Best Balance Transfers Discussion Area

cazarol

Think these are few and far between nowadays but thought I would ask as someone might have found one which I have missed when searching.
Are there any 0% balance transfer deals which do not charge a percentage to set it up
Many Thanks

Moggles_2

If you're looking for a totally free BT, I can recommend the Capital One Balance Transfer card. The current deal offers interest-free BTs until 1 August 2008 with no handling charges.

Note: this card requires an "excellent" credit rating, so please check you can meet the criteria listed on the Capital One website [e.g. hold a credit card with credit limit of at least £5,000, held a card for 5 years etc.) before you apply.

Also, the Ulster Bank Gold card (not to be confused with the Ulster Rugby card, which is a completely separate animal run by the Bank of Ireland.)

The Ulster Bank cards offer 0% BTs for 6 months from account opening and, once again, there's no handling fee. Issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland, they're well worth considering for balances under £4,000

Note: applications are by phone or post. The bank does not accept online applications. Once set up though, your account can be viewed online.

flightlessdragon

Hi All,

I've just joined the forum but have been following the emails for a couple of years

I have a car balloon payment due in March of around 8.2k and have been assessing the best mechanism for paying this off via loans or cards etc.

Reading the site one route suggested is to get a egg money card first then a balance transfer card, transfer money from the BT card to the egg money card, then transfer money out of that into the current account to enable payment of the balloon payment.

I've started along this route and have the egg money card with a 6.3k limit (not that I need it for that) and now need to get the BT card sorted out.

I already have an MBNA card which had a 11k limit on it but I believed this would adversely affect the credit limit on the new card hence I have reduved this to 2k (balance is actually nearly 0).

The question I have is as I actually need to obtain 8.2k of funds, which would be the most likely to grant me a card with a suitable rate?

I've assessed I can pay this within 2 years (just) hence thought the HSBC card would be appropriate but obviously every time I apply the credit rating gets hit (and I believe the Egg money card application would have also affected this). Any further advice welcome.

Cheers

Flightlessdragon

lindath

Hi

I'm new to this money-saving business, and am trying to think of a way of paying off my £2,500 credit card bill as cheaply as possible. I'm not working at the moment, and all the bills are paid by my husband. Don't suppose I'll be able to get a new credit card as I'm not in employment, so was wondering if my hubbie could get a 0% transfer card and take on my balance? Any views would be much appreciated.
Thanks

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by flightlessdragon
I have the Egg Money card with a 6.3k limit and now need to get the BT card sorted out. I actually need to obtain 8.2k of funds. Which [lender] would be the most likely to grant me a card with a suitable rate?

I've assessed I can pay this within 2 years (just), hence thought the HSBC card would be appropriate, but obviously every time I apply the credit rating gets hit (and I believe the Egg Money application would have also affected this). Any further advice welcome.

Obviously, I don't know your circumstances but, depending on your income, you may not get the credit limit you want from HSBC.

Have you considered Egg card or Virgin? Both offer new customers 0% on BTs for 15 months and credit limits tend to be more generous.
(You would not need Egg Money, as both allow you to transfer an overdraft to them, in other words, transfer cash from the credit card to your current account. From there you could pay off your car loan.) After 15 months, any remaining balance could be shifted once again.

The alternative would be to apply to HSBC, but be prepared to submit a third credit card application, if you're handed a lower limit than you need.

flightlessdragon

Thanks Moggles,

I'll look into the exchange rate for the Egg card on it's own and see how it compares.

Flightlessdragon.

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by lindath
I'm new to this money-saving business and am trying to think of a way of paying off my £2,500 credit card bill as cheaply as possible. I'm not working at the moment and all the bills are paid by my husband. Don't suppose I'll be able to get a new credit card, as I'm not in employment ...?

If you've no income at all, probably not.

...so was wondering if my hubbie could get a 0% transfer card and take on my balance? Any views would be much appreciated.

