Best Balance Transfers Discussion Area

molley

kevlegs wrote: »

I know i can transfer as many times as i want onto the virgin card and if its the same with hsbc then it should work

Yes but he wants to then transfer it back again once it goes on to his Virgin card and remain on 0% once it goes back to his HSBC card .

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by kevlegs
I have a HSBC card with 6k on it. I have a new Virgin card with 2k (recently transferred from the HSBC card) at 0% interest. Can I transfer the Virgin 2k back onto my HSBC card and have it at 0% interest?

Presumably, HSBC has offered you 0% on BTs for X months. If so, you would pay a BT fee, but your 2K would be charged at 0% for X months.

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by kevlegs
... then transfer another 2k off the HSBC onto the Virgin card, so I will have 2k 0% interest on the Virgin and 2k 0% interest on the HSBC and the other 4k as normal?
If that works, could I then do the same with another 2k to have 2k on the Virgin 0% interest and then it will be 4k 0% interest on the HSBC? Then repeat to have 0% interest all round?

If you did this, £6,000 on your HSBC card would still be charged at your standard rate. How do I know?

Unless stated otherwise, you can bet that payments (whether from you or Virgin) will be allocated to your outstanding balance in a way that benefits HSBC. If you take up HSBC's BT offer, there's every prospect that your 0% BT will remain trapped on the card long after the promotion ends. In X months time, remember, the interest rate leaps to your standard rate, which is variable. The same logic would apply to virtually all credit cards.

If you doubt this, check your HSBC card's Ts & Cs under allocation of payments. Any payments made by you or Virgin would be allocated to your 0% BT first, then your standard rate transactions.

JimmyTheWig

Agree with Moggles (as usual!) that this wouldn't work due to the way payments are allocated.

Please confirm that 2k is your limit on the Virgin card.
Please also tell us the interest rate you are currently paying on the HSBC balance. What's the credit limit on this card?
What's the balance transfer fee to transfer to the HSBC card at 0%?
Do you have any other credit cards? What are their limits?

Have you got any way of borrowing 4k for a few months (from parents, etc)?

JimmyTheWig

Chopper98 wrote: »

It doesn't seem like there is that much to make though if you're paying 3% fee and gaining 6%. Suppose it depends what credit limit they give you.

No, there's not tons to be made. But there's money there for the taking if you want it.
How much effort would you be willing to go to for, say, £90?

fathernugen

I have been changing credit cards periodically to take advantage of the balance transfer rates. At the moment i have 7 credit cards. The problem i now encounter is that no more credit card suppliers will issue me a card. So i thought i would just go back to the first card and start over again. Does anyone know if this will work, or if there are rules for transferring a balance back to a card it was on in the past (about five years ago for the first card).

MykMallett

Why do you have 7 cards, do you have outstanding debt on them all? When you've got that many cards, there's no way a lender will let you have any more.

Its always worth ringing up CS and asking what they can offer you.

Moggles_2

fathernugen wrote: »

I have been changing credit cards periodically to take advantage of the balance transfer rates. At the moment I have 7 credit cards. The problem I now encounter is that no more credit card suppliers will issue me a card. So I thought I would just go back to the first card and start over again. Does anyone know if this will work, or if there are rules for transferring a balance back to a card it was on in the past (about five years ago for the first card).

It's impossible to generalise. Lenders vary in this respect, as with everything else.

Some (eg. Barclaycard) will not consider applications from former cardholders in the 6 months following closure. The Royal Bank of Scotland stable (which includes Lombard Direct, Mint, NatWest, Tesco & Ulster Bank, as well as RBS itself) makes former customers wait 8 months and in the case of Egg, it's 12 months.

Former cardholders are free to re-apply for another Nationwide credit card, but do not qualify for the 0% introductory rate the second time round. At the other extreme Capital One, HBOS, Marks & Spencer and MBNA accept applicants a month or so after closure.

In all cases, it's advisable to check your credit reports to make certain the account is actually closed down and marked "settled" before you re-apply

kristi459

Credit Card Companies will do that when you score isn't where they think it should be and then they will increase your APR so that you'll move the balance else where. Have you rec'd any other offers from other credit card companies offering a low rate? If not maybe the way to go is to do a home equity loan to pay it off and take the interest you pay on that as a tax benefit (in most cases home equity loans the interest is tax deductable).
Credit Card Offers
Debt Consolidation

Moggles_2

kristi459 wrote: »

Have you rec'd any offers from other credit card companies offering a low rate? If not maybe the way to go is to do a home equity loan to pay it off and take the interest you pay on that as a tax benefit (in most cases home equity loans the interest is tax deductable).
Credit Card Offers
Debt Consolidation

As far as we know, the OP simply wants to change credit cards to take advantage of low, introductory interest rates

The above is a profit-driven service. You can get unbiased BT suggestions here on MSE.
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