AMEX to Halifax zero balance transfer FALSE approvals and credit search

ElK40

I posted a VERY important thread on FALSE balance credit transfer approvals from Halifax on AMEX transfer requests. 

They approve the transfer, then conduct a credit search (which goes on your search history) and then approve it all only to write to you to tell you it is not approve but the credit and the card are still on the way?

My husband and I, both with credit scores in the high 900 on Clearscore with an AMEX card each decided last Sunday to be proactive about the stupid interest we were paying on AMEX cards and do a search for the best ZERO credit balance transfer. Clearscore pulled up Halifax as the best option so we both went through to Halifax and went through the application process for an individual account and card each and had identical experiences.

Both approved, then we authorised credit searches and then we were approved again. Then we each received a letter to say "Balance Transfer Unsuccessful" but card and credit is still on the way?? 

I call customer services to do the transfers and was told, Halifax do not allow a transfer from the cards you are looking to transfer over?? 

Confused.. and me. So I asked them, so given that I gave you ALL the details on the cards we were looking to transfer and that they were American Express, why did you approve them both and then do a credit search impacting both search history's, if as a lender you have no intention of allowing that transfer to take place?? Clearly you were just trying to trap us into a credit with you that you hoped we would draw down on - hence NOT being a responsible lender and exposing our credit search to a false credit search.

Needless to say they do not care and had no answers so it is VERY important this is flagged on your forum, these credit searches that will lead to false approvals and no balance transfers will mean that people who desperately DO need to move their balances will then have to start the search again and have another credit search performed and may fail as Halifax will have just conducted one a week or so ago. Then this will lead to people being trapped into the cycle and as Halifax no doubt hopes, rather then clearing the balances they have they will then spend on the Halifax card they requested to help them out, and end up in more debt and with two cards, instead of the one they hoped with a zero balance transfer! 

sourcrates

I did a quick Google, I don`t expect there was any malice intended, general consensus of online opinion is because of a glitch in the system when balance transferring from an Amex card.

Amex cards usually have 13/15 digit card numbers.

Most other providers cards have 16 digits, apparently this can cause an issue and the banks systems won`t accept the transfer, so automatically declines it.

So you may have passed there credit checking, ignore the credit scores by the way, made up numbers, but the system Halifax use may have flagged this up as an error later on in the approval process.

It may or may not be the reason why they declined you, but as Halifax can`t provide you with a better explanation, it sounds reasonable to me.

gizmo111

Halifax usually have a money transfer option also, so the money could go into your account and just pay Amex when you receive the cash.