Best Balance Transfers Discussion Area

Moggles_2

nico007 wrote: »

Why is it that on the credit card section the Nationwide 0% balance transfer offer is described as having a 3% fee to balance transfer, yet the RBS and HSBC card which also has a 3% fee is described as HEFTY?

Sorry, only Martin knows the answer to that one.

FWIW, I suspect it's a hangover from an earlier version of the same article, written when BT fees were generally lower than now.

Not only that, to have the card at the two mentioned banks you are required to have a current account which are described as UNCOMPETITIVE, yet they are simple accounts with no membership fees, surely a good thing as we are told repeatedly not to pay for accounts.

That's true, but you could do better still. (For instance, Halifax rewards me with £5 for each month I pay in £1000. If I maintain an average balance over a month of £500, this equates to 15% AER interest.)

The Nationwide card is a straight forward, no-strings deal, whereas with HSBC, RBS and NatWest, conditions apply. That's the point to keep in mind, I think[/QUOTE]

debtfreegoal

Hi, i'm new to this site, i have a question regarding my debts. I have £3012 on my Virgin credit card which is on 0% interest until September (3 and half months time) and nearly £2000 in overdraft with Natwest which is charging a high interest. Virgin credit have said to me that they can transfer £2000 to my bank account from the credit card and because it is treated as a balance transfer it would be at 0% interest. I am wondering wether this would be a good idea to consolidate all my debt onto one credit card. I have good credit rating so when the balance transfer offer ends in 3 and half months, I should hopefully be able to get another credit card with £5000 limit on 0% interest balance transfer but you just never know nowadays with the recession and all. Any suggestions?

therandomsurfer

Hi all, hope someone can help me out with this one.

I've got a couple of 0% deals running out in the next few months and need a new deal to shift the balance over to. As I've had an MBNA card in the past and only cancelled it a few months ago, my best option is going for the HSBC 15 month 0% card (I have an account with them).

However my HSBC account is a secondary account and I dont pay my salary into it, and it's been overdrawn for some time (it has a 0% overdraft on it left over from being a graduate account). My question is, should I try and get it in the black before applying for the card or will this not make a difference? Will they see my overdrawn status as a good or bad thing?

Or should I go for the Halifax 13-month 0% card, since that is my main account and is in the black for most of the month?

(or should I forget about either of these and go for the Tesco 14% deal?!)

Please help - I don't want to make the wrong choice, get rejected and screw up my chances of getting another card!

Moggles_2

debtfreegoal wrote: »

I have £3012 on my Virgin credit card which is on 0% interest until September and nearly £2000 in overdraft with Natwest which is charging a high interest. Virgin has said that they can transfer £2000 to my bank account from the credit card and because it is treated as a balance transfer it would be at 0% interest. I am wondering whether this would be a good idea to consolidate all my debt onto one credit card. I have good credit rating so when the balance transfer offer ends in 3 and half months, I should hopefully be able to get another credit card with £5000 limit on 0% interest balance transfer but you just never know nowadays with the recession. Any suggestions?

Yes. A few rather special cards will allow you to transfer an overdraft to them, (in other words, transfer cash from the credit card to your current account), at balance transfer rates.*

Clearly, this move would save you money in the short-term. Whether it's a good idea, with just over three months at 0% to run, depends on your circumstances.

Have you estimated how long it will take to clear the £5000 debt in full? Will you have savings to fall back on in September, if a new BT deal with a sufficient credlt limit does not materialise? If so, that's great. Just be aware that Virgin has a habit of raising the standard rate to anything up to 34.9% APR variable, when the promotion ends.
Also, you'll need to factor the balance transfer fees into your calculations.

* For this you need a card issued by MBNA (e.g. Alliance & Leicester, MBNA itself, Sony, Virgin), Egg card or the Post Office card
To maximise the 0% period, 16 months is currently available to new customers from Virgin. There's a 4% handling charge.

Moggles_2

therandomsurfer wrote: »

I've got a couple of 0% deals running out in the next few months and need a new deal to shift the balance over to. As I've had an MBNA card in the past and only cancelled it a few months ago, my best option is going for the HSBC 15 month 0% card (I have an account with them). However my HSBC account is a secondary account and I don't pay in my salary and it's been overdrawn for some time (it has a 0% overdraft left over from being a graduate account). My question is, should I try and get it in the black before applying for the card or will this not make a difference? Will they see my overdrawn status as a good or bad thing?

