Credit card interest

Gazza281263

I have a Nationwide credit card which is not the transfer type. I have roughly £2000 on it and i am about to start paying interest on this amount in November as the introductory period is coming to an end. What is the best thing to do to avoid this interest, i am thinking of taking out another card with 0% interest and transferring the debt to another card to give me more time to pay it back.
Anybody got any thoughts on this and am i doing the right thing?

eskbanker

If you can get hold of a 0% balance transfer card and it has enough of a credit limit to accommodate your existing debt, then yes, this would allow you to defer repayment, but as neither of those is a given, the best bet would be to use eligibility checkers to see what your prospects are:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/eligibility/credit-cards/search/

Mark_d

Sounds like your Nationwide card was 0% on purchases?  You could get a new card that offers 0% on balance transfers, transfer your balance, and make the minimum payments on this card.  Having cleared your balance from the Nationwide card, you could then use this card for purchases and pay the balance off in full each month.
Whilst you can make money buy borrowing at 0% I think it's simpler, easier and safer to use a cashback/rewards credit card an pay the full statement balance by direct debit each month.

PRAISETHESUN

The best thing obviously is pay off the debt - no interest can be charged if there is no debt to pay. The second best is to look at your available options and see if you're eligible for another card at 0%, with a limit high enough to cover the debt you wish to transfer.

There's no guarantee you will get another card however, so you should really be planning on how you intend to service the underlying debt. If you post on the DFW board the helpful people there will be able to help you out better in that respect.

Gazza281263

Thanks for replies. I used the eligibility calculator and it seems i can get a balance transfer card, the one from Tesco sounds ok to me. Yes my credit card was 0% but only for a limited time and that time runs out in November so transferring the money to the Tesco transfer card sounds good.
Thanks again!

Olinda99

if you do manage to balance transfer to Tesco make sure you don't also spend on that card - put it away in a draw or something

if you need to spend use the old nationwide card.

Gazza281263

Thanks. That was my next question. On the Tesco website it says i won't get charged for spending on the card as long as i pay back minimum payment every month. Is this true or have i mis-read it.

Thanks in advance

CliveOfIndia

Check the T&Cs of your particular offer.  If your offer is for 0% balance transfers AND 0% for spending then this will be correct.

Most 0% cards offer the promotional rate on either BTs or spending, but there are some that offer both.

If you have both offers, check carefully how long they last for.  It's quite common for the BT offer to run for a different period to the spending offer (something like "24 months on Balance Transfers and 15 months on Spending", for example).

I know the "small print" doesn't exactly make for riveting bedtime reading, but it's really important that you understand the offer you've been given.  Not least because it's quite common for different applications to be given different offers (one person might get 15 months 0% spending, someone else might be offered 12 months).

martinbainbridge1975

Gazza281263 said:

Thanks for replies. I used the eligibility calculator and it seems i can get a balance transfer card, the one from Tesco sounds ok to me. Yes my credit card was 0% but only for a limited time and that time runs out in November so transferring the money to the Tesco transfer card sounds good.
Thanks again!

have a look at the eligibility checkers on some car providers website, i recently got a card with virgin that was 16 months 0% on balance transfers but also 13 months on purchases, so you can use the card whilst paying down the balance if need be

if you go for a card that is purely balance transfer then be careful not to spend on it as it will affect your 0%