What can I do with this card?

bigpat

I recently got a Barclaycard 0% balance transfer card, purely to take advantage of the offer of 12 months Apple TV. But I don't actually have any balances to transfer. My only borrowings at the moment are a residential mortgage and two buy-to-let mortgages.

I looked in the Barclaycard app, under interest rates, and it shows both the "Simple standard rate" and the "Simple cash rate" as 22.44% so I'll be avoiding that!!

One of my mortgages is on a standard variable rate so I wonder if there is any way of making some overpayments using the card? Or anything else smart I can do with a limit of £5,500? I'm not looking at extra borrwing e.g. for a car or home improvements.

Or do I just stick the card away in a drawer, forget about it and enjoy the Apple TV when it activates?

eskbanker

You can't make mortgage repayments with a credit card, so if you have a balance transfer card but no balance to transfer then best just enjoy the ancillary benefit you signed up for!

QrizB

I recently got a Barclaycard 0% balance transfer card, purely to take advantage of the offer of 12 months Apple TV. But I don't actually have any balances to transfer. My only borrowings at the moment are a residential mortgage and two buy-to-let mortgages.

Do you have a different credit card that you use for all your day-to-day spending? If you do, you can pay that by transferring the balance to your new Barclaycard.

Repeat until you (a) hit the Barclaycard credit limit or (b) reach the end of the balance transfer window.

bigpat

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82159468#Comment_82159468

Thought so. Just wonderd if I was missing a trick.

bigpat

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82159486#Comment_82159486

No, I use a debit card for day to day spending. Ah well, not a big issue.

grumpy_codger

1. Apply for another CC - Halifax Clarity.
2. Transfer money from it to your current account (it's free with Clarity).
3. Use this money to pay your mortgage or elsewhere.
4. Transfer the balance from Clarity to Barclaycard.

Tim_L

The trick you're missing is to be using debit card rather than credit card for spending. There's no real downside to this provided you pay the card off in full, and it's very helpful for cashflow. Eventually you get to stoozing, or 0% on purchases for a lengthy period, during which you just make minimum payments.

I wouldn't be balance transferring to the barclaycard if it's the one with the 3.15% fee for transfers, and enjoy Apple TV.