Balance Transfers

Nasqueron

laidbacklady said:

Hi
I applied for a Tesco balance transfer card 5 days ago. I was pre-approved,a couple of identify and fraud checks were required,but that should have been straightforward. I have not heard anything from Tesco. How long should it take?

Pre-approved by whom? A credit eligibility site or the lender? If it's a credit checker, they always have the small print that it's not guaranteed. I would contact them after a week (maybe Monday) and see - or you might get a letter or email explaining

zagfles

grimble37 said:

Nasqueron said:

grimble37 said:

Nasqueron said:

grimble37 said:

Nebulous2 said:

All of that should be fine, particularly if your offer from NatWest is fee-free. 

Remember that transfers may not be instantaneous, and you still need to make the minimum payments on the other cards while waiting for the transfer to go through. 

You would also want to avoid making any purchases on the balance transfer card and ensure you know when the balance transfer window closes to make sure you don't go over it. Start date may be the date of application, not when you received the card. 

Thanks, what are the rules when putting in the amount I want to 'transfer' as I noticed that what really happens is natwest just pay the amount that I put down into my Barclaycard, could I have put more down and they would have just sent more money to the barclaycard? 

You put the amount you want to pay off the old card in the transfer e.g. if you have a balance of £10k, you transfer £10k and that pays off the amount. Putting the card in credit e.g. transferring £11k is against the terms of the card, at best it will be returned, at worst, the card closed.

You can transfer any number of times within the terms allowed by the new card, provided that the amount is not more than the limit of the new card (plus fee - not in this case but if there was a fee for example as it's added to the total)

Is the 'minimum payment' what I have to select each time I go on a card for stoozing? I did this on the last barclaycard and found myself having to spend this amount again the following month, is that a normal thing to do? 

The card will be set as the minimum payment if that is what you setup on the DD when you applied for it, else you can do it in the NatWest app. I have a NW BT card and the minimum is 1% but I pay a fixed amount every month (more than minimum) as I don't like paying minimum and then clearing the balance at the end as it's a psychological thing for me to worry I might not be able to clear it

I do not spend on the card though, just clear the balance down monthly

Yes, it was OK for me to spend the minimum balance that I'd paid again the following month on my last 24 month 0%, purchases but I can see now I can't be doing it on this card, thank heavens I found out about this, I didn't know they'd charge interest on the full balance if I spent some after my 0% purchase period. 

They wouldn't charge interest on the full balance, just on the purchase balance. If you're used to paying cards in full, you need to bear in mind that the usual interest charging rules are that you're charged interest from purchase until payment, and that paying in full is a specific exemption where you aren't charged any interest.  

With some cards, eg Nationwide and Barclaycard, that exemption is extended to paying in full excluding promotional balances. With those cards, it's sensible to spend up to the min payment so you get the full advantage of the 0% balance transfer instead of being forced to pay it down. 

You need to check the summary box of the card, and see if it says something like this (from Nationwide): 
"Interest will not be charged on purchases if you pay the total balance (excluding balance transfers on your introductory rate or any other promotional rate) shown on your statement by the payment due date."

If the bit in brackets isn't there, don't use the card for purchases.

Even if you have a 0% purchase period, you need to be careful because that doesn't mean you can spend up to the end of that period without being charged interest, it means your purchase balance must be zero at the end of that period to avoid interest. And bear in mind payments always go towards statemented balances before unstatemented, which means unless you know what you're doing you should avoid spending after the statement date that falls 26-56 days before the end of that period.   

grimble37

zagfles said:

grimble37 said:

Nasqueron said:

grimble37 said:

Nasqueron said:

grimble37 said:

Nebulous2 said:

All of that should be fine, particularly if your offer from NatWest is fee-free. 

Remember that transfers may not be instantaneous, and you still need to make the minimum payments on the other cards while waiting for the transfer to go through. 

You would also want to avoid making any purchases on the balance transfer card and ensure you know when the balance transfer window closes to make sure you don't go over it. Start date may be the date of application, not when you received the card. 

Thanks, what are the rules when putting in the amount I want to 'transfer' as I noticed that what really happens is natwest just pay the amount that I put down into my Barclaycard, could I have put more down and they would have just sent more money to the barclaycard? 

You put the amount you want to pay off the old card in the transfer e.g. if you have a balance of £10k, you transfer £10k and that pays off the amount. Putting the card in credit e.g. transferring £11k is against the terms of the card, at best it will be returned, at worst, the card closed.

