Best Balance Transfers Discussion Area

Moggles_2

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Does anyone (Moggles, maybe?) know the difference between the MBNA cards? I got a mailshot through the post from them offering a Platinum Plus Visa with 0% until September 2009 for a 3% fee. Thought I'd give it a go. I'm just getting in to cashback websites and so looked it up there. Nothing on Topcashback, but Quidco has two entries for MBNA - MBNA Rewards and MBNA Platinum. Both offer £8.50 cashback and 0% until September 2009 with a 2.9% fee.

No experience of Topcashback. I applied for my most recent MBNA card via Rpoints but have obtained cashback through Quidco for other products/services. Seems efficient

Moggles_2

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Does anyone know the difference between the MBNA cards?... Am I likely to get a bigger credit limit with the "Platinum Plus" or conversely are the criteria likely to be harsher so I am less likely to succeed in the application?

Sorry, only MBNA knows the answer.

FWIW, I suspect different deals are marketed solely to appeal to a broader audience. I could be wrong, but I doubt whether the chances of acceptance or the credit limits handed out vary appreciably between the two cards.

Moggles_2

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Does the fact that I've got a mailshot stand me in any better position?

In a word, no.

I wouldn't let this hold you back though. It looks like a competitive deal.
:beer:

Very best
M

Potripper

Hi all, This is my 1st post, & i thankyou all for your posts that have finally gotten me off my backside & to sort out my finances. Firstly i should say i have never ever had a credit card ( having had a Burton store card many years ago put me off ) Since reading here & listenening to M.L. on R2, i have discovered its how you use the card to help you rather than letting it get you deeper into trouble.
Now for my dilemma, i have 2 secured loans on my mortgage ( £45915.08) the 1st loan stands at £18756.30 & is tied in with my mortgage until 2013 @ 4.89% The 2nd loan stands @ £15057.19 @ 7.24% all are completely flexible.
My plan was to take a Virgin 0% 15 months card & pay off the 2nd secured loan using a super balance transfer cheque. I have £6000 in savings & could add approx £115.00 per week to that balance. The minimum payments to the card would have to come from the £115.00, but i still envisage that by the end of the 15 months i would be very close to paying off the card or at least only having a small balance to transfer onto another card.
Basically i would like to know if i have understood this completely? I figure this would save me almost £14000! if i paid it off this way as opposed to letting it run its course. Thanks :cool:
P.S. maybe i should of metoined the life term of the mortgage + 1st secured is 17yrs 6mths + 2nd secured 18yrs 10 mths.

william_joseph_2

Had to use credit card to deal with emergency situation including loss of employment hospital and travel costs. My credit car balance ended up at 18000 - having difficulty paying though the CC company have put me back to original (18.2% rate)
Any advice n geeting breathing space on this debt/ free baance transfer.

Grateful for replies.

Moggles_2

william_joseph wrote: »

Had to use credit card to deal with emergency situation including loss of employment, hospital and travel costs. My credit card balance ended up at £18000. Having difficulty paying though the CC company have put me back to original (18.2% rate). Any advice in getting breathing space on this debt/free balance transfer.

Which credit card is involved and what other cards do you have at the mo?

JimmyTheWig

Potripper wrote: »

i have 2 secured loans on my mortgage ( £45915.08) the 1st loan stands at £18756.30 & is tied in with my mortgage until 2013 @ 4.89% The 2nd loan stands @ £15057.19 @ 7.24% all are completely flexible.
My plan was to take a Virgin 0% 15 months card & pay off the 2nd secured loan using a super balance transfer cheque. I have £6000 in savings & could add approx £115.00 per week to that balance. The minimum payments to the card would have to come from the £115.00, but i still envisage that by the end of the 15 months i would be very close to paying off the card or at least only having a small balance to transfer onto another card.
Basically i would like to know if i have understood this completely?

So far I think you have got the idea totally. Borrow on a credit card at 0% instead of paying 7.24% on a flexible loan. Sounds good.
You may well not get a credit limit of £15k from one credit card, but even if you can get, say, a third of this it would help.

I figure this would save me almost £14000! if i paid it off this way as opposed to letting it run its course. Thanks :cool:
P.S. maybe i should of metoined the life term of the mortgage + 1st secured is 17yrs 6mths + 2nd secured 18yrs 10 mths.

I was going to say that I couldn't see how you managed such a saving, but I guess I can. You're comparing paying it off using 0% credit cards to paying it off over 18 years.
Note that most of that saving is from the fact that you are paying it off much quicker than if you let it run its course.

Also, by paying £115 a month, plus £6k savings, I can't see how you are going to get close to paying off £15k in 15 months.

Upsey_Disey

Any idea which card is likely to offer the higher limited for a 0% bal transfer?

Having just been accepted for a tesco card to get a totally pointless £500 credit limit I need to apply for another card (Have just under £5K to transfer)

As the Tesco search is now on my credit report I am assuming I can reasonably only apply for 1 more card before it become an issue re searches on my report.

What has really pee'd me off is that I think Tesco have given me such a rubbish credit limit cos of an error of my experian report. It took me 3 weeks to get the erroneous flag lifted from the report, I gave tesco the proof that it was an error by an old mortgage lender (from 3 years ago!!) and they immediately approved the card - but £500 - what is the use of that.

I've called them to see why and am awaiting a call back - frankly if its got anything to go with the error then that is incredibly unfair.

I was thinking of either Barclaycard or maybe Capital one. My current card is Virgin Amex.

Also, my credit report shows 3 searches in last 3 months but 2 are unrecorded enquiries from car insurance on line quotes - does anyone know if they can cause problems (sorry - probably a stoopid question)
Any suggestions

D

hattiefats

My credit rating isn't brilliant but I got a balance transfer on Barclaycard for two thirds of what I owe. Tried for capital one card but they offered me a 24% interest rate with no balance transfer which was no good to me! Instead of damaging my already fragile rating I used my hubbys details (with his permission of course!!) to transfer the last third to a tesco card. I'd transfer money onto tesco card if I were you and make a few payments then they should increase your limit. Barclaycard gave me a decent limit £2250 even though my credit rating is not great so they may be worth a try! I'd steer clear of capital one as have spoken to lots of people who don't get the advertised deals!

Moggles_2

Potripper wrote: »

I have 2 secured loans on my mortgage ( £45915.08) The 1st loan stands at £18756.30 & is tied in with my mortgage until 2013 @ 4.89% The 2nd loan stands @ £15057.19 @ 7.24%. All are completely flexible. My plan was to take a Virgin 0% 15 months card & pay off the 2nd secured loan using a super balance transfer cheque. I have £6000 in savings & could add approx £115.00 per week to that balance. The minimum payments to the card would have to come from the £115.00, but I still envisage that by the end of the 15 months I would be very close to paying off the card or at least only having a small balance to transfer onto another card.

Looks as though your arithmetic's gone awry. Assuming you were handed a credit limit of at least £9000 (which is by no means a certainty) you'd be left with a balance of £7000 plus.

The risk in paying off a loan this way is that you can't be sure of another 0% credit card offer with a sufficient credit limit when the Virgin deal ends and the interest rate leaps to anything from 16.9% to 34.9% APR variable. For all we know, 0% BT deals may not be around in 15 months time and BT fees could have jumped to 5% or even 6% :eek:

The reason Virgin can afford to lend you money at 0% for 15 months is because, more often than not, customers do not clear the debt and end up paying crippling interest when the promotion period ends. This is the main way lenders claw back the cost of these promotions. (If this were not the case, these 0% offers would have dried up long ago.)

If 15 months isn't long enough to clear the loan, it may be safer to stick with the fixed rate that you are currently paying