Best Balance Transfers Discussion Area

lincoln1961

Hello,
Need your advice please. I currently have a credit card debt of £8400 with Bos (Mastercard) the minimum monthly amount repayment is £244, I pay £300.

I can afford this , but obviously its gonna take me a lifetime to pay it back so Im thinking of switching to Virgin for the 16 months interest free - even with the 2.98% fee for transfer - which is about £250 - it means I can keep paying the £300 pm to make my debt shrink for the first time in ages.

Sorry to go on - but after the 16 months I understand the interest on the outstanding balance would be at 16.6% rather than the much higer rate of my current BOS - 29.95% TO GET TO THE POINT at last - does this make good sense to switch or am I missing some obvious hidden trap?

Ive done the virgin online application as a dummy run and its let me thro to the submit button - that I will refrain from pressing till someone is kind enough to reply to this.:D

Thank you in advance for this fantastic site and your support

gordylad

moggles thanks for your advice

tig - what is the loophole you refer to?

tx

Moggles_2

lincoln1961 wrote: »

I currently have a credit card debt of £8400 with Bos (Mastercard) The minimum monthly amount repayment is £244, I pay £300. I can afford this, but obviously its gonna take me a lifetime to pay it back so I'm thinking of switching to Virgin for the 16 months interest-free - even with the 2.98% fee for transfer, which is about £250, it means I can keep paying the £300 pm to make my debt shrink for the first time in ages. After the 16 months I understand the interest on the outstanding balance would be at 16.6% rather than the much higher rate of my current BOS 29.95%. Does this make good sense to switch?

If you're currently charged 29.95% APR, then it makes absolute sense to transfer as much of this debt as possible to Virgin.

Fingers crossed you get the credit limit you're hoping for, but if the worst happens, Martin's advice is to transfer what you can. You'll still save money (See Martin's *Credit Card Limit: didn't get what you wanted?* article.)

Am I missing some obvious hidden trap?

Minimum monthly payments are the lowest in the UK. (BoS & other HBOS cards have the next lowest.) Don't let this lull you into a false sense of security. In the current climate, you may not get any more offers like these, so I would use any spare cash you have to clear that debt ASAP.

Also, remember not to spend on your new Virgin card

Good luck with your application
M

lincoln1961

Thank you - I will never spend another penny on any credit card:T first step do a debt clear future.

Moggles_2

gordylad wrote: »

tig - what is the loophole you refer to?

I guess we'll never know

Moggles_2

Then again, perhaps Tigger's not the one to explain, as s/he doesn't seem to have done their homework properly.

For an explanation, see Martin's *Barclaycard Loophole* article: the Catch and the Loophole Solution

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/barclaycard-offer-loophole

gordylad

well after reading and taking some advice i've opted for the virgin 0 deal over 16 months. I had been accepted for the capital one deal but cancelled after i called virgin and the guy said i'll just set the deal up just now and confirm your balance limit which was more than enough for my balance transfer so pretty painless.

kindofaverage

gordylad wrote: »

well after reading and taking some advice i've opted for the virgin 0 deal over 16 months. I had been accepted for the capital one deal but cancelled after i called virgin and the guy said i'll just set the deal up just now and confirm your balance limit which was more than enough for my balance transfer so pretty painless.

can I be cheeky and ask how much your credit limit is - I recently applied and got £6300 - really pleased!

steve3502

In order to get around paying transfer fees could you apply for a credit card with 12 months interest free for purchases. Set up a moneybookers account and add your new credit card, request money from the card to your moneybookers account. Transfer the money to your bank account or directly to the credit card you need to pay. Moneybookers charge a set fee of £1.63 for withdrawls.
I have a moneybookers acount and my credit card do not charge a fee to send money to them.

Or would your bank not consider this as a purchse and not allow you to be eligible for this?

Moggles_2

steve3502 wrote: »

In order to get around paying transfer fees, could you apply for a credit card with 12 months interest free for purchases. Set up a Moneybookers account and add your new credit card, request money from the card to your moneybookers account. Transfer the money to your bank account or directly to the credit card you need to pay. Moneybookers charge a set fee of £1.63 for withdrawls. I have a Moneybookers account and my credit card do not charge a fee to send money to them.

May I ask which credit card is involved and what rate of interest you're charged by your current provider?

Or would your bank not consider this a purchase?

That's right.

No experience of Moneybookers personally, but if you requested a transfer of funds from a credit card to your Moneybookers account, the transaction would not be classed as a purchase, unfortunately.