Best Balance Transfers Discussion Area

dalglish_2

Moggles wrote: »

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.

Thanks Moggles.

I've moved my debts around 2 or 3 times over last 5 yrs, and have never been refused a credit card or a balance transfer.

At moment I have £3,000 debt. I'm trying to transfer my entire £900 balance from Barclaycard, and £900 from the larger Virgin card balance.

Barclaycard 0% finishes this month, hence why I applied to Santander over Xmas period.

The Virgin 0% is until May, when I was hoping to move the remainder of its balance to another new card.

It appears now, that the Barclaycard balance will still be with Barclaycard for this month, and I will be paying interest - thanks to Santander's slow response.

But I have no way of cancelling the application with Santander, as I have no account or log-in details due to being in limbo with the application. I don't even have a reference number.

A most frustrating situation, to be honest. Pity Martin hasn't got a warning re Santander's customer service on his Best Balance Transfer page, or I would have opted for the Post Office card, or even Play.com's 6 month deal, which would've cleared my Barclaycard debt at least (which is my most immediate concern).

Any advice you can give would be most appreciated. Thanks again.

Moggles_2

jfl981 wrote: »

Have done this already and should be able to fill it up without borrowing.

Congratulations & well spotted.
:beer:

Thanks though, I may try the 'haggle over the phone' technique to see if Virgin will waive the handling fee to keep my business.

As a brand new customer with 0% on BTs for 16 months, you'd be pushing your luck, tbh.

If, at the end of the introductory 0% period, you were to pay off any remaining balance (either yourself or courtesy of another BT card), you would be in a strong position to negotiate with Virgin. Attracting new business is expensive and most lenders prefer to retain existing customers. Once your balance was zero and the promo had expired, Virgin may offer you a 0% balance transfer or 0% on purchases for X months

Moggles_2

c0lc0l wrote: »

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

May I ask whether that's because you've requested credit limit reductions in the past or because your providers have imposed cuts? I ask because holding four credit cards all with exactly the same limit seems a heck of a coincidence.

I currently have balances of £1900, £1800, £1800 & £1600 totalling £7100 across the 4 cards. 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 whatever debt I have left onto a new 0% balance transfer card to pay off as best I can with no interest.

That's a sensible move. In addition to the number of cc accounts in use, lenders look at the extent their credit limits have been utilised. Maxed out cards make you look stretched so, if you're going to apply for market-leading 0% BT cards, it's wise to leave plenty of headroom.

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.

Usual advice is to pay off the card(s) with the highest APR first, since this reduces the interest you pay overall. That may result in balances on more than two cards, but it will cost you less.

I would like 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?

Obviously, we don't know which four cards you have, but other things being equal, I would keep all four open, if I were you. Depending on the providers involved, closure could delay your plans considerably with no real gain.

I was thinking if I left the 2 cleared cards running it may limit the amount of new credit offered to me as the overall available credit that I already have would be high?

Obviously, I don't know your annual income, but four credit cards in total is not excessive. The national average is five, so if you have five credit cards or fewer and none is maxed out, it's unlikely your chances would be much improved by cancelling these two, unless of course you have a lower than average annual income. As long as you're still getting the cards and credit limits you want, I wouldn't rush to close them down.

That said, with each successful credit card application, your available credit will increase in relation to your income and there will come a point in the future when you must consider closure. This can take two or three months to show on credit files, so allow plenty of time.

Will it look better to leave the 2 cleared balance cards open to show I don't use all the available credit open to me?

Individual circumstances vary, but broadly speaking I think that's right.

Once you've paid down your debts, I'd order credit reports from Experian and/or Equifax, if you haven't already done so. (For help, see page 1 of the *How to obtain credit reports* sticky.) to make sure the reduced balance(s) are on file.

Unlike credit searches and an increasing number of online and telephone credit card applications which appear on credit files more or less in real time, this type of data can take up to two months, depending on the providers involved.

Btw, the CRAs seem happy to answer questions over the phone if you quote the reference number on your most recent credit report. So if, for instance, you wanted to check that a balance had since been updated, there's no need to order further copies of your credit reports

Moggles_2

Caseyface wrote: »

I have a credit card with LloydsTSB 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?

Is it possible to move the balance to a new 0% balance transfer card in your partner's name, if there is one?

Meanwhile, I'd stop using the card, if you haven't done so already, and concentrate on paying as much as possible off 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 of further interest rate hikes

Moggles_2

dalglish wrote: »

Thanks Moggles. I've moved my debts around 2 or 3 times over the last 5 yrs and have never been refused a credit card or a balance transfer. I have £3,000 debt. I'm trying to transfer my entire £900 balance from Barclaycard and £900 from the larger Virgin card balance. Barclaycard 0% finishes this month, hence why I applied to Santander over Xmas period. The Virgin 0% is until May, when I was hoping to move the remainder of its balance to another new card. It appears now, that the Barclaycard balance will still be with Barclaycard for this month and I will be paying interest, thanks to Santander's slow response, but I have no way of cancelling the application with Santander, as I have no account or log-in details. I don't even have a reference number.

Fingers crossed you didn't complete the BT request section during the application process. If not, (and it's always safer to wait until your new card arrives and have confirmation of your credit limit), I wouldn't waste any more time on this application. There's no shortage of 0% BT cards currently.

