Best Balance Transfers Discussion Area

shr_2

GeCon wrote: »

So, is it a bad sign if I got a message saying something about looking into it more and getting in touch with me within 7-10 days?

I've just done an application for Virgin and got the same response as you. Fingers crossed !

I wonder if its because:
1. I've got a lot of credit on other cards - I can't cancel the cards until I do the balance transfer so its a bit of chicken and egg...
2. I've just literally been rejected by Capital One (I suspect because of the amount of credit that I have).
3. I'm now self employed - I've put in an estimate for my expected income (not that they know that).

Finally does anyone know - the fact that I've had a Virgin card before and a "clean" record with them (and everyone else) - will that play in my favour in the application ?

If I don't succeed with this may have to look into a loan...

Moggles_2

RedChilli1 wrote: »

I currently have £17,000 :eek: that I want to transfer from 3 different cards, all due to end interest-free next month:
7,000 with Cap one
7,000 with MBNA
3,000 with Lloyds Tsb
I can afford to pay back in the region of £300 a month. Would I be better looking at a life of balance transfer with i24 of 5.9% or switching to Egg for 13 months with a 3% BT rate and 2% minimum repayment? The 2% repayment on the cards is important to me because of the outstanding balance.

As you know, most lenders require minimum monthly payments of between 2.25%-3% of your balance.

Of the life-of-balance providers, two exceptions are Goldfish and Liverpool Victoria. (The i24 card you mention is underwritten by Goldfish.) Neither of these is known for generous credit limits though.

Of the 0% balance transfer providers, Egg and Halifax would be your best bet. Generally speaking, both give better credit limits than the above

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by RedChilli1
Would I be better looking at a life of balance transfer with i24 of 5.9% or switching to Egg for 13 months with a 3% BT rate and 2% minimum repayment?

There's no right answer to this question. Both have advantages as well as drawbacks.

Martin's *Best Balance transfers* article explains the pros and cons of 0% and LOB cards.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/car...cards#choosing

Obviously, I don't know your circumstances. Depending on your annual income in relation to total credit - used and available - you may not get the limit you need with one card. If you apply for more than one 0% BT card, I would try to stagger the 0% periods if possible, so you're not faced with the same nightmare situation in X months time.

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by becsAmania
I am looking to transfer a credit card debt to the Barclaycard 6.9% for life of balance.

On my card I have a balance of £5085 and have in the past used it for an existing balance transfer, purchase and cash withdrawals. If i read the article correctly I understand that I would not get the 6.9% for all of this amount as its been used for different purposes. So my cash withdrawals would be at say 19.9% for example

I then read the article on how to get out of this problem by moving all the debt onto another card then as soon as the debt is moved (wait until you get the statement to confirm the balance is zero), simply balance transfer it back to Barclaycard along with the debt you were planning to move.

I do not have enough [credit]on my other credit cards to shift the £5085. I recently applied for my credit rating and it says its excellent, so would I be able to open up a new credit card, shift the £5085 to this and then transfer it all on to the Barclaycard for the 6.9% rate for the full amount?

I would only do this if a 0% BT card with a sufficient credit limit was unobtainable. For guidance with this approach, please see #389, #394 and #395 above.

Or should I just do a balance transfer to a 0% card for a period of time and then keep changing to a new 0% card when the time period runs out?

In the circumstances, this would be more straightforward and saves more money

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by shr
I've just done an application for Virgin and got the same response as GeCon.
I wonder if its because I've got a lot of credit on other cards. I can't cancel the cards until I do the balance transfer, so it's a bit of chicken and egg.

Are any of your existing cards underwritten by MBNA?

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by shr
I've just literally been rejected by Capital One (I suspect because of the amount of credit that I have).

Which Capital One card did you apply for?

If the Cap One Balance Transfer card, did you check you could meet the criteria listed on the C1 website (e.g. held a card for 5 years, a credit limit of at least £5,000 etc.) before
you applied?

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by shr
Does anyone know whether the fact that I've had a Virgin card before and a "clean" record with them (and everyone else) play in my favour in the application?

I doubt whether card providers keep records of all their former customers since the year dot, but your unblemished record with all lenders will be evident from the credit files held by Experian and Equifax. In other words, it's your payment history with all your creditors over the last 6 years that counts, with particular emphasis on the most recent 12 months.

Moggles_2

If you're looking for a totally free BT, I can recommend the Capital One Balance Transfer card. The latest deal (launched on 2 April), offers interest-free BTs until 1 November 2008
with no handling charges. :j
Note: vastly improved online services now available.

Caution: this card requires an "excellent" credit rating, so please check you can meet the criteria listed on the C1 website (e.g. held a card for 5 years, credit limit of at least £5,000 on an existing account etc.) before you apply.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Also, the Ulster Bank Gold card (not to be confused with the Ulster Rugby card, which is a completely separate animal run by the Bank of Ireland.)

The Ulster Bank cards offer 0% BTs for 6 months from account opening and, once again, there's no handling fee. :j Issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland, they're well worth considering for balances under £4,000

Note: the bank now accepts online applications and your account can be viewed online as well.

shr_2

Moggles wrote: »

Are any of your existing cards underwritten by MBNA?

Yes - 1 card is, but I did not apply to balance transfer from it in my Virgin application.

shr_2

Moggles wrote: »

Which Capital One card did you apply for?

If the Cap One Balance Transfer card, did you check you could meet the criteria listed on the C1 website (e.g. held a card for 5 years, a credit limit of at least £5,000 etc.) before
you applied?

It was the one with a 1.7% transfer fee.
I did check the criteria but thought I would take a slight risk... Met all the criteria except credit card balances less than £10000 - my mistake. (Perhaps I still have that naive belief that humans will look at the applications rather than robots checking off tick lists...) All my checks on my credit scoring came back with "excellent" ratings - apart from Experian.

There's another question by the way - why is it that on checkmyfile my Experian report is lacking information and coming up with a lower score than Equifax or CallCredit?