Best Balance Transfers Discussion Area

Moggles_2

Adeleadele wrote: »

Are Egg or Barclaycard any good? Heard so many conflicting reviews. Also looked at the Post Office. Has anyone had any exp. of them?

Egg and the Post Office are known for generous credit limits, but customer service isn't so hot. That said, you can pop into any post office to settle your p.o. bills, so payment shouldn't be a problem, assuming you can find one that hasn't been closed down.

Barclaycard has figured quite prominently on this thread and rarely for the right reasons :rolleyes:

SomeGeezer

Moggles, half way through the egg application but it seems as if they take all monthly payments by DD only! If this is the case, I assume they take the minimum payment, so how on earth would you up that figure without having to manually ring the bank every month? Seems a bit silly to me.

Guess it's either the Post Office card or Virgin now. From your experience, which of those 2 generally pass more candidates and which ones are most generous with limits?

Moggles_2

SomeGeezer wrote: »

Moggles, half way through the Egg application, but it seems as if they take all monthly payments by DD only. If this is the case, I assume they take the minimum payment, so how on earth would you up that figure without having to manually ring the bank every month?

Not so. You can pay any amount you like.

Moggles_2

SomeGeezer wrote: »

Guess it's either the Post Office card or Virgin now. From your experience, which of those two generally pass more candidates and which ones are most generous with limits?

Sorry, only the Post Office and Virgin know the answer. Lenders do not disclose this information.

FWIW, in my experience Egg, the Post Office and Virgin give instant decisions and credit limits online or by telephone (provided that they can verify your ID electronically via the credit reference agencies, which in turn collate data from the electoral roll.)

Moggles_2

SomeGeezer wrote: »

Guess it's either the Post Office card or Virgin now. From your experience, which of those two generally pass more candidates and which ones are most generous with limits?

It's not an exact science of course but, IME (and from feedback here), Egg and Virgin tend to hand out more generous credit limits than the Post Office

therandomsurfer

Hi Moggles / all,

I recently tarted a balance over to a 0% Hally card after a successful application. I now have an Egg, Mint and Abbey Zero cards with cleared balances. Now obviously keeping the Egg card open is a no brainer for its mule capabilities, but should I hold on to the other 2? From previous comments it seems if I ever want another RBS or Santander card, having existing cards of theirs with cleared balances might actually help bump up my credit limit on the new card, rather than hinder my application. Is this the case?

Many thanks

Moggles_2

therandomsurfer wrote: »

I recently tarted a balance over to a 0% Hally card after a successful application. I now have Egg, Mint and Abbey Zero cards with cleared balances. Now obviously keeping the Egg card open is a no brainer for its mule capabilities, but should I hold on to the other two?

The national average is five, so if you have four credit cards and none is maxed out, it's unlikely your credit rating would be harmed by keeping all four, unless you have a lower than average annual income.

That said, with each successful credit card application, your available credit will increase in relation to your income and there will come a point when you must consider closure.

I think you have to treat each credit card on its own merits. IME, some card companies have regular, existing-customer offers and Mint will even waive BT fees sometimes, if you're prepared to negotiate over the phone. Others like the Hally reserve their best deals for new applicants.

From previous comments, it seems if I ever want another RBS or Santander card, having existing cards of theirs with cleared balances might actually help bump up my credit limit on the new card, rather than hinder my application. Is this the case?

It's not an exact science of course but, from feedback here, this seems to be the case with cards issued by MBNA. I know of no evidence that it applies to RBS or Santander though.

Note: some lenders will not consider applications from former card holders for various periods following closure. 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 closure of one of its cards, so cancelling any of these, limits your options for a bit.

SomeGeezer

Moggles wrote: »

Not so. You can pay any amount you like.

This is what it says on the online application, Moggles:

"With Egg your monthly payment must be made by Direct Debit, so please make sure your bank/building society account accepts Direct Debits. You must be an account holder on the account we take your payment from and you must be able to solely authorise Direct Debit payments. Your payment will be set at the minimum amount but, when you receive your card, you'll able to change it to an amount of your choice"


?

Moggles_2

SomeGeezer wrote: »

"Your payment will be set at the minimum amount but, when you receive your card, you'll able to change it to an amount of your choice"

This isn't a problem, is it?

You can choose to pay the minimum required, the full balance outstanding or any amount inbetween.

You can change the monthly direct debit amount as often as you like, as long as you give Egg at least 5 working days notice.

You can also make additional debit card payments to your Egg Card.

Hawaii

Sorry, if I'm not posting this in the right place, I'm a newcomer here and am finding it all a bit confusing.

I have a debt of £3,500 on a Capital One credit card (up to its limit) I wanted to transfer the balance to a 0% interest card but have had my application for a 0% Virgin card rejected

Does anyone know of anything I can do as I don't want to continue spending on my Capital One card (well, I can't anyway as it's maxed-out!) and can only afford to pay the minimum payment at the moment,.. but I want to pay it off as quickly as possible and thought that a 0% BT situation would be ideal as I'd actually be paying off the debt rather than mainly interest?

Can I appeal the decision by the Virgin or is the decision final?

Thanks in advance, Hawaii