Loan - Credit Card Transfer

Bamf100

Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere but this topic is area is vast and a little out of control.

I have just under £6K currently with a loan with HSBC at a silly interest rate. Can I transfer this to a credit card at 0% interest for the whole life of that balance? If so which one?

I do not intend to use the card at all, just save the current interest each month until the amount is paid off then cut the card in half.

Gotabiscuit

You'll be lucky!

As far as I know, there are no cards offering BTs at 0% for the life of the balance (the nearest was Barclaycard but there were so many catches, they withdrew it).

The best you can hope for is a low rate life of balance card. If you look through the articles there's bound to be one on this topic.

Robert_Sterling_3

Yes you can as long as the the life of the balance does not exceed the 0% interest period allowed and you make at least the minimum repayment each month.
You could get a good deal and save a good deal and there is a good deal of sense in doing it.
Good luck.

Reaper

The longest period you can easily get 0% for is 1 year (unless you find one of the rare Capital One 18 month leaflets).

LLoyds Advance with give you 12 months, but don't use it for purchases.

After the 12 months is up you can always take out another 0% credit card and transfer the balance.

Check before setting out what penalties there are for paying your loan off early to make sure it is worth it.

bridiej

Before you do anything you should find out if paying off the loan early will benefit you at all, some are inflexible and do not allow you to clear the loan without you having to pay all the interest that would have been due anyway (referred to as the 'rule of 78').  Get a quote from HSBC for how much it would cost to pay off the loan first.

I'm thinking of doing this too and didnt know about the interest thing.....

Bamf100

Thanks chaps,

Actually its not my loan it's the wife's, you wouldn't catch me in a bank looking for a personal loan ;D

All the best

Ken.

Shinds

Maybe, get a card from Egg, MINT or MBNA and then do a SBT (Super Balance Transfer) into ur current account and just pay the loan off.

You'll then have about 9 months interest free on one of the cards above and just have to make the min 2%-2.25% payments each month.

If you can't pay it all off within 9 months - you could then just simply Balance Transfer the remaining amount on to a new 0% (balance Transfer) card for a further 6 months or more.

Note: - Don't apply for all of the cards - just one or two.

legin_2

The experts on this site should be asking you for more details (which you may not wish to be made known) the hints at penalties being a factor is the big issue.
Read the small print - check how much the interest is reduced by after each year etc and decide when is the best time to pay off. If the loan still has at least 5 years to run you may be better looking at another lender such as Northern Rock at 5.6% to do a full replacement.
You should get into the 0% credit card game regardless of your existing loan and use the money "earned" by putting into a high rate saver account like Cahoot at 5.65% as money for nothing, offsetting the cost of the other loan.
EG. £10,000 0% from one of the best cc deals at 5.65% gross (put account in wifes name if not paying tax) is worth £420, do that again in 9 mts time etc.
Don't woory about the new extra monthly payments - if you pick the EGG card you can simply do a new BT each month to your current account for the amount of the monthly payment. At the end of the 9 months get the money out of savings and pay it all off - DO NOTuse the card for purchases