Best Balance Transfers Discussion Area

Moggles_2

sjp wrote: »

Have been looking at balance transfers for life. Come across Citibank at 4.9% with a 3% fee. Trying to get my head around the maths. How does this compare with Martin's suggestion of Barclaycard at 6.3% no fee? Have got £5000 to shift.

Have you estimated the time you'll need to clear the balance?

If more than four and a half years, Citi comes out on top, although the longer you take to repay the debt, the more costly your borrowings overall.

Why not plug some numbers into this credit card calculator? You can then estimate the time it would take to clear the debt at these rates and see the effect of increasing your monthly payments

http://www.whatsthecost.com/creditcard.aspx

sjp_3

Thanks for that.

Hope to do it at £150 per month, so will take around 3 years.

Have unfortnately got a Barclaycard, with a small amount on.

sjp_3

I'm back again.

Done the Maths on the site as suggested.

Phoned Barclaycard, and they are not willing to give me the 6.3% deal as I am an existing customer.

Will pobably have to go to Citibank, unless anyone has other suggestions for me.

Ta

Moggles_2

sjp wrote: »

Done the Maths on the site as suggested. Phoned Barclaycard and they are not willing to give me the 6.3% deal as I am an existing customer. Will probably have to go to Citibank, unless anyone has other suggestions for me.

Unfortunately, there's a dearth of decent LOB offers at the mo. Currently, the chief contenders are Capital One, Citi and, as you know, Barclaycard. All three operate a rate-for-risk policy. This means they reserve the right to issue the credit card they deem most suitable from their range. In the worst cases you can be sent a totally different & unsuitable card, leaving you with a wasted search on your credit file. Judging from posts to this board, this happens frequently, so it's important to consider first whether you’ve a realistic chance of being accepted.

That leaves First Direct (5.9 % p.a for 60 months) and this lender is not known for generous credit limits. Still, could be worth a shot.

http://www.firstdirect.com/creditcards/gold_card_summary.shtml

There's a comprehensive list of life of balance cards here:

http://www.stoozing.com/lob.php

Briggsy.notts

I applied for a Virgin card about 10 days ago and still not heard anything. How much longer should i wait before i ring them up?

sjp_3

Thanks again for the advice.

Have been number crunching (in between my internet crashing).

If we can pay min + £200 could pay debt off within 18 months. This is 2 months shy of Virgin’s 16 month at 0%

Will have to chat with the other half to see what more sacrifices we can make.

sjp_3

Thanks again for the advice.

Have been number crunching (in between my internet crashing).

If we can pay min + £200 could pay debt off within 18 months. This is 2 months shy of Virgin’s 16 month at 0%

Will have to chat with the other half to see what more sacrifices we can make.

daveliz

Hi all,
just finished watching tonight episode and the Virgin CC sounds great.
We have landed ourselves in a bit of a pickle due to having to spend more than usual and at the same time move house, take a trip abroad all on top of adjusting to the financial outgoings of a new baby (now 14 Months)
So currently our CC owings are just under 2000GBP and my debit card is at the end of the month 1800 in debt.
My CC is with nearing its end of zero interest so I was thinking if we transferred the debit card debt into our current CC then if we can afford it that it may be an idea to setup a Virgin CC and transfer all the deb into it and try and clear the debt within the 16 months.

What are your thoughts and suggestions?

c0c0nuts

Hi all, just in the midst of a Virgin CC app and reading the t 's and c's, the standard minimum monthly payment is £25.
Don't know whether thats of any use to anyone, but most cards start at a % of the balance or £x whichever is the greater.

Moggles_2

Briggsy.notts wrote: »

I applied for a Virgin card about 10 days ago and still not heard anything. How much longer should I wait before I ring them up?

The time taken to process a credit card application varies between card companies. The best introductory 0% deals are often heavily advertised and lenders are sometimes flooded with applications. That said, IME, Virgin/MBNA is pretty efficient. If I were you, I'd phone Virgin Card Services asap on 01244 673700 (to avoid the dreaded 0870 numbers) if possible during business hours