Credit Card Balance Transfer - two cards

Charlotteh28

I currently have two credit cards both with approx 2.5k on - virgin and halifax.  Their 0% period is due to expire soon. Both cards are offering me 0% balance transfer. 

Is it possible to transfer my Virgin to the Halifax to gain the 0% balance transfer period and visa versa. 

CliveOfIndia

In theory yes, but you'll need to be a bit careful with the timings.  Also, check the T&Cs on both cards very carefully to see what order payments are allocated in.

Cards will always prioritise payments to the highest-rate debt first.  But where you've got two 0% deals running concurrently, they have different allocation priorities depending on the card provider.  Some will prioritise the deal that started first, some will prioritise the deal that ends first.

From the sounds of it, this actually wouldn't make much difference to you.  If you shift £2.5k from Virgin to Halifax, you end up with £5k on Halifax.  If you then shift £2.5k from Halifax to Virgin, Halifax should put the payment they receive from Virgin towards the "older" balance.  But do check the T&Cs very carefully.

The alternative is to wait until your existing deals expire, then do the transfers.  If you transfer from Virgin to Halifax first, you end up with £5K on Halifax, £2.5k of which is at 0% and £2.5k of which is charging interest.  When you do the second transfer, Halifax will automatically assign the payment to the interest-bearing portion of the debt.

The potential pitfall with that approach is that you might get stung for interest as you haven't cleared the balance in full.  Again, you'll need to check the T&Cs to see whether the two portions of the balance are ringfenced.

Sorry, that sounds a bit convoluted, but hopefully it makes some kind of sense !