Best Balance Transfers Discussion Area

Moggles_2

carlamagee wrote: »

My bf was made redundant. I have a Tesco cc that is maxed (2250), repayments are 65.00 and that includes interest of £25. Interest on purchases is 1.313% and cash is 1.873%. Would it be beneficial to transfer the balance from this account to one that is 0% interest and if so, which ones are best?

Are you in full-time employment yourself? If so, a 0% balance transfer card may be the answer.

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, you'd get 13 months with Halifax. A 3% BT fee applies.

http://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/pluscard136.asp

Caution: if you shop with either of the above cards or draw cash from an ATM you'll be back to square one (using a credit card to withdraw cash is a bad idea anyway. This is a very expensive way to borrow money), because any purchases, cash advances, fees and interest will remain trapped on the card until your 0% balance transfer has peen paid off.:eek:

Once your Tesco balance is cleared, I would keep that card for shopping. If you only spend what you can afford to pay off by the due date, you'll never pay interest again.

carlamagee

Moggles wrote: »

Are you in full-time employment yourself? If so, a 0% balance transfer card may be the answer.

im not employed full time, just 16 hour part time contract a week....would this go against me??

Moggles_2

carlamagee wrote: »

I'm not employed full-time, just 16 hour part-time contract a week. Would this go against me?

Your available credit in relation to your income may be a factor and will certainly affect the credit limit you're handed.

Maxed out accounts make you look stretched. Do you have any savings to pay down some of the Tesco balance before you apply?

For tips to improve your chances of credit card acceptance, have a look at the *Credit Rating: how it works and how to improve it guide* especially Martin's *Manage and Improve your credit score* article to make sure there are no other factors - besides a lowish income - working against you.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/credit-rating-credit-score#improve

thedokta

Hi everyone, I have a quick question regarding balance transfers, I have a card which offers 0% on transfers, my girlfriend has a couple of cards with debt on them and I was wondering if I am able to transfer a balance from her card to mine to take advantage of the 0%. Does anyone know if this is possible or not?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Kieran

Moggles_2

thedokta wrote: »

I have a card which offers 0% on transfers, my girlfriend has a couple of cards with debt on them and I was wondering if I am able to transfer a balance from her card to mine to take advantage of the 0%. Does anyone know if this is possible or not?

You can switch credit card balances from family, friends or Dave down the pub. You should be aware though, that the person whose card her balance is shifted to, becomes solely liable for the debt. If you were to fall out, you couldn't ask the card company to charge her for any remaining balance.

From the lender's perspective, it's not a problem. If you request the transfer by phone, customer services may ask 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 your business. They're not really interested in knowing who ran up the debt, as long as you, their customer, pay up on time each month!

Caution: same restrictions apply as when arranging a BT between your own credit card accounts (ie.you cannot transfer balances between cards underwritten by the same bank.) This table on the stoozing site (which is sponsored by Money Saving Expert) should help:

http://www.stoozing.com/cards.htm

thedokta

Thanks Moggles.
Let's hope we don't fall out!!

deptfreemoneytart

Hi Minnie 123
I've just changed my current a/c to A&L to get the 6.5% on £2500 for a year. While I was doing this I thought I'd change my Virgin 0% as it runs out this month. So I applied for an A&L credit card (not knowing that Virgin and A&L are the same company (MBNA). A&L agreed to the credit card but would only give me £3500 Limit. I have a Barclaycard I do all my buying on and clear the balance every month using a direct debit so I don't get it wrong.
I complained that this was not enough to pay off my Virgin card, but took it anyway on the agreement that if I payed off the Vigin Card and closed the account A&L would add my £5000 Virgin limit to my £3500 A&L limit. I then did a 12 month 0% Check Transaction for £3300 from my A&L Premier Current A/C to my A&L Credit Card A/C for a charge of £99 or 3% and can now ask for a bigger 0% check Transaction as my credit limit is now £8500 so I can put it in an A&L savings A/C making 3% therefore getting 0% on borrowing come Feb. next year plus my 6.5% on my £2500 in the current A/C.
I borrowed from Virgin in the first place Dec. 2007 to do a bit of stoozing, but the credit crunch has stopped all that.
I bought an £8000 bathroom 41/2 years ago and all I've paid off so far is 41/2 years min. payment and no interest, I could have paid cash but this is so much more fun. I,ve also been retired through ill health for the last 3 years with very little money coming in, and they still give me credit.
Good fun isn't it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

unidentified

Sorry if this isn't the right place to ask, but anyone any experience of getting Egg to extend their 0% Balance Transfer period?

My 15 months is about to run out, and am gonna have to tart to a different card if Egg won't extend.

Second question then, what is currently the best card to transfer to at 0% with a decent credit limit and long timeframe, is it Virgin?

Need to transfer around 4300, and am only intending to make monthly payments once a month to try and clear it (so at least a quarter of that amount or more would be cleared by a year's time) - not intending to use for spending.

So which is the best in these circumstances? Will Virgin give a high enough credit limit?


(Further notes: Only other existing card I have is Tesco which is used for purchases so hopefully this won't get in the way).

Moggles_2

unidentified wrote: »

What is currently the best card to transfer to [from Egg] at 0% with a decent credit limit and long timeframe? Is it Virgin? Will Virgin give a high enough credit limit?(Only other existing card I have is Tesco which is used for purchases).

Yes, Virgin is the market-leader at the mo. 15 months at 0% is currently available to new customers.

http://uk.virginmoney.com/virgin/credit-cards-v3/

HSBC is also offering 0% on BTs for 15 months, but this deal's only available to existing HSBC current account customers.

IME, Virgin (and other cards issued by MBNA) hand out better credit limits than HSBC.;)

sarahs999

unidentified wrote: »

Sorry if this isn't the right place to ask, but anyone any experience of getting Egg to extend their 0% Balance Transfer period?

Why would they do that? The way they make money is from interest on your account, so they're not going to give you any longer interst free than was orignally agreed...