You can transfer any number of times within the terms allowed by the new card, provided that the amount is not more than the limit of the new card (plus fee - not in this case but if there was a fee for example as it's added to the total)

Is the 'minimum payment' what I have to select each time I go on a card for stoozing? I did this on the last barclaycard and found myself having to spend this amount again the following month, is that a normal thing to do? 

The card will be set as the minimum payment if that is what you setup on the DD when you applied for it, else you can do it in the NatWest app. I have a NW BT card and the minimum is 1% but I pay a fixed amount every month (more than minimum) as I don't like paying minimum and then clearing the balance at the end as it's a psychological thing for me to worry I might not be able to clear it

I do not spend on the card though, just clear the balance down monthly

Yes, it was OK for me to spend the minimum balance that I'd paid again the following month on my last 24 month 0%, purchases but I can see now I can't be doing it on this card, thank heavens I found out about this, I didn't know they'd charge interest on the full balance if I spent some after my 0% purchase period. 

They wouldn't charge interest on the full balance, just on the purchase balance. If you're used to paying cards in full, you need to bear in mind that the usual interest charging rules are that you're charged interest from purchase until payment, and that paying in full is a specific exemption where you aren't charged any interest.  

With some cards, eg Nationwide and Barclaycard, that exemption is extended to paying in full excluding promotional balances. With those cards, it's sensible to spend up to the min payment so you get the full advantage of the 0% balance transfer instead of being forced to pay it down. 

You need to check the summary box of the card, and see if it says something like this (from Nationwide): 
"Interest will not be charged on purchases if you pay the total balance (excluding balance transfers on your introductory rate or any other promotional rate) shown on your statement by the payment due date."

If the bit in brackets isn't there, don't use the card for purchases.

Even if you have a 0% purchase period, you need to be careful because that doesn't mean you can spend up to the end of that period without being charged interest, it means your purchase balance must be zero at the end of that period to avoid interest. And bear in mind payments always go towards statemented balances before unstatemented, which means unless you know what you're doing you should avoid spending after the statement date that falls 26-56 days before the end of that period.   

Are you saying that what 'Clive of India' told me earlier isn't the case? 

zagfles

grimble37 said:

zagfles said:

grimble37 said:

Nasqueron said:

grimble37 said:

Nasqueron said:

grimble37 said:

Nebulous2 said:

All of that should be fine, particularly if your offer from NatWest is fee-free. 

Remember that transfers may not be instantaneous, and you still need to make the minimum payments on the other cards while waiting for the transfer to go through. 

You would also want to avoid making any purchases on the balance transfer card and ensure you know when the balance transfer window closes to make sure you don't go over it. Start date may be the date of application, not when you received the card. 

Thanks, what are the rules when putting in the amount I want to 'transfer' as I noticed that what really happens is natwest just pay the amount that I put down into my Barclaycard, could I have put more down and they would have just sent more money to the barclaycard? 

You put the amount you want to pay off the old card in the transfer e.g. if you have a balance of £10k, you transfer £10k and that pays off the amount. Putting the card in credit e.g. transferring £11k is against the terms of the card, at best it will be returned, at worst, the card closed.

You can transfer any number of times within the terms allowed by the new card, provided that the amount is not more than the limit of the new card (plus fee - not in this case but if there was a fee for example as it's added to the total)

Is the 'minimum payment' what I have to select each time I go on a card for stoozing? I did this on the last barclaycard and found myself having to spend this amount again the following month, is that a normal thing to do? 

The card will be set as the minimum payment if that is what you setup on the DD when you applied for it, else you can do it in the NatWest app. I have a NW BT card and the minimum is 1% but I pay a fixed amount every month (more than minimum) as I don't like paying minimum and then clearing the balance at the end as it's a psychological thing for me to worry I might not be able to clear it

I do not spend on the card though, just clear the balance down monthly

Yes, it was OK for me to spend the minimum balance that I'd paid again the following month on my last 24 month 0%, purchases but I can see now I can't be doing it on this card, thank heavens I found out about this, I didn't know they'd charge interest on the full balance if I spent some after my 0% purchase period. 

They wouldn't charge interest on the full balance, just on the purchase balance. If you're used to paying cards in full, you need to bear in mind that the usual interest charging rules are that you're charged interest from purchase until payment, and that paying in full is a specific exemption where you aren't charged any interest.  

