Best Balance Transfers Discussion Area

Moggles_2

P.S. Some dedicated MSEers and their partners have opened high-interest current accounts with Santander's Abbey and/or Alliance & Leicester. New customers can earn up to 6% AER on the first £2500 for 12 months. Just a thought

Moggles_2

nichmcg wrote: »

Can my husband get a 0% balance transfer card, then have a balance transferred from one of my cards?

Yes, he can switch credit card balances from family, friends or Dave down the pub. He may be asked 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 his business. They're not really interested in knowing who ran up the debt, as long as he, their customer, pays up on time each month!

Caution: Santander/Abbey has been known to refuse BTs from different account holders, so I'd avoid that one. Also, you cannot transfer balances between cards underwritten by the same bank (you would be trying to pay 'em off with their own money.)
This table on the stoozing site (which is sponsored by Money Saving Expert) should help:

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

Moggles_2

nichmcg wrote: »

Is it best to get a credit card and then ask for a balance transfer or to apply for the card saying it's for balance transfer purposes?

With most providers, you either complete the BT request section (if there is one) during the application process or wait until the card arrives and request your BT(s) when you call to activate. (There's usually a dedicated, Freefone number for this)

IMO, it's safer to wait until receipt of the card and credit limit before requesting balance transfers. That way you keep your options open and retain some control over what happens when. If something goes wrong, BTs are not easy to reverse and, in attempting this, he could incur two BT fees.

dalglish_2

I filled in an online application for the Santander card on day after Boxing Day and haven't heard anything - not even a confirmation of application email.

Can anyone tell me if Santander contact by Email or do we have to wait for reply (and their decision) by mail?

If it's by email, there must be some hitch. Though, the confirmation of application page did appear at end of online app process. Strange there has been no reply thus far.

Moggles_2

dalglish wrote: »

I filled in an online application for the Santander card on day after Boxing Day and haven't heard anything - not even a confirmation of application email. Can anyone tell me if Santander contact by email or do we have to wait for reply (and their decision) by mail? If it's by email, there must be some hitch. Though the confirmation of application page did appear at end of online application process.

We've repeatedly warned of Santander's dire customer service on this thread, but it cannot be stressed too often..

FYI (and anyone else reading), if you decide to chance your arm, it's best to apply in branch. Online applications are apt to disappear without trace and telephone & postal applications are still subject to long delays, apparently. From feedback here, there's a four week backlog of applications for the Santander Zero card :rolleyes:

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

Mads23

Hi, I'm brand new to the forum although I've been receiving the newsletter for quite some time. I'm hoping you can help me with this query...

My husband has an Egg Card balance of approx £3,200 but for personal reasons, we're having to pay the minimum balance at the moment. We do this by direct debit and haven't missed any payments. Unfortunately, as it is minimum payment and their interest rate is 16.67%, we're paying almost £90pm, but the balance is only reducing by about £35pm.

He has an active Mint Card that hasn't been used for some time and is £2.47 in credit. He received a letter off them saying they're offering him 0% on balance transfers taken before 22nd January 2010. This is until October 2010, when the rate will be 18.3%.

My question is (seeing as how I see no mention of the Mint offer on here or the main newsletter) - should he transfer the balance from Egg (which would be £2,100 as that's 95% of his Mint credit limit) and keep paying Egg for the £1,100 that'll be left, in order to give us a bit of a break from all this interest?

Thank you.

jfl981

Moggles wrote: »

P.S. Some dedicated MSEers and their partners have opened high-interest current accounts with Santander's Abbey and/or Alliance & Leicester. New customers can earn up to 6% AER on the first £2500 for 12 months. Just a thought

Have done this already and should be able to fill it up without borrowing. Thanks though, I may try the 'haggle over the phone' technique to see if virgin will waive the handling fee to keep my business...

c0lc0l

Hi, i posted a thread for this question in the main credit card section but think it may be best suited in this balance transfer thread, so here goes....

I was hoping for some advice about the best course of action for me to take to be accepted for a new virgin 0% BT credit card.

The situation is this:

I currently have 4 credit cards, each with an available credit limit of £2000 totalling £8000 credit limit across all 4.

I currently have balances of £1900, £1800, £1800 & £1600 totalling £7100 across the 4 cards (yes, i know, silly boy running up those debts).

I now also have at my disposal £4000 of cash in my current account that i intend to use to reduce my credit card debts, and was then hoping to transfer what ever debt i have left onto a new 0% balance transfer card to pay off as best i can with no interest.

When i have used the money to clear some of my CC debts i will be left with £3100 balance across 2 of the cards, and 2 cards will have a cleared zero balance.

Now, i was wanting to get a 0% virgin balance transfer card to shift that £3100 onto but want to know if it would be a good idea to cancel the 2 cards i clear off before i apply for the virgin card? And if so, how long a time period should i leave between the cards being cancelled off and applying for the new one? Or will having 4 cards with 2 of them at a zero balance not effect my application? I was thinking if i left the 2 cleared cards running it may limit the amount of new credit offered to me as my overall available credit amount that i already have would be high? Or will it look better to leave the 2 cleared balance cards open to show i dont use all the available credit open to me?

Thanks for any suggestions

Moggles_2

Mads23 wrote: »

My husband has an Egg Card balance of approx £3,200 but we're having to pay the minimum balance at the moment. We do this by direct debit and haven't missed any payments. Unfortunately, as it is minimum payments and their interest rate is 16.67%, we're paying almost £90pm, but the balance is only reducing by about £35pm. He has an active Mint card that hasn't been used for some time and is £2.47 in credit. He received a letter off them saying they're offering him 0% on balance transfers taken before 22nd January 2010. This is until October 2010, when the rate will be 18.3%. I see no mention of the Mint offer on here or the main newsletter.

That's because it's an invitation only offer targetting some of Mint's existing customers.

Should he transfer the balance from Egg (which would be £2,100 as that's 95% of his Mint credit limit) and keep paying Egg for the £1,100 that'll be left, in order to give us a bit of a break from all this interest?

Absolutely. Before he requests a balance transfer though, it's worth a call to Mint Customer Services (if he rings 01702 351155, he'll avoid the perishing 0870/0845 numbers) to request a credit limit increase

Alternatively, to maximise the 0% period, he may want to consider applying for a new credit card. To help you further, we would need to know which cards (apart from Egg and Mint obviously) he has at the mo or has held recently, also who he banks with.

Caseyface

I have a credit card with Lloyds and the max limit is 1700, my balance is 1680. I am currrently paying the minimum of 35 pounds per month but i'm getting nowhere fast. I can't transfer my balance as my credit is shocking. I really want to get rid of this card....any options other than trying to pay more than the minimum per month?

Thanks