Best Balance Transfers Discussion Area

Moggles_2

samara wrote: »

The joint utility bill is linked to a direct debit on my personal account, not our joint one. Does this affect me?

As things stand, your wife's name on the billing address makes no difference.

hotshotscot

Been lurking here for a while back and forward so hello all.

Can I ask something completely silly.

I currently have about 5.5k on BOS mastercard. I think interest is something like 70 with a minimum payment of 30 quid per month.

If I apply online to transer (I presume this is quite easy?) it can totally clear any interest charge for next month? +3% fee for the transfer which would be something 150quid.

Cheers folks, you seem like a friendly bunch.

I have it set up to pay the minimum amount, I know this is not the most effective way, but surely when the transfer is complete you can set this up again to avoid paying any charges. Then pay extra off when you are able to do so.

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by hotshotscot
I currently have about 5.5k on BOS mastercard ... I have it set up to pay the minimum amount ... If I apply online to transfer [the balance], can I totally clear any interest charge for next month?

No. Having made the minimum or a partial payment the previous month, you will be charged residual interest, sometimes known as trailing interest. This applies equally to all credit cards, not just Bank of Scotland.

+3% fee for the transfer which would be something like 150 quid?

A handling fee is payable to the new balance transfer card. Your existing provider, BOS, will not charge you. FWIW, I very much doubt whether lenders can distinguish BACS payments made by other card companies from those of their customers.

Surely when the transfer is complete you can set this up again to avoid paying any charges. Then pay extra off when you are able to do so.

If you clear your BOS balance to zero, there are no charges (apart from the residual interest)to pay.

JulesMoney

Hi I am new here and I am confused please help. You mention above that "your existing provider will not charge you a handling fee"? I have just contacted Capital One having read your suggestion to approach my existing provider to see if they would offer a reduced rate for balance transfers "as I have been a customer for some 4 years and preferred to stay with them". Unfortunately the girl I spoke to said that it was only another department who could make that decision - when asking to be put through she came back and said it was not possible for me to speak to anyone. She offered me 5.53% for life of transfer at 3% fee without knowing how much I wanted to transfer. She also voluntarily said that should I close the account and reopen another account with them I would not be guaranteed to get the same offer? hmmmm. I have a zero balance on the existing card! When asking for a contact in the UK she promptly cut me off! Nice.

So still unsure whether this is a good deal but begrudge having to pay 3% fee as an existing customer so not sure if I should transfer with 0% for 6 months to Abbey Zero Mastercard with no transfer fee but I will need to ensure I pay off full amount. Is it worth me writing to Capital One Customer Services in the UK to see if they can reduce the fee or am I wasting my time? Still learning the ropes as you can probably tell - hope I am posting this correctly I did try and negotiate :rolleyes: but failed it seems.

molley

JulesMoney wrote: »

Hi I am new here and I am confused please help. You mention above that "your existing provider will not charge you a handling fee"? I have just contacted Capital One having read your suggestion to approach my existing provider to see if they would offer a reduced rate for balance transfers "as I have been a customer for some 4 years and preferred to stay with them". Unfortunately the girl I spoke to said that it was only another department who could make that decision - when asking to be put through she came back and said it was not possible for me to speak to anyone. She offered me 5.53% for life of transfer at 3% fee without knowing how much I wanted to transfer. She also voluntarily said that should I close the account and reopen another account with them I would not be guaranteed to get the same offer? hmmmm. I have a zero balance on the existing card! When asking for a contact in the UK she promptly cut me off! Nice.

So still unsure whether this is a good deal but begrudge having to pay 3% fee as an existing customer so not sure if I should transfer with 0% for 6 months to Abbey Zero Mastercard with no transfer fee but I will need to ensure I pay off full amount. Is it worth me writing to Capital One Customer Services in the UK to see if they can reduce the fee or am I wasting my time? Still learning the ropes as you can probably tell - hope I am posting this correctly I did try and negotiate :rolleyes: but failed it seems.

I thought that card had been replaced by one with 0% BT for 9 months with a 3% fee

bertietheblue

paddingtondoo wrote: »

Balance is of course over £25 so was wondering if the payment would be the BT fee plus £5 or just £25 as "fees" are not mentioned.

Hi paddingtondoo!

