Balance transfer

muswellblue

Hi,

if I do a 0% credit card balance transfer, and the offer is for say 20 months, but the purchase offer is only for 6 months, so after 6 months if I purchase something the interest is only applied to the purchase, not the whole balance? 

I realise the point of the balance transfer is to have no interest so make it a easier to clear the debt, the thing I’m not sure about is if I don’t make a purchase during the 20 months, can they close your account for inactivity? Ideally you wouldn’t want to make any purchases and have to pay interest, but you also wouldn’t want the account closed for inactivity. 

CliveOfIndia

muswellblue said:

if I do a 0% credit card balance transfer, and the offer is for say 20 months, but the purchase offer is only for 6 months, so after 6 months if I purchase something the interest is only applied to the purchase, not the whole balance?

Correct.

But do check the T&Cs of the card carefully.  Some cards will "separate" the purchase and the BT, meaning you just need to clear the purchases each month.  But some will require you to clear the whole balance (including the remaining BT amount).  So unless it's explicitly stated that purchases will be treated separately, it's best not to use a BT card for purchases at all.

muswellblue said:

if I don’t make a purchase during the 20 months, can they close your account for inactivity? Ideally you wouldn’t want to make any purchases and have to pay interest, but you also wouldn’t want the account closed for inactivity. 

It won't get closed due to inactivity, because there'll still be a balance on it and you'll be making payments every month.  It's only after a period of complete inactivity (no purchases, no remaining balance, no payments) that it will get closed due to inactivity.