Money Transfer or Balance Transfer Cards Eligibility

Libertas1984

Hi Everyone,

I am looking to get a balance transfer or money transfer card to utilise the interest free period to pay off the remaining balance on a loan to stop the interest. I will then pay the card off before being charged interest.

So far this year I have managed to pay off a £3800 Tesco credit card, £1150  on a santander overdraft and £1500 off from a Halifax overdraft. I have also cleared £1500 on Monzo flex. So I am now technically not using any of my available credit on my cards. I've also noticed that Monzo flex is appearing on my trans union credit file as a credit card and not a current account like halifax and santander.

In order to apply for a Money or balance transfer card to clear my final bit of debt, would it help my credit score etc by closing some of the overdrafts I have available or leaving them open and unused?

easyasonetwothree

You can't pay a loan off with a balance transfer, it'll have to be a money transfer.
I would leave the overdrafts open and unused unless you think you'd be tempted to dip into them again. I'd think about reducing them to a few hundred maybe.
Sorry I don't know about Monzo.

Brie

Credit scores don't matter, credit history does.  The bank will look at how much credit you have whether you are using it or not.  The more credit you have available the higher the risk you are to the banks.  So reducing your CC available level will help as will reducing or closing the overdraft.  Also consider anything else that is a loan - like paying your motor insurance monthly or your mobile phone contract.

If Monzo is showing as a CC then you might want to ditch that if that's not what you were after.