From the lender's perspective, it's not a problem. Customer services may ask your husband for the name on the card, but this is purely an additional verification check. At the end of the day, the card company is after his business. They're not really interested in knowing who ran up the debt, as long as he, their customer, pays up on time each month!

joannet143

Hi, i'm here to tell my tale of woe, and hopefully get some sound advice. My partner has 2 credit cards, Barclaycard which he owes over £3000 and Lloyds tsb Airmiles cards which he owes around £2000. He has other loans but no defaults and 2 late payments on a loan that was paid off 12 months ago. We are looking at transferring his balance...

However, (here we go!!) Nearly 2 years ago, i ended up in financial difficulty whilst waiting for my property to sell, in that 6 month period, i ended up with 6 defaults for a massive amount - HUGE!!! Sold the property and all is paid off, all defaults are satisfied and i now have 2 small catalogues i'm running to improve my credit rating.

Moved in with said bloke, have a joint account, and of course - now are files are linked!! Difficulty is, bloke applied for a Mint Card.. And got refused... Little apprehensive now about applying but we need the 0% BT, It's costing around £130.00 a month in interest alone!! Have i now ruined my partners chances of getting decent credit??? Can he get a decent credit card?? We earn good money between us, but he does have 2 large loans on top of his cards - Just want to get sorted out....
Any help would be appreciated.. Thanks Jo :eek:

kgarcia

Capital One 0% 1st November 2008 1.7%
RBS 0% 13 months 2.5% (+£24 Quidco)
Natwest 0% 13 months 2.5% (+£24 Quidco)
Nationwide 0% 10 months 2.5%
Barclaycard Platinum 0% 14 months 2.5%
Post Office 0% 10 months 2.75% (+£20.50 Quidco)
Mint 0% to 1st March 2009 2.9%
Virgin 0% 15 months 2.98%
MNBA 0% 12 months 3% (+£8.50 Quidco)
Egg 0% 15 months 3%

Very useful indeed. Big thanks for that!

I have an Egg card. If you say you're going to leave them, can they offer any good deals to you ie. like mobile phone companies?

Just makes me annoyed that cards never seem to get their current customers to stay with them. Or is it we've got into a "change card" culture?

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by joanneT143
My partner has 2 credit cards, Barclaycard which he owes over £3000 and Lloyds Tsb Airmiles cards which he owes around £2000. He has other loans but no defaults and 2 late payments on a loan that was paid off 12 months ago.

We are looking at transferring his balance. However, nearly 2 years ago, I was in financial difficulty whilst waiting for my property to sell. In that 6 month period, I ended up with 6 defaults for a massive amount - HUGE!!! Sold the property and all is paid off, all defaults are satisfied and I now have 2 small catalogues I'm running to improve my credit rating.

Well done. You've made a start in turning things round

Moved in with said bloke, have a joint account and of course - now our files are linked!! Difficulty is, bloke applied for a Mint Card and got refused.

How necessary is that joint account?

Little apprehensive now about applying but we need the 0% BT. It's costing around £130.00 a month in interest alone!! Have I now ruined my partner'schances of getting decent credit??? We earn good money between us, but he does have 2 large loans on top of his cards - Just want to get sorted out.

A 0% BT is probably not an option at the mo, TBH.

Lenders launch these interest-free promotions, which are sometimes heavily advertised, to draw in new customers. Often they are flooded with applications and can afford to cherry-pick applicants. They are all going to see his credit history (and yours) in a bad light.

None of this affects you permanently, but it takes time to build a better credit history.

There are low interest rate deals which could save you money. For tips to improve your chances of acceptance, have a look at the *Credit Rating* articles on the main site, especially Martin's *Manage and Improve your credit score* article.

For further suggestions, have a look at Martin's *Credit Card Shuffle*

Meanwhile, I would concentrate on paying off as much as possible each month. Clearing the debt ASAP will reduce the interest you pay and you'll be building a better credit history in the process.