HSBC's credit card arm has limited info' about your HSBC current account due to data protection regulations. Have you checked your credit reports lately to see what's on there? For help, see page 1 of the *How to obtain credit reports* sticky. (The status codes shown on current accounts have a different meaning from those associated with credit cards and banks vary in their use of these codes and the data they report to the credit reference agencies.) Once you know what banks will see, you are in a better position to improve their opinion

Or should I go for the Halifax 13-month 0% card, since that is my main account and is in the black for most of the month? (Or should I forget about either of these and go for the Tesco deal?)

If I were you, I'd play safe and plump for the Hally. The minimum monthly payment is just 1% of the balance shifted.

Also, it's not an exact science of course but, IME (and from feedback here), Halifax tends to hand out more generous credit limits than HSBC or Tesco

therandomsurfer

Thanks Moggles you are a star! :beer:

My next step is to do a credit check but will prob go for the Hally one as you suggest.

karenccs67

I owed £5,600 on a Lloydstsb Visa C/C. I was awarded £3,700 compensation for a car accident and used it to pay most of the Lloydstsb c/c off. I know this seems like a bit of a cheat but alot of this debt was incurred whilst I was off work injured.

I use an Asda C/C for food & petrol, which I pay off every month. Asda offered me 0% interest for 12 months on a balance transfer. I did this to pay off the outstanding balance on my Lloydstsb C/C. I can't explain the feeling of seeing a zero balance, it's great. I WILL pay the £1900 off this year and can't wait to start 2010 totally debt free.

:j:j:j

Moggles_2

karenccs67 wrote: »

I owed £5,600 on a Lloydstsb Visa C/C. I was awarded £3,700 compensation for a car accident and used it to pay most of the Lloydstsb c/c off. I know this seems like a bit of a cheat, but a lot of this debt was incurred whilst I was off work injured. I use an Asda C/C for food & petrol, which I pay off every month. Asda offered me 0% interest for 12 months on a balance transfer. I did this to pay off the outstanding balance on my Lloydstsb C/C. I can't explain the feeling of seeing a zero balance, it's great. I WILL pay the £1900 off this year and can't wait to start 2010 totally debt free.

Congratulations and thanks for sharing this with us.
:beer:

xkrazyx

Ok embarrassingly. It was so easy to get my credit cards and now the sheer thought of transferring it is a bit daunting.

I currently have a cleared barclaycard which i cut up but i have a bank of scotland credit card i took out and was accepted for when i was a student. The limit is over £3000 but ive spent over £2000.

In all honesty i dont know who to go to or what to do first. Im currently just making the minimum payments and have been for about a year - i originally had 9 months interest free.
The apr is sitting at 14.9% and had a letter about 3 months ago telling me it was going up to £29.9% to which i phoned them up and cracked up - telling them they knew i was a student and on a minimal wage to which they said It was a mistake they'll make sure i stay at the same rate.

Anyhooooooo sorry to seem so dense any advice is much appreciated xx

Moggles_2

xkrazyx wrote: »

It was so easy to get my credit cards and now the sheer thought of transferring it is a bit daunting. I currently have a cleared Barclaycard which I cut up but I have a Bank of Scotland credit card. The limit is over £3000 but I've spent over £2000. I'm currently just making the minimum payments and have been for about a year. I originally had 9 months interest-free. The apr is sitting at 14.9% and had a letter about 3 months ago telling me it was going up to £29.9% to which I phoned them up telling them they knew I was a student and on a minimal wage to which they said It was a mistake they'll make sure i stay at the same rate.

Congratulations on getting your interest rate reduced
:beer:

Transferring a balance is a straight forward affair. Unfortunately, as a student with a "minimal wage" you are not in a position to apply for 0% or low-interest BT cards.(These require an annual income of at least £8000.)

I would stop spending on your Bank of Scotland card, if you haven't already, and concentrate on paying off as much as possible each month. Clearing this debt ASAP will reduce the interest you pay and you'll be building a better credit history in the process. This, in turn, reduces the risk that HBOS will raise your interest rate(s) again.

If you're struggling to pay more than the minimum payments due, consider posting a statement of affairs on the *Debt-Free Wannabe* board. You'll get lots of advice and support there from users who have faced similar situations

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=76