always had the notion that you shouldn't mix balance transfers and purchases on a credit card

but if its an all rounder ie 15 months 0% for both purchases and transfers then is this also to be avoided  ?

can't you use this for both without incurring any interest for the 15 months duration ? 

MrFrugalFever

Other than the temptation to spend more than you would as well as transfer a balance, I see no other disadvantage to this.

older_wiser

so there are no further issues with using the card for both ? so no interest  if i transfered a balance from another bank but then also used  the card for everyday purchases ? 

i ask as i'd like to close one of my other credit cards which only has a balance transfer on it which comes to an end oct 1 

MrFrugalFever

I took out a Cap1 ‘all rounder’ CC with both 0% purchases and BT. At the time I had nothing to BT so only utilised the purchase promo but I did enquire with them, should I wish to BT how do I go about it as there wasn’t a clear function within their app. They explained I could phone them up to do it and that I only had ‘x’ amount of months left before the promo rate expires so going by this it is indeed possible to utilise both at the same time.

Brie

The only restriction with these is that you don't exceed your limit and that you always ensure you pay at least the minimum every month.  

So if limit is £3k and you BT £2k you only have £1k to spend on purchases.  Should your purchases take you over the £3k you'll lose the 0% on everything.  (likely only from the day you exceed the limit though)

Also be careful in case there are different end dates to the deals.  Might be 15 months for BTs but only 3 months for purchases.  Becuase of this it may be helpful in your situation to only use this card for BTs and use the other card for purchases and BT those amounts over.

Do set up a DD for the minimum to ensure you don't get caught out on the payment side.  

And ensure you pay it all off before it all ends.  And ensure that you can actually afford it all.

Sorry - I'm sure a lot of this is stating the blinking obvious!!

older_wiser

Brie said:

The only restriction with these is that you don't exceed your limit and that you always ensure you pay at least the minimum every month.  

So if limit is £3k and you BT £2k you only have £1k to spend on purchases.  Should your purchases take you over the £3k you'll lose the 0% on everything.  (likely only from the day you exceed the limit though)

Also be careful in case there are different end dates to the deals.  Might be 15 months for BTs but only 3 months for purchases.  Becuase of this it may be helpful in your situation to only use this card for BTs and use the other card for purchases and BT those amounts over.

Do set up a DD for the minimum to ensure you don't get caught out on the payment side.  

And ensure you pay it all off before it all ends.  And ensure that you can actually afford it all.

Sorry - I'm sure a lot of this is stating the blinking obvious!!

thanks for your reply its a new tsb platinum 15 months all round card so includes balance transfer and purchases it also has quite a low 1.50% balance transfer fee for the first 90 days which is half the usual one i get offered.

 i was going to just pay off the other card when the promotional rate ended but for a 1.50% fee  i don't have to do that now. 

i've used tsb for over a decade now i think thats one of the reasons its going to be my biggest credit limit double what halifax offered me. the direct debit for minimum payment has already been setup. thanks for all the info its appreciated. 

OceanSound

older_wiser said:

Brie said:

The only restriction with these is that you don't exceed your limit and that you always ensure you pay at least the minimum every month.  

So if limit is £3k and you BT £2k you only have £1k to spend on purchases.  Should your purchases take you over the £3k you'll lose the 0% on everything.  (likely only from the day you exceed the limit though)

Also be careful in case there are different end dates to the deals.  Might be 15 months for BTs but only 3 months for purchases.  Becuase of this it may be helpful in your situation to only use this card for BTs and use the other card for purchases and BT those amounts over.

Do set up a DD for the minimum to ensure you don't get caught out on the payment side.  

And ensure you pay it all off before it all ends.  And ensure that you can actually afford it all.

Sorry - I'm sure a lot of this is stating the blinking obvious!!

.... it also has quite a low 1.50% balance transfer fee for the first 90 days which is half the usual one i get offered.

 

Where/how do you check eligibility? Do you visit each credit card issuer site and check or do you use Mse credit club, clearscore, totallymoney etc.?          

older_wiser

OceanSound said:

older_wiser said:

Brie said:

The only restriction with these is that you don't exceed your limit and that you always ensure you pay at least the minimum every month.  

So if limit is £3k and you BT £2k you only have £1k to spend on purchases.  Should your purchases take you over the £3k you'll lose the 0% on everything.  (likely only from the day you exceed the limit though)

Also be careful in case there are different end dates to the deals.  Might be 15 months for BTs but only 3 months for purchases.  Becuase of this it may be helpful in your situation to only use this card for BTs and use the other card for purchases and BT those amounts over.

Do set up a DD for the minimum to ensure you don't get caught out on the payment side.  

And ensure you pay it all off before it all ends.  And ensure that you can actually afford it all.

Sorry - I'm sure a lot of this is stating the blinking obvious!!

.... it also has quite a low 1.50% balance transfer fee for the first 90 days which is half the usual one i get offered.

 

Where/how do you check eligibility? Do you visit each credit card issuer site and check or do you use Mse credit club, clearscore, totallymoney etc.?          

i've never seen TSB included in any of the above not that i've noticed 

i used TSB directly i've had the platinum CC appear on my banking screen for months asking me to apply it didn't say i was pre approved though which did put me off. There is no eligibility its a straight forward apply and a hard search is done

 i've had no notification from karma clearscore credit club that a credit search has been done  not even sure who TSB use they  sometimes appear afew later for some reason.  

