Best Balance Transfers Discussion Area

stubuch

Moggles wrote: »

Lenders vary in this respect, as with everything else. Some will not consider applications from former cardholders for various periods following closure. Others accept applicants straight away.

The Royal Bank of Scotland stable (which includes Lombard Direct, Mint, NatWest, Tesco & Ulster Bank, as well as RBS itself), makes former customers wait 8 months following cancellation of one of its cards.

In all cases, it's advisable to check your credit reports to make certain the account is actually closed down and marked "settled" before you re-apply.

I closed my Tesco CC on monday of this week and was told on the phone it would be 8 months before I could reapply for a new one from them.

I was hoping they'd offer me a 0% balance transfer when I phoned, and thought I was on to a winner when the guy said he'd transfer me to the right department to close the account but after six minutes on hold the same guy came back and said 'that's the account closed can I help with anything else?' No, thank you you've done enough already was my response .

jeepers1

Hi All,

There seems to be a lot of talk about 0% deals and the transfer fee. If its any use to you...

As you all prob know banks are doing what they can to get more customers and so this puts you in a great position to negotiate. I've recently contacted Barclaycard, I paid the balance off last year and so it was sat there with £0 doing nothing, I rang them up an asked if I had any 0% deals they didnt and would only offer me a fixed lifetime rate. This is good but I knew they could do better!

After I asked the agent to review my file seeing as I have been a good, responsible and loyal customer of barclaycard whether they can arrange a 0% deal. They went away for 5-10 mins and came back and offered me 0% for 4 months with a 3% balance transfer.

Now the balance I wanted to transfer was bigger than the credit limit so I asked them to transfer X amount but asked if they could waive the transfer fee, they said they couldnt. I explained that I'm not getting the full benefit of the 0% for 4 months because I cant transfer the full balance and felt this was unfair. I batted my eyelids (they obviously couldnt see that seeing as we were on the phone lol) I went on tp say "I really appreciate you've done a lot for me already authorising a 0% deal for me for 4 months which will be a great help. However, these are lean times and the balance transfer fee really would not make it worthwhile me tranfering the balance to you, if you cannot waive the balance transfer fee can you put me on to some that will?" I got the normal speel "this is a good deal, the company has to make some money, blah blah blah." I just went on to say again "I appreciate what you have done for me but please can you put me through to someone that can waive the 0% fee?" you may need to ask a few times, dont lose your rag though, in the end I was put through to a girl in a newcastle call centre and thanked her for the 0% deal but explained again that it was lean times for us all and that the fee would not make it beneficial for me to move my balance to you" She understood was great and said that she would ensure the fee was waived!

If ou don't ask you dont get - but like I said dont lose your temper, stay calm, polite and really blow their trumpet for what theyve done for you so far.

Hope this helps someone

Jeeps

luke05

Very well said.. I find your post very useful.. Thanks for sharing your thoughts..

jeepers1 wrote: »

Hi All,

There seems to be a lot of talk about 0% deals and the transfer fee. If its any use to you...

As you all prob know banks are doing what they can to get more customers and so this puts you in a great position to negotiate. I've recently contacted Barclaycard, I paid the balance off last year and so it was sat there with £0 doing nothing, I rang them up an asked if I had any 0% deals they didnt and would only offer me a fixed lifetime rate. This is good but I knew they could do better!

After I asked the agent to review my file seeing as I have been a good, responsible and loyal customer of barclaycard whether they can arrange a 0% deal. They went away for 5-10 mins and came back and offered me 0% for 4 months with a 3% balance transfer.

Now the balance I wanted to transfer was bigger than the credit limit so I asked them to transfer X amount but asked if they could waive the transfer fee, they said they couldnt. I explained that I'm not getting the full benefit of the 0% for 4 months because I cant transfer the full balance and felt this was unfair. I batted my eyelids (they obviously couldnt see that seeing as we were on the phone lol) I went on tp say "I really appreciate you've done a lot for me already authorising a 0% deal for me for 4 months which will be a great help. However, these are lean times and the balance transfer fee really would not make it worthwhile me tranfering the balance to you, if you cannot waive the balance transfer fee can you put me on to some that will?" I got the normal speel "this is a good deal, the company has to make some money, blah blah blah." I just went on to say again "I appreciate what you have done for me but please can you put me through to someone that can waive the 0% fee?" you may need to ask a few times, dont lose your rag though, in the end I was put through to a girl in a newcastle call centre and thanked her for the 0% deal but explained again that it was lean times for us all and that the fee would not make it beneficial for me to move my balance to you" She understood was great and said that she would ensure the fee was waived!

If ou don't ask you dont get - but like I said dont lose your temper, stay calm, polite and really blow their trumpet for what theyve done for you so far.

