Credit Card Balance Transfer Discussion Area 3

needmoney

Peterbaker, thank you for your kind reply and not ridiculing my question Yes it's not worth the hassle, at least I am debt free and I do have some savings to keep me going for a bit longer and if I get lucky I may find a job.

As Mr McCawber says something will turn up ::)

deemy2004

be very careful when applying for cards that you ask if they are going to charge you for any balance transfers.

The fee is 2% on a number of cards, which makes it tough to eek out any worthwhile profit on small transfer.

Usually they will waive the fee on the initial transfer, but do ask before you transfer.

Galstonian

Any suggestion that taking a cheap unsecured loan using a promotional SBT is "obtaining pecuniary advantage by deception" is both ludicrous and unhelpful.  The words in quotes are dangerous and accusative words and instead of using them mischievously, those insisting on adding their wit to the overall UK credit card debate should I believe first a bit think harder about what they are trying to achieve by their contribution.

I'm afraid I disagree. With MBNA who often seem to fall over themselves to try and push the money into your current account regardless of the intended purpose I do agree, there is no attempt at deception. However, many recent posts encourage the use of an Egg card to route money into your current account by first putting it massively into credit, if the card which the balance is being transferred to (the non-Egg card) have any terms which state that a balance transfer is to pay of a credit card debt then I am afraid the only conclusion I can make is that people are suggesting "obtaining pecuniary advantage by deception".

Please understand that I agree that I think it is unlikely that you would be caught doing so or that the card company would pursue the matter further than withdrawing your credit facilities but that does not mean that it is okay to promote this activity on this site.

zcaprd7

Hmm, this is a bit strange, just got off the phone to RBS about 'upgrading' my card to Mint to take advantage of the intro offer and the woman said to apply for it as normal?

Is this correct - I had the impression that a quick call and they upgraded you with the same credit limit?

Ta in advance...

Unbelievable_2

needmoney

Have to say I agree with peterb. It's encouraging that you got the Egg card 'cos it means your credit history is intact. But it seems that if you SBT into your current account there is a danger of the 'stoozed money' being used up on living expenses and that wouldn't be a good thing. IMHO you are doing the right thing in using your savings to subsidise any shortfall - even though it must hurt every time you have to do it. I would imagine that you've taken all the advice about cutting your outgoings and that you are not paying any fees for your Barclays current account!

Keep McCawbering and good luck with the job hunting.

kenshaz

This site is about being a sassy consumer,
and not being deceptive

smartsaver

This site is aboui being a sassy consumer,

Que? Please could you put this in context? ???

needmoney

Hey Unbelieveable Thank you too very nice.

Yeah it hurts every time and it will be afew years before I would be in any trouble but as ever trying to be responsible and be prepared for the future stay independant etc.
that's the dilema, do I say sod it spend like hell and face the problem when the time comes cos I may die before the money runs out and then someone else will enjoy it or pinch and scrape and eek it out incase I last.

There's not enough to make a big splash anyway. :-/ ??? ;D

mary

Got a flyer through the door today for Abbey card.

Current cards elsewhere will soon be coming to an end.
Read it through and found the "You may be charged a fee for transferring a balance".

Gave them a call, to clarify exactly what "may" actually means. Woman went to check with supervisor - you are only charged if your other cards are within the MBNA group, as MBNA charge for the administration process. As I'm with Egg, Halifax and First Direct, I will not be charged

johnllew

Any suggestion that taking a cheap unsecured loan using a promotional SBT is "obtaining pecuniary advantage by deception" is both ludicrous and unhelpful. The words in quotes are dangerous and accusative words and instead of using them mischievously, those insisting on adding their wit to the overall UK credit card debate should I believe first a bit think harder about what they are trying to achieve by their contribution.

If this refers to my previous comments, then it's not "very well put" Smartsaver, it's wrong. I didn't say this. Please do me the courtesy of actually reading my posts first before accusing me of such statements (if that is indeed what you are doing).

It doesn't help that all this started in a locked thread that some people can't be bothered to read properly. The original question posed by biffwilcox was:

Is it Ok to ask to transfer a debt of £25k that does not exist ?

It is clear that what he was suggesting was telling one card that he had a fictitious debt on another card NOT that he was considering making an SBT from Egg to his current account (something with which I have no problem and have indeed recommended here myself). So I replied:

No, that's lying and tantamount to fraud IMO. Create the debt first and then request the transfer.

biffwilcox then again referred to requesting the transfer of a fictitious balance (to Egg):

I don't think the fact that Egg take receipt of the transfer is proof positive that the action is legal. It is not after all Egg who are the potential victims of the fraud.

In johnllew's opinion the fraud takes place when you ask the third party card company to transfer a debit balance of £10,000 from your Egg card to their card. You are certainly lying about your financial position (though only to make it appear worse than it really is). You are also in contravention of their Ts and Cs.

I am not sure this necessarily makes the practice illegal though

And I replied:

Attempting to gain a pecuniary advantage by deception? Not illegal?

It is quite clear that what I was referring to was requesting a credit company to pay off a balance that didn't exist with another credit card. biffwilcox agreed it was "lying". Galstonian agrees that this shouldn't be done.

So please get your facts right before making accusations that you can't support. And can we now put this to bed?