balance transfer card

ell79821

hi everyone, just looking for some advice.. i have 2 credit cards one is a 0% purchase which runs out in 13 months and one is a normal credit card, but to make my life easier and to have less money coming out of my account each month i’ve took out a 0% balance transfer card to consolidate my cards into one. i didn’t realise however that you can’t transfer between cards of the same bank (eg two lloyds cards) and it’s that card that is the higher interest, so i wanted to apply for a different one and transfer them over again but will this affect my credit score? and how long should i wait until i can do this? thanks!

eskbanker

Credit scores are just numbers invented by the credit rating agencies to try to upsell their products, and they're not seen by actual lenders so don't have the significance some believe them to, but it is true to say that your ability to borrow money will depend on an assessment of your credit status by prospective lenders, based on the raw data within your credit files.

Without much more detail about your finances, it's impossible to say if you'd get another card, or if it would have enough of a credit limit, but you could do worse than using eligibility checkers on this site or elsewhere to give a rough guide to your chances.

ell79821

eskbanker said:

Credit scores are just numbers invented by the credit rating agencies to try to upsell their products, and they're not seen by actual lenders so don't have the significance some believe them to, but it is true to say that your ability to borrow money will depend on an assessment of your credit status by prospective lenders, based on the raw data within your credit files.

Without much more detail about your finances, it's impossible to say if you'd get another card, or if it would have enough of a credit limit, but you could do worse than using eligibility checkers on this site or elsewhere to give a rough guide to your chances.

the main worry for me about my credit score is that i’m buying a house in the next year and don’t want the chance of me getting a mortgage to be hurt. so i wanted to get my debt consolidated and lowered as much as i can over the next 12 months and still have a good chance of getting a mortgage. even if i did get another card with enough of a credit limit would this negatively impact my score? thanks! 

eskbanker

ell79821 said:

eskbanker said:

Credit scores are just numbers invented by the credit rating agencies to try to upsell their products, and they're not seen by actual lenders so don't have the significance some believe them to, but it is true to say that your ability to borrow money will depend on an assessment of your credit status by prospective lenders, based on the raw data within your credit files.

Without much more detail about your finances, it's impossible to say if you'd get another card, or if it would have enough of a credit limit, but you could do worse than using eligibility checkers on this site or elsewhere to give a rough guide to your chances.

the main worry for me about my credit score is that i’m buying a house in the next year and don’t want the chance of me getting a mortgage to be hurt. so i wanted to get my debt consolidated and lowered as much as i can over the next 12 months and still have a good chance of getting a mortgage. even if i did get another card with enough of a credit limit would this negatively impact my score? thanks! 

The short answer to your question as framed is yes, it would negatively impact your credit score.

However, the key point is that in itself your 'credit score' isn't really a particularly relevant number, so it needs a more nuanced analysis, i.e. you need to look at total debt, total available credit (which obviously increases when you obtain new cards), interest rates, repayment plans, etc.  In general, low-interest debt is better than high interest, but your mortgage provider will look at all of the above factors and plenty more when making a decision, rather than just looking at a number invented by a third party.

ell79821

thanks so much this helps! 

ell79821

sorry another quick one...do credit cards like this have cooling off periods? I only took it out last night not even 24 hours ago so I'm just weighing up all of my options! thanks

eskbanker

ell79821 said:

sorry another quick one...do credit cards like this have cooling off periods? I only took it out last night not even 24 hours ago so I'm just weighing up all of my options! thanks

There wouldn't be anything preventing you from closing it down but conversely there isn't anything that would remove the hard search from your credit files, which accurately reflects the fact that you applied for the card in the first place.

ell79821

oh okay yeah that makes sense, is there a timescale i should wait to apply for a different card for what i actually want to do? 

Nasqueron

It's generally advisable to avoid more than a couple of hard searches in a close period, it can make you look desperate or like you are trying to run up credit for dodgy reasons, if you are applying for loads. If your credit history is good and you are not otherwise struggling, a second application should be ok but only the lender would know for sure.

ell79821

i’m not in a rush to do it really i just wanted my debts all on the one card, so is there an actual acceptable time maybe 1-2 months or longer before i should apply for a different card/credit? thanks!