With some cards, eg Nationwide and Barclaycard, that exemption is extended to paying in full excluding promotional balances. With those cards, it's sensible to spend up to the min payment so you get the full advantage of the 0% balance transfer instead of being forced to pay it down. 

You need to check the summary box of the card, and see if it says something like this (from Nationwide): 
"Interest will not be charged on purchases if you pay the total balance (excluding balance transfers on your introductory rate or any other promotional rate) shown on your statement by the payment due date."

If the bit in brackets isn't there, don't use the card for purchases.

Even if you have a 0% purchase period, you need to be careful because that doesn't mean you can spend up to the end of that period without being charged interest, it means your purchase balance must be zero at the end of that period to avoid interest. And bear in mind payments always go towards statemented balances before unstatemented, which means unless you know what you're doing you should avoid spending after the statement date that falls 26-56 days before the end of that period.   

Are you saying that what 'Clive of India' told me earlier isn't the case? 

Not at all, his post looks spot on, there's no contradiction between his post and mine, where do you think there is? 

Hoenir

laidbacklady said:

Hi
I applied for a Tesco balance transfer card 5 days ago. I was pre-approved,a couple of identify and fraud checks were required,but that should have been straightforward. I have not heard anything from Tesco. How long should it take?

Five days or 5 working days. Probably nothing would have been done late Friday and almost certainly not over the weekend. 

grimble37

zagfles said:

grimble37 said:

zagfles said:

grimble37 said:

Nasqueron said:

grimble37 said:

Nasqueron said:

grimble37 said:

Nebulous2 said:

All of that should be fine, particularly if your offer from NatWest is fee-free. 

Remember that transfers may not be instantaneous, and you still need to make the minimum payments on the other cards while waiting for the transfer to go through. 

You would also want to avoid making any purchases on the balance transfer card and ensure you know when the balance transfer window closes to make sure you don't go over it. Start date may be the date of application, not when you received the card. 

Thanks, what are the rules when putting in the amount I want to 'transfer' as I noticed that what really happens is natwest just pay the amount that I put down into my Barclaycard, could I have put more down and they would have just sent more money to the barclaycard? 

You put the amount you want to pay off the old card in the transfer e.g. if you have a balance of £10k, you transfer £10k and that pays off the amount. Putting the card in credit e.g. transferring £11k is against the terms of the card, at best it will be returned, at worst, the card closed.

You can transfer any number of times within the terms allowed by the new card, provided that the amount is not more than the limit of the new card (plus fee - not in this case but if there was a fee for example as it's added to the total)

Is the 'minimum payment' what I have to select each time I go on a card for stoozing? I did this on the last barclaycard and found myself having to spend this amount again the following month, is that a normal thing to do? 

The card will be set as the minimum payment if that is what you setup on the DD when you applied for it, else you can do it in the NatWest app. I have a NW BT card and the minimum is 1% but I pay a fixed amount every month (more than minimum) as I don't like paying minimum and then clearing the balance at the end as it's a psychological thing for me to worry I might not be able to clear it

I do not spend on the card though, just clear the balance down monthly

Yes, it was OK for me to spend the minimum balance that I'd paid again the following month on my last 24 month 0%, purchases but I can see now I can't be doing it on this card, thank heavens I found out about this, I didn't know they'd charge interest on the full balance if I spent some after my 0% purchase period. 

They wouldn't charge interest on the full balance, just on the purchase balance. If you're used to paying cards in full, you need to bear in mind that the usual interest charging rules are that you're charged interest from purchase until payment, and that paying in full is a specific exemption where you aren't charged any interest.  

With some cards, eg Nationwide and Barclaycard, that exemption is extended to paying in full excluding promotional balances. With those cards, it's sensible to spend up to the min payment so you get the full advantage of the 0% balance transfer instead of being forced to pay it down. 

You need to check the summary box of the card, and see if it says something like this (from Nationwide): 
"Interest will not be charged on purchases if you pay the total balance (excluding balance transfers on your introductory rate or any other promotional rate) shown on your statement by the payment due date."

If the bit in brackets isn't there, don't use the card for purchases.

Even if you have a 0% purchase period, you need to be careful because that doesn't mean you can spend up to the end of that period without being charged interest, it means your purchase balance must be zero at the end of that period to avoid interest. And bear in mind payments always go towards statemented balances before unstatemented, which means unless you know what you're doing you should avoid spending after the statement date that falls 26-56 days before the end of that period.   

Are you saying that what 'Clive of India' told me earlier isn't the case? 