Hope this helps someone

Jeeps

Numpty_Monkey

cheapnike spam reported

Lucyxx

Hello,

Could I just ask probably a very daft question?

If you open a CC to do a balance transfer for the 0% deal, can you transfer part of your balance from one card??? or does it have to be the full amount.

Same old story, OH has just confessed to racking up 7k on his Lloyds credit card, not knowing what on etc, and he has no sense of money knowledge. Not accepted my advice in the past, but now admits he needs help. Would rather help him out now, before it gets even worse!!

The Tesco CC seems to be ideal, but unlikely to give him the credit limit needed to transfer the whole 7k, so could we do a partial balance transfer? I desperately need to get him out of paying over £150 a month interest, which I think is what is crippling his payments and possibly got him into a worse situation. (Which was his own doing and he'll hold his hands up to it)

There is the posibility of paying off a large chunk in a few months time, when he can sell shares, but I found a default notice had come through this month, so it's already at critical point, and I don't think he could afford to wait any longer!

TIA

Luc xx

Amethyst623

Hi

I am new to all this so bear with me folks!

I currently have a Virgin card with a balance of £4500 which is my limit. I took the card out a few years ago to take advantage of the 0% balance transfer at the time but in my naivety purchased on the card and ended up with a huge interest rate on this (as we all know now!)

I can only really afford the minimum payment (£109) each month and at this rate it will take me over 100 years (!!!!!!) to pay it off. I have a fairly good credit rating and applied for another card with good 0% balance transfer deal but the credit limit was only £2000. Should I transfer what I can onto this card and apply for another 0% deal with another card to transfer the remaining balance to? I am nervous about having 2 cards but if this would help then it makes sense. I am also nervous that the minimum repayments over the 2 cards would end up more than I am currently paying.

I am not sure if this is the right thing to do and would appreciate any help.

Many Thanks

AGClark

Was going through the instructions on MSE for the credit card shuffle. I had two card - M&S with ~£3200 (on 18.9%) and Barclaycard with ~£2400 (with interest free running out in 3 weeks, returning to 14.9%). I called Barclaycard to say that I needed cheaper debt and did not want to leave (as per step 1 of the instructions for the shuffle), before I had even had a chance to finish the question the operator asked me if I had a balance to transfer, which I said I might (as I was going to ask the other 3 questions from step 2), he said that he could put the existing amount with Barclaycard and BT my M&S balance fixed at 0% until August '09 for no fee! :eek: The only catch was that I had to do it then and there, so couldn't contact M&S to see what they could do for me. I couldn't believe it, I did ask him to confirm that more than once and it was all done and dusted in about 5 mins. So not sure of how much I am saving but it will be in the hundreds and I wanted to let you all know in case you could get this offer as well. :T

BRAMBLES_2

Hi folks I am also new to the forum can anyone suggest the best credit card company to approach re a balance transfer for an ARGOS storecard - not all companies accept this balance transfer from Argos Thanks

Moggles_2

Lucyxx wrote: »

If you open a CC to do a balance transfer for the 0% deal, can you transfer part of your balance from one card?

Yes. You can transfer any amount you wish, though most credit cards will not consider BTs of less than £100.

The Tesco CC seems to be ideal, but unlikely to give him the credit limit needed to transfer the whole 7k.

If the worst happens, Martin's advice is to transfer what you can. Don't leave an offer unused out of exasperation. It's already on his credit file, so he may as well use it.

To maximise the 0% period, 16 months is currently available to new customers from Virgin. There's a 2.98% handling charge.

http://uk.virginmoney.com/credit-card-v3/

Alternatively, 14 months is currently available to new customers from Tesco, as you know. A 2.9% BT fee applies.

http://www.tescofinance.com/personal/finance/finance/creditcards/bonuscc/index.jsp

Virgin has a reputation for more generous limits than Tesco. That said, the best choice depends, to some extent, on which cards - besides LloydsTsb - he has at the mo or has held recently.

Moggles_2

Amethyst623 wrote: »

I currently have a Virgin card with a balance of £4500 which is my limit. I can only really afford the minimum payment (£109) each month and at this rate it will take me over 100 years to pay it off. I have a fairly good credit rating and applied for another card with good 0% balance transfer deal but the credit limit was only £2000. Should I transfer what I can onto this card?

Yes. When this happens, Martin's advice is to transfer what you can. Don't leave an offer unused out of exasperation. It's already on your credit file, so you may as well use it. You'll still save money.;)

Should I apply for another 0% deal with another card to transfer the remaining balance to? I am nervous about having 2 cards, but if this would help then it makes sense.

The national average is five, so three credit cards in total certainly isn't excessive.

I am also nervous that the minimum repayments over the 2 cards would end up more than I am currently paying.

Clearly, it's important to check the minimum payment required each month before you apply.
To help you further we need to know which new credit card you were accepted for.