Best Balance Transfers Discussion Area

sfax

froogal wrote: »

Can this be done now? In the old days I used to use credit card cheques but I don't think these are available now. Can you use a BACS transfer perhaps? I am looking to transfer a bank loan to a 0% card to buy some time. Any ideas welcome.

http://www.stoozing.com/sbt.php

froogal

Thanks sfax - much appreciated

Zappanatic

Ok, I'm in the process of sorting out my personal finances.

Am I right in thinking that with a transfer, I'm going to be charged less interest than the credit card I'm currently on?

At the moment I'm on a first time credit card with £2000 on it which I aim to pay off over the next year. It has a terrible rate of about 29% which is pretty brutal as I understand.

I'm in the process of applying for the natwest 13mth 0% with a 1.5% transfer fee.

So does this ultimately mean, I'm being charged 0% on transfered balances for 13 months?

Sorry if I seem thick, I'm just paranoid and wondering if I'm making the right choice to apply.

Thanks

sfax

Zappanatic wrote: »

Ok, I'm in the process of sorting out my personal finances.

Am I right in thinking that with a transfer, I'm going to be charged less interest than the credit card I'm currently on?

At the moment I'm on a first time credit card with £2000 on it which I aim to pay off over the next year. It has a terrible rate of about 29% which is pretty brutal as I understand.

I'm in the process of applying for the natwest 13mth 0% with a 1.5% transfer fee.

So does this ultimately mean, I'm being charged 0% on transfered balances for 13 months?

Sorry if I seem thick, I'm just paranoid and wondering if I'm making the right choice to apply.

Thanks

Yes, it's 0% providing you don't break the terms and conditions

nsteele

i was wondering if you have been turned down for a new credit card to balance transfer but a family member has been accepted if they can balance transfer your balance to their credit card?

Freefall

Hi All,

Sorry if this has been asked before.

So here is my dilemma.

I have the Amazon Credit card. I got it in December. I choose it because I like the 3 points per pound spent introductory offer - it will be good for me and I use Amazon a lot so 1 point a pound thereafter is pretty much on par with the other cards.

Now Amazon Credit card also have 0% on Balance Transfers. I doesnt look like I will be able to get another BT deal in the next month and it would be really beneficial in my circumstances to do a Balance Transfer this month from one of my existing cards.

Now here's the problem: I want to keep getting the Amazon points and I see that Martin does not recommend using 0% BT deals and spending on the same card. However, I am in the position where it is my best option. I am happy to pay of the spend balance in full. Can anyone explain how I could use the 0% BT and spend on the card and what pitfalls I should look out for when doing this?

TIA

tompritchard

If you are looking for a balance transfer credit card I've just noticed that Moneyexpert have some £25 cashback deals on the go: http://www.moneyexpert.com/news/25creditcardcashbackoffernowavailableonselectivebarclaycardcreditcards/800581486 - covers Barclaycard and loads of others.

thenudeone

Freefall wrote: »

Now here's the problem: I want to keep getting the Amazon points and I see that Martin does not recommend using 0% BT deals and spending on the same card. However, I am in the position where it is my best option. I am happy to pay of the spend balance in full. Can anyone explain how I could use the 0% BT and spend on the card and what pitfalls I should look out for when doing this?TIA

The reason you shouldn't combine 0% BTs and spending on one card is that by doing so you lose all of the interest free period on purchases. You'll pay interest on every purchase from the purchase date until you pay it off. Even if you pay off all the purchases in full, you will still be charged interest on them, because you haven't paid the whole statement balance in full.

So if you pay off the card like you normally would, 2-3 weeks after the statement, the interest charge will be much more than the value of the points you get.

It may be possible to reduce the interest charge by making a payment every week or so, to the value of new purchases which have appeared, but some card issuers always apply payments to statemented balances first, before new transactions, so even this might not work (You'd have to check what mbna's policy is). In this case you'd have to wait until the statement is produced before making a payment, meaning that you always pay between 1 day and 1 month's interest on all purchases.

So it really is much better to use a separate card for purchases and pay it off in full, ideally one with cashback or genuinely valuable points.

thenudeone

nsteele wrote: »

i was wondering if you have been turned down for a new credit card to balance transfer but a family member has been accepted if they can balance transfer your balance to their credit card?

Most card issuers will allow it but some don't (eg Santander) so you need to check the terms and answer any questions honestly.

But the debt becomes the new cardholders alone.

Also, You need to address why you have debts on the card. If the old cardholder simply uses this as an opportunity to spend that they can't afford more once their card has been cleared, then it hasn't really helped them.

pedro.powell

I have recently transferred a balance transfer to a tesco credit card which i have had for many years and which i regularly spend on. The first monthly payment following the balance transfer was £500 over the regular spend, (in other words paying off in full the normal spen & £500 off the transferred balance).
The following month I have been charged interest because according to tesco I did not pay off the FULL balance, which obviously included the balance transfer as 0% for 12 months.
I thought that card issuers had to allocate payment to the outstanding balance in highest interest order and that if you paid off new purchases in full you would not be liable to interest.
Comments please !!!