Best Balance Transfers Discussion Area

speedbird1973

I closed an MBNA account 2 months ago. It showed as "settled" on my credit file so i applied for a virgin card and was accepted. MBNA and Halifax (so I read on this forum) treat you as a new customer immediatly

Moggles_2

speedbird1973 wrote: »

I closed an MBNA account 2 months ago. It showed as "settled" on my credit file so i applied for a virgin card and was accepted. MBNA and Halifax (so I read on this forum) treat you as a new customer immediately

Congratulations, Speedbird & thanks for your feedback.
:beer:
A family member got away with this too, but some forum users have been told by MBNA's staff to wait 6 months, apparently

Halifax accepts applicants straight away, as you say, and the bank's own staff are quite up front about this

thatcpfcguy

Afternoon all,

A quick question on never spending on a balance transfer card.

I currently have a balance of approx £1500 outstanding on an AMEX card. I've just moved to a new job and thanks to a decent pay rise I have budgeted to pay it off within 3 months.

I'm looking at the play.com card with its low transfer fee (the 6 month 0% isn't a worry as I plan on paying it off in half that time) and notice that it has 0% on purchases for 9 months too. Given that I do just about all of my online shopping on Play.com anyway, will I be taking a risk by spending on the card having also transferred the AMEX balance to it? I expect to be paying off the balance in full before either promotional period ends, but I'm far from an expert on all things credit card so if someone can confirm that I'll not be risking huge interest by doing this I'd appreciate it.

TIA.

Moggles_2

thatcpfcguy wrote: »

I currently have a balance of approx £1500 outstanding on an AMEX card. I'm looking at the play.com card with its low transfer fee (the 6 month 0% isn't a worry as I plan on paying it off in half that time) and notice that it has 0% on purchases for 9 months too. Given that I do just about all of my online shopping on Play.com anyway, will I be taking a risk by spending on the card having also transferred the AMEX balance to it? I expect to be paying off the balance in full before either promotional period ends, but I'm far from an expert on all things credit card, so if someone can confirm that I'll not be risking huge interest by doing this I'd appreciate it.

If you want an easy life, it's best to keep BTs and purchases on separate cards.

According to the current online T&Cs (see under Order of Payments), your repayments would be assigned to the BT(s) first, so provided that you clear your entire BT transaction(s) well before the 6 months expires, you won't pay interest on them.

Please note: six months from account opening, any BT transaction(s) remaining would be locked in (behind your purchases) at your standard APR - whatever that happens to be - until the entire balance is cleared on the card.

SmoothMover

Just been looking for a new card to balance transfer my existing Citi bank card from, so I've been on MoneySupermarket's balance transfer table (the one that is the main credit cards table for the site), but something is looking very odd?:(

Not sure if they are trying a cheeky one, but they don't seem to be ranking cards in the correct order. Virgin is number 1 with 16 months, then Natwest with 15months. After that it gets a bit confusing because there's 2 Barclaycard cards (both for 12 months) before the MBNA card which is 13 months.

Obviously I'll be going for Virgin anyway, but it does seem something odd is happening. ! I guess it might just be a mistake, but I know that these sites are paid by the credit card companies so I wouldn't be surprised if this was a MoneySupermarket or Barclaycard con to trick the unsuspecting. Be wary!!

Moggles_2

SmoothMover wrote: »

Just been looking for a new card to balance transfer my existing Citi Bank card from, so I've been on MoneySupermarket's balance transfer table (the one that is the main credit cards table for the site), but something is looking very odd. Not sure if they are trying a cheeky one, but they don't seem to be ranking cards in the correct order. Virgin is number 1 with 16 months, then Natwest with 15 months. After that it gets a bit confusing because there's 2 Barclaycard cards (both for 12 months) before the MBNA card which is 13 months. Obviously I'll be going for Virgin anyway, but it does seem something odd is happening. I guess it might just be a mistake, but I know that these sites are paid by the credit card companies, so I wouldn't be surprised if this was a MoneySupermarket or Barclaycard con to trick the unsuspecting.

I'm sceptical about it's value too, tbh. This is a profit-driven service that lists some, but not all credit cards, due to its commercial relationships. When it comes to cc recommendations, don't forget they're on lead commission. It's very much in their interest to persuade users to apply for particular cards.

You can get unbiased credit card suggestions here on this thread.

For a comprehensive list of 0% balance transfers cards, updated regularly and not influenced by advertising commissions, see also this table on the stoozing site, which is sponsored by MoneySavingExpert

http://www.stoozing.com/0fees.htm

gordylad

can i have some opinions please.

Do I balance transfer to a 0% over 16 months (virgin) or 6.9% Capital One until Jan 2012

Thanks

Moggles_2

gordylad wrote: »

Do I transfer my balance to the 0% over 16 months Virgin or 6.9% Capital One until Jan 2012?

Have you estimated how long it would take to clear the debt in full?
Why not plug some numbers into this credit card calculator?
http://www.whatsthecost.com/creditcard.aspx

You can then estimate the time it would take to clear the balance using Virgin compared with CapOne. You can also see the effect of increasing your payments by a few pounds.

The two types of deal exist because individual circumstances and attitudes vary. There's no perfect solution that suits everyone.

Martin's *Best Balance Transfers* article explains the pros and cons of 0% and life-of-balance deals and how to decide

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/balance-transfer-credit-cards#choosing

tigger63

Hi All

I have recently split with my partner and find myself ( im sure im not alone !!) in the situation of trying to re arrange my already nightmarish finances so i can have some of my actual income to pay for the basics.

Went to my own bank to check out the "last resort" of consolidation and was horrified to bequoted a rate of 20 % !!., egg quoted 24% !!!!!.

To add to the nightmare i have just transfered £ 3000. to Bcard long term rate of 6.9 % ans THEN read about the loophole.

I already have existing borrowing on this card at lower rate.

Now i am so confused.
Should i transfer this existing lower rate and then transfer back to barclaycard at the higher rate of 6.9%???

any help appreciated xxxxxx

Moggles_2

tigger63 wrote: »

I have just transferred £3000 to Barclaycard long term rate of 6.9%. I already have existing borrowing on this card at lower rate. Should i transfer this existing lower rate and then transfer back to B'card at the higher rate of 6.9%?

What's the existing balance, what rate of interest are you paying and when does that special rate expire?

To help you further, we would also need to know which credit cards - besides Barclaycard - you have at the mo or have held recently. Also, whether you've applied for any credit cards unsuccessfully.