Not at all, his post looks spot on, there's no contradiction between his post and mine, where do you think there is? 

This following bit I took as meaning that if I spent some money on the card then if I didn't pay it off after the monthly statement then I'd have to pay interest on the whole balance.

'But the clincher is that, in common with every standard card, purchase interest is only waived if you pay the balance in full when the statement arrives.  So if you've got a £1000 balance transfer on there and you spend £100, you'd need to repay £1100 at the end of the month, not just the £100 spending'

zagfles

grimble37 said:

zagfles said:

grimble37 said:

zagfles said:

grimble37 said:

Nasqueron said:

grimble37 said:

Nasqueron said:

grimble37 said:

Nebulous2 said:

All of that should be fine, particularly if your offer from NatWest is fee-free. 

Remember that transfers may not be instantaneous, and you still need to make the minimum payments on the other cards while waiting for the transfer to go through. 

You would also want to avoid making any purchases on the balance transfer card and ensure you know when the balance transfer window closes to make sure you don't go over it. Start date may be the date of application, not when you received the card. 

Thanks, what are the rules when putting in the amount I want to 'transfer' as I noticed that what really happens is natwest just pay the amount that I put down into my Barclaycard, could I have put more down and they would have just sent more money to the barclaycard? 

You put the amount you want to pay off the old card in the transfer e.g. if you have a balance of £10k, you transfer £10k and that pays off the amount. Putting the card in credit e.g. transferring £11k is against the terms of the card, at best it will be returned, at worst, the card closed.

You can transfer any number of times within the terms allowed by the new card, provided that the amount is not more than the limit of the new card (plus fee - not in this case but if there was a fee for example as it's added to the total)

Is the 'minimum payment' what I have to select each time I go on a card for stoozing? I did this on the last barclaycard and found myself having to spend this amount again the following month, is that a normal thing to do? 

The card will be set as the minimum payment if that is what you setup on the DD when you applied for it, else you can do it in the NatWest app. I have a NW BT card and the minimum is 1% but I pay a fixed amount every month (more than minimum) as I don't like paying minimum and then clearing the balance at the end as it's a psychological thing for me to worry I might not be able to clear it

I do not spend on the card though, just clear the balance down monthly

Yes, it was OK for me to spend the minimum balance that I'd paid again the following month on my last 24 month 0%, purchases but I can see now I can't be doing it on this card, thank heavens I found out about this, I didn't know they'd charge interest on the full balance if I spent some after my 0% purchase period. 

They wouldn't charge interest on the full balance, just on the purchase balance. If you're used to paying cards in full, you need to bear in mind that the usual interest charging rules are that you're charged interest from purchase until payment, and that paying in full is a specific exemption where you aren't charged any interest.  

With some cards, eg Nationwide and Barclaycard, that exemption is extended to paying in full excluding promotional balances. With those cards, it's sensible to spend up to the min payment so you get the full advantage of the 0% balance transfer instead of being forced to pay it down. 

You need to check the summary box of the card, and see if it says something like this (from Nationwide): 
"Interest will not be charged on purchases if you pay the total balance (excluding balance transfers on your introductory rate or any other promotional rate) shown on your statement by the payment due date."

If the bit in brackets isn't there, don't use the card for purchases.

Even if you have a 0% purchase period, you need to be careful because that doesn't mean you can spend up to the end of that period without being charged interest, it means your purchase balance must be zero at the end of that period to avoid interest. And bear in mind payments always go towards statemented balances before unstatemented, which means unless you know what you're doing you should avoid spending after the statement date that falls 26-56 days before the end of that period.   

Are you saying that what 'Clive of India' told me earlier isn't the case? 

Not at all, his post looks spot on, there's no contradiction between his post and mine, where do you think there is? 

This following bit I took as meaning that if I spent some money on the card then if I didn't pay it off after the monthly statement then I'd have to pay interest on the whole balance.

'But the clincher is that, in common with every standard card, purchase interest is only waived if you pay the balance in full when the statement arrives.  So if you've got a £1000 balance transfer on there and you spend £100, you'd need to repay £1100 at the end of the month, not just the £100 spending'

You would need to pay £1100 to avoid all interest. If you only paid £100, you'd pay off the spending but interest would be still be charged on the spending between the purchase date and payment date, because you don't meet the specific exemption mentioned above.

Unless you have terms like BC and NW mentioned above. Or are still in a 0% purchase period.