Do you bank with NatWest or the Royal Bank of Scotland? A 0% for 15 months BT card is available to existing bank account customers at the mo.
(First Direct and HSBC have similar deals for current account holders, but HSBC's customer service is not so hot, IME)

If you're not eligible for the above, the Halifax Plus card is a straight forward, no-strings deal which is not linked to your other cards.
13 months at 0% is currently available to new customers on BTs made in the first 90 days. There's a 3% BT fee.
The minimum monthly payment is just 1% of the balance shifted

http://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/pluscard136.asp

Token_Skinhead

Hey people, very quick and (I hope) stupid question. I currently have an MBNA card with a debt of about £1000, and an overdraft of around the same. I am looking to transfer to the Santander card, but I know you cannot transfer an overdraft to it.

So my question is: I know I can transfer my overdraft to my MBNA card (via one of their "cheques"), but will MBNA then try and charge me for transferring to the Santander card having made this transfer?

Thanks for any light you can shed!

dalglish_2

Moggles wrote: »

Fingers crossed you didn't complete the BT request section during the application process. If not, (and it's always safer to wait until your new card arrives and have confirmation of your credit limit), I wouldn't waste any more time on this application. There's no shortage of 0% BT cards currently.

Do you bank with NatWest or the Royal Bank of Scotland? A 0% for 15 months BT card is available to existing bank account customers at the mo.
(First Direct and HSBC have similar deals for current account holders, but HSBC's customer service is not so hot, IME)

If you're not eligible for the above, the Halifax Plus card is a straight forward, no-strings deal which is not linked to your other cards.
13 months at 0% is currently available to new customers on BTs made in the first 90 days. There's a 3% BT fee.
The minimum monthly payment is just 1% of the balance shifted

I'm afraid I did fill in the BT request form. This is my problem.

kelbobs

Hello Moggles - just read your advice to Caseyface. my husband is willing to take a credit card balance on in his name - will lenders let you do this? We were thinking of trying for the barclaycard simplicity?

c0lc0l

Moggles wrote: »

May I ask whether that's because you've requested credit limit reductions in the past or because your providers have imposed cuts? I ask because holding four credit cards all with exactly the same limit seems a heck of a coincidence.

I did used to have very bad credit, so originally i applied for a cap 1 and they gave me a max £2k limit, a couple of years later (after perfect monthly payments on my cap 1 card) i applied for a citi card and they also gave a £2k limit. A couple of years later again, a default fell off my credit file, i applied for a card with nationwide and was again given a £2k limit. Then more recently, a ccj fell off my file, which left me with a perfect credit history and experian credit score of 997, i applied for a halifax card and they gave me a limit of £2.3k

Moggles wrote: »

That's a sensible move. In addition to the number of cc accounts in use, lenders look at the extent their credit limits have been utilised. Maxed out cards make you look stretched so, if you're going to apply for market-leading 0% BT cards, it's wise to leave plenty of headroom.
Usual advice is to pay off the card(s) with the highest APR first, since this reduces the interest you pay overall. That may result in balances on more than two cards, but it will cost you less.

I have now already wiped the balance (£1800)of my cap 1 card which had the highest apr, next highest i believe is the nationwide card which i am waiting for the balance to clear as have already tranferred the cash from bank account.

Moggles wrote: »

Obviously, we don't know which four cards you have, but other things being equal, I would keep all four open, if I were you. Depending on the providers involved, closure could delay your plans considerably with no real gain.
Obviously, I don't know your annual income, but four credit cards in total is not excessive. The national average is five, so if you have five credit cards or fewer and none is maxed out, it's unlikely your chances would be much improved by cancelling these two, unless of course you have a lower than average annual income. As long as you're still getting the cards and credit limits you want, I wouldn't rush to close them down.

The cards are with: capital one, citi, halifax & nationwide. I earn 22k a year which i believe is lower than average?

Moggles wrote: »

That said, with each successful credit card application, your available credit will increase in relation to your income and there will come a point in the future when you must consider closure. This can take two or three months to show on credit files, so allow plenty of time.
Individual circumstances vary, but broadly speaking I think that's right.

That's what i was worried about, if i left all cards open i would have an available credit of £8.3k over the 4 cards. Now bearing in mind i would want a credit limit of £3.5k from virgin to transfer all my remaining balance over. Would they be likely to give a £3.5k limit taking my overall available credit to £11.8k?

Moggles wrote: »

Once you've paid down your debts, I'd order credit reports from Experian and/or Equifax, if you haven't already done so. (For help, see page 1 of the *How to obtain credit reports* sticky.) to make sure the reduced balance(s) are on file.

Unlike credit searches and an increasing number of online and telephone credit card applications which appear on credit files more or less in real time, this type of data can take up to two months, depending on the providers involved.

Btw, the CRAs seem happy to answer questions over the phone if you quote the reference number on your most recent credit report. So if, for instance, you wanted to check that a balance had since been updated, there's no need to order further copies of your credit reports

I have free credit reports with equifax as part of my capital one card, and i have just purchased my experian from credit expert. All looks hunky dory, not a single blip on there. Scores now look excellent which will hopefully stand in my favour.

Thanks for all the helpful responses

Moggles_2

Token_Skinhead wrote: »

I currently have an MBNA card with a debt of about £1000 and an overdraft of around the same. I am looking to transfer to the Santander card, but I know you cannot transfer an overdraft to it. I know I can transfer my overdraft to my MBNA card (via one of their "cheques"), but will MBNA then try and charge me for transferring to the Santander card having made this transfer?

No, but you would still be forking out two transfer fees (2.98% for MBNA's cheque, 3% for Santander's BT) to shift the same money.

Have you considered Egg card (0% on BTs until 1 March 2011)? This card is one of the handful, besides MBNA, that allows you to transfer an overdraft

http://new.egg.com/visitor/0,,3_84106--View_1763,00.html