OceanSound

older_wiser said:

OceanSound said:

older_wiser said:

Brie said:

The only restriction with these is that you don't exceed your limit and that you always ensure you pay at least the minimum every month.  

So if limit is £3k and you BT £2k you only have £1k to spend on purchases.  Should your purchases take you over the £3k you'll lose the 0% on everything.  (likely only from the day you exceed the limit though)

Also be careful in case there are different end dates to the deals.  Might be 15 months for BTs but only 3 months for purchases.  Becuase of this it may be helpful in your situation to only use this card for BTs and use the other card for purchases and BT those amounts over.

Do set up a DD for the minimum to ensure you don't get caught out on the payment side.  

And ensure you pay it all off before it all ends.  And ensure that you can actually afford it all.

Sorry - I'm sure a lot of this is stating the blinking obvious!!

.... it also has quite a low 1.50% balance transfer fee for the first 90 days which is half the usual one i get offered.

 

Where/how do you check eligibility? Do you visit each credit card issuer site and check or do you use Mse credit club, clearscore, totallymoney etc.?          

i've never seen TSB included in any of the above not that i've noticed 

i used TSB directly i've had the platinum CC appear on my banking screen for months asking me to apply it didn't say i was pre approved though which did put me off. There is no eligibility its a straight forward apply and a hard search is done

 i've had no notification from karma clearscore credit club that a credit search has been done  not even sure who TSB use they  sometimes appear afew later for some reason.  

Come to think of it I've never seen tsb on any of those sites either. 

I was just curious as to how come your lowest balance transfer fee is 1.50%. Are you aware of any particular reason(s) this is so? The lowest is of course no fee. Especially when it's tied to the introductory offer of 0% APR for x months.

older_wiser

OceanSound said:

older_wiser said:

OceanSound said:

older_wiser said:

Brie said:

The only restriction with these is that you don't exceed your limit and that you always ensure you pay at least the minimum every month.  

So if limit is £3k and you BT £2k you only have £1k to spend on purchases.  Should your purchases take you over the £3k you'll lose the 0% on everything.  (likely only from the day you exceed the limit though)

Also be careful in case there are different end dates to the deals.  Might be 15 months for BTs but only 3 months for purchases.  Becuase of this it may be helpful in your situation to only use this card for BTs and use the other card for purchases and BT those amounts over.

Do set up a DD for the minimum to ensure you don't get caught out on the payment side.  

And ensure you pay it all off before it all ends.  And ensure that you can actually afford it all.

Sorry - I'm sure a lot of this is stating the blinking obvious!!

.... it also has quite a low 1.50% balance transfer fee for the first 90 days which is half the usual one i get offered.

 

Where/how do you check eligibility? Do you visit each credit card issuer site and check or do you use Mse credit club, clearscore, totallymoney etc.?          

i've never seen TSB included in any of the above not that i've noticed 

i used TSB directly i've had the platinum CC appear on my banking screen for months asking me to apply it didn't say i was pre approved though which did put me off. There is no eligibility its a straight forward apply and a hard search is done

 i've had no notification from karma clearscore credit club that a credit search has been done  not even sure who TSB use they  sometimes appear afew later for some reason.  

Come to think of it I've never seen tsb on any of those sites either. 

I was just curious as to how come your lowest balance transfer fee is 1.50%. Are you aware of any particular reason(s) this is so? The lowest is of course no fee. Especially when it's tied to the introductory offer of 0% APR for x months.

i'm still building my credit file so i don't get the very best rates most of the offers are 18/21 etc months at 0% but then with a fee of 2.99% tsb is the first i've had thats under that .

i have seen others with 0% fee but i either haven't applied for those or they weren't offered. 

OceanSound

older_wiser said:

OceanSound said:

older_wiser said:

OceanSound said:

older_wiser said:

Brie said:

The only restriction with these is that you don't exceed your limit and that you always ensure you pay at least the minimum every month.  

So if limit is £3k and you BT £2k you only have £1k to spend on purchases.  Should your purchases take you over the £3k you'll lose the 0% on everything.  (likely only from the day you exceed the limit though)

Also be careful in case there are different end dates to the deals.  Might be 15 months for BTs but only 3 months for purchases.  Becuase of this it may be helpful in your situation to only use this card for BTs and use the other card for purchases and BT those amounts over.

Do set up a DD for the minimum to ensure you don't get caught out on the payment side.  

And ensure you pay it all off before it all ends.  And ensure that you can actually afford it all.

Sorry - I'm sure a lot of this is stating the blinking obvious!!

.... it also has quite a low 1.50% balance transfer fee for the first 90 days which is half the usual one i get offered.

 

Where/how do you check eligibility? Do you visit each credit card issuer site and check or do you use Mse credit club, clearscore, totallymoney etc.?          

i've never seen TSB included in any of the above not that i've noticed 

i used TSB directly i've had the platinum CC appear on my banking screen for months asking me to apply it didn't say i was pre approved though which did put me off. There is no eligibility its a straight forward apply and a hard search is done

 i've had no notification from karma clearscore credit club that a credit search has been done  not even sure who TSB use they  sometimes appear afew later for some reason.  

Come to think of it I've never seen tsb on any of those sites either. 

I was just curious as to how come your lowest balance transfer fee is 1.50%. Are you aware of any particular reason(s) this is so? The lowest is of course no fee. Especially when it's tied to the introductory offer of 0% APR for x months.

i have seen others with 0% fee but i either haven't applied for those or they weren't offered. 

How come "haven't applied"? Is it because the 0% interest free period was low or due to the likelihood of approval. Or both maybe?