First credit card

gingerjosh

I have some small debts that I'm only paying the interest on eg Currys and Argos cards. Would it be beneficial to transfer these to a 0% interest credit card over 18 months or is this not what credit cards are for?

molerat

Unlikely you could transfer from those store cards, you would need a 0% money transfer card which will send the cash to your bank account to pay off the cards.  Of course it would be beneficial to transfer if you are paying interest as long as you can pay it off by the end of the interest free period or the interest rate at end of term is lower than the store card.

grumpy_codger

It seems that Currys's store card can be paid by a CC. If this payment isn't treated like a cash advance (this needs some research), then a new CC with 0% on purchases can be more beneficial than  a money transfer card.

Apparently, a balance can be transferred from Argos card - https://www.balancetransferexpert.co.uk/can-you-balance-transfer-store-cards
Again, it's worth searching for more information.

ETA:
If the debts are really 'small', a 0% puchases CC can work for both store cards. If a store card doesn't accept CC payments or treats them like cash transactions, you can just switch your spending to the new CC and use the 'saved' cash to pay the store cards off. In this case, unlike with balance/money transfers you don't pay any fees and the 0% term can be longer.

RBYHS

Paying Currys Myplan will be treated as cash advance. I’ve learned that the hard way.  

Only one that will take credit card and not get treated as cash advance is paying Very

gingerjosh

Thanks for all your comments, looks like these store cards have you all ends up so you have to either pay off your balance or occur all the interest. 
Il keep searching for the best option.
Thanks again. 

CliveOfIndia

gingerjosh said:

looks like these store cards have you all ends up so you have to either pay off your balance or occur all the interest.

With respect, that's true of ANY credit card unless you've got a 0% promotional rate in force.  As is recommended on these forums time and time again, you should never be using a credit card to buy things you can't afford to repay.

It's not like they're trying to catch you out - either you repay the balance or you pay the cost of using the credit facilities they've offered you.  There's nothing sinister about it.

gingerjosh

Please only comment if you are offering some advice/guidance to someone that needs help financially, stating the obvious about how credit works is not helpful. 

CliveOfIndia

Apologies, wasn't meaning to sound condescending.  It's just that your comment "looks like these store cards have you all ends up so you have to either pay off your balance or occur all the interest" gives the impression that this was somehow a surprise to you, so I was just clarifying how cards work.  If I was "stating the obvious" then your comment seems somewhat superfluous. 

WillPS

RBYHS said:

Paying Currys Myplan will be treated as cash advance. I’ve learned that the hard way.  

Only one that will take credit card and not get treated as cash advance is paying Very

It's the card issuer, not the merchant, who determines what is and isn't treated as cash advances.

Some (Barclaycard, Santander) are much more liberal than others (LBG in particular).

Next Directory is another one that comes up often, and anecdotally it seems to clear as a purchase. They also accept Next branded gift cards as payment, which can be purchased from supermarkets in store - if your bananas count as a purchase (and they definitely should) then so will your gift card.

inthezeroroom

Yeah, you don't need a credit card. You just need to pay off the debts you have as quick as you can. The danger with balance transfers (if it were even possible in this case) is that they make you feel like you 'did something' or 'paid off your debts', which you didn't; you just moved them.

Sorry if that's stating the obvious.

WillPS

inthezeroroom said:

Yeah, you don't need a credit card. You just need to pay off the debts you have as quick as you can. The danger with balance transfers (if it were even possible in this case) is that they make you feel like you 'did something' or 'paid off your debts', which you didn't; you just moved them.

Sorry if that's stating the obvious.

It's far quicker to pay off debt when no interest is being charged than it is to pay off a debt when 20-40% interest is being applied.