To answer this query fully, refer again to paragraph 1b of the Credit Card Agreement:

"if the balance shown on you statement is £25.00 or more, your minimum payment will be whichever is the greater of: £25.00; or any charges for Payment Protection Cover, interest and default charges plus £5.00"

So you should set up a direct debit for £25 only, unless any of the following occur (all easily avoided):

(a) you have Payment Protection Cover (PPC) and incur monthly PPC charges;
(b) you incur charges for breaking the agreement ("default charges"); and
(c) you incur interest on transactions (ie transactions other than purchase transactions (for 6 months only!) and balance and money transfers),

and the total cost is greater than £20 (don't forget you've got to add the "plus £5.00" to bring the amount to over £25).

Assuming you avoid incurring charges under (b) by paying the minimum amount on time, never going over your limit, etc. and under (c) by not using your card except for % interest transactions, eg money and balance transfers, then (b) and (c) will equal £0.00. As for (a) well don't take out any PPC and it wil be zero of course, but if you do have PPC, monthly charges will only be above £20 pounds if you have an outstanding balance on your card of £2531.64 (PPC is 79p for every £100 so this is the figure you need to owe to reach £20 PPC) - but do you want to be paying £20 PPC each month??

With reference to (b) note: 'default charges' are defined in paragraph 16 (Definitions) as "any charges we add to your account under paragraph 3a"; refer back to paragraph 3a and as you will see default charges are the £12 you get fined each time you 'default', ie are in breach of the agreement. The 2.98% handling fee is, contrary to what some posters have suggested, NOT a default charge.

Just to add the caveat that I could be wrong on all the above but that's my understanding having read the Credit Card Agreement and spoken to customer services for clarification.

Cheers
Bertietheblue

Moggles_2

JulesMoney wrote: »

I have just contacted Capital One having read your suggestion to approach my existing provider to see if they would offer a reduced rate for balance transfers "as I have been a customer for some 4 years and preferred to stay with them". Unfortunately the girl I spoke to said that it was only another department who could make that decision - when asking to be put through she came back and said it was not possible for me to speak to anyone. She offered me 5.53% for life of transfer at 3% fee without knowing how much I wanted to transfer.

Lenders vary in this respect, as with everything else. Some (eg. Barclaycard, MBNA) have a reputation for regular, existing-customer offers and MBNA will even waive BT fees sometimes, if you're prepared to negotiate over the phone. At the other end of the spectrum, Capital One's best offers are by invitation only and, IME, this lender will not negotiate with callers. I think you would be wasting your time writing as well, TBH.

She also voluntarily said that should I close the account and reopen another account with them I would not be guaranteed to get the same offer?

There are no guarantees, certainly. That said, the best promotional rates are normally offered to draw in new customers.

Which credit cards - besides C1 - do you have at the mo and what sort of figure are you looking to transfer?

YorkshireBoy

bertietheblue wrote: »

So you should set up a direct debit for £25 only...

You can no longer set up a fixed amount* DD with MBNA. The DD options are now only 'full' and 'minimum' (which would be £25 during the 0% intro period).

*Fixed amount DD's are very dangerous, for the reasons you gave, and that's why MBNA have withdrawn the option.

bertietheblue

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

You can no longer set up a fixed amount* DD with MBNA. The DD options are now only 'full' and 'minimum' (which would be £25 during the 0% intro period).

*Fixed amount DD's are very dangerous, for the reasons you gave, and that's why MBNA have withdrawn the option.

That's right YorkshireBoy £25 only, which is hardly going to pay off most people's credit cards before the 0% interest period ends. What you also need to do if you want to pay it off month by month is set up a standing order, so eg every month you pay off £25 direct debit and £50 standing order

IMPORTANT: set up a direct debit to make the minimum payment and not a standing order. Why? Because the standing order might not be cleared in time to make the monthly minimum payment when due (especially if it's made around the wekend or bank holidays) and so you might land up paying late and therefore invaildating the terms of your % interest. And bang you'll get whacked with hefty interest from then on.

JimmyTheWig

JulesMoney wrote: »

You mention above that "your existing provider will not charge you a handling fee"? I have just contacted Capital One having read your suggestion to approach my existing provider to see if they would offer a reduced rate for balance transfers "as I have been a customer for some 4 years and preferred to stay with them".

Jules, if you are refering to Moggles' comment on post #1378 (i.e. directly above yours) then I think you have misunderstood him.
He means that if you owe money to credit card company X and transfer that balance to credit card company Y then your existing provider (i.e. company X) won't charge you a fee. You will get charged a fee from the new provider (i.e. company Y).
You do find, however, that companies are sometimes prepared to offer existing customers deals that new customers wouldn't always get. You also find others who give new customers better deals than existing customers.