Best Balance Transfers Discussion Area

jamesd

gilbe, I have credit cards with five different companies. All of them work as I described.

If you expect to get an interest free period for purchases after using a balance transfer you should ask the card provider that question before getting the card or doing the balance transfer.

If you check the terms and conditions for the current MBNA Platinum balance transfer card you'll find this:

"You will not pay interest on new purchases if:
* your previous statement was paid in full and on time; and
* you pay your current statement in full and on time.
Otherwise the period over which interest is charged is as follows:
All transactions - from date debited to your account until paid in full"

Since the balance transfer doesn't get paid off, this means that the previous statement is never paid in full. If you have a card that has better terms than those that's relatively uncommon.

blitzboy

gilbe wrote: »

QUOTE=jamesd;62745452] In fact I have since been in touch with Which? and the person agreed it wasn't normal!

Well they're wrong, it's completely normal and standard practice.

The terms of nearly all cards say that no interest will be paid on purchases if the statement balance is paid IN FULL. As you are not paying off the balance transfer amount you are therefore not paying the statement in full and interest is chargeable.

Topspur

Hello all,

I currently owe some money on a credit card and am thinking of doing a 0% balance transfer to another card so I can actually pay off the debt instead of the interest. What I was wondering is, could I pay extra off the new card as well as the minimum amount? I could probably afford more than the minimum amount but I want to play it safe. Some months I might be better off than others.

Any feedback would be gratefully recieved.

Many thanks

mailmos98

Today I successfully did a BT from my Barclaycard to my Halifax/Bank of Scotland card. I also wanted to do another BT from my MBNA card. However, the Halifax were unable to process this as my MBNA account number only has 15 digits.

Has anyone heard of this and is there any solution?

Thanks

Mike

jamesd

For a balance transfer the number that is needed is the card number, not the account number. You probably don't have a card that has only 15 digits for its number. If you do, ask MBNA what the missing digit is and where you can find it on the card.

thenudeone

Topspur wrote: »

What I was wondering is, could I pay extra off the new card as well as the minimum amount? I could probably afford more than the minimum amount but I want to play it safe. Some months I might be better off than others.

On any credit card, you are always free to pay anywhere between the minimum amount and the full balance, any time before the due date. You can make multiple payments if you want (eg: if you are paid weekly) which will reduce your interest charge (if applicable).

Many people pay off their card in full every month and never get charged any interest.

mailmos98

jamesd wrote: »

For a balance transfer the number that is needed is the card number, not the account number. You probably don't have a card that has only 15 digits for its number. If you do, ask MBNA what the missing digit is and where you can find it on the card.

Yes, my card number is only 15 digits. Its AMEX.

jamesd

It's normally not accepted to do balance transfers from AMEX cards. If the Halifax system can't deal with 15 digit numbers even after human intervention you can ask them if as an exception they will do a money transfer into a bank account so you can work around the limitation that way.

chachiluz

I was going to apply for the Bank of Scotland credit card but I have one from Lloyds TSB. is this a problem?
Or are they different entities?
thanks

sscott5581

chachiluz wrote: »

I was going to apply for the Bank of Scotland credit card but I have one from Lloyds TSB. is this a problem?
Or are they different entities?
thanks

No problem you can have both and you balance transfer between BOS and Lloyds however not between Halifax and BOS.