📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Virgin Money - maximising the stooz

I've just discovered a "loophole" in the Virgin Money stooz that may help others. The policy with VM is you can stooz BT up to 95% of your credit limit but that limit includes the 3% BT fee. Their payment policy is also that your first payment is all of the BT fee plus £5 (or £25 I believe it is with new accounts).

As soon as your first monthly payment is made, you're still in the 0% BT period so you can BT back the 3% that you just paid off (albeit with another 3% fee) but you're able to maximise the amount stoozed on the Virgin Money card. Here are example figures:

Credit Limit £20k - stooz £18,400 plus 2.98% BT fee = £18,948 owed
First monthly payment = £548 BT fee plus £5 min = £553 paid
2nd statement = £18,948 - £553 = £18,395
This leaves £605 "headroom" to the max BT amount of 95% (inc fees)
Do second BT of £580 plus 3% BT fee = £597.40
3rd statement = £18,992.40 min payment £17.40 BT fee plus £5 = £22
Balance = £18,972 with future min payments of £5.

This method means you can squeeze almost the full 95% allowable BT % without having 3% of it eroded by the high first months payment.
Signature on holiday for two weeks

Comments

  • CannyJock
    CannyJock Posts: 3,838 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I've just discovered a "loophole" in the Virgin Money stooz that may help others. The policy with VM is you can stooz BT up to 95% of your credit limit but that limit includes the 3% BT fee. Their payment policy is also that your first payment is all of the BT fee plus £5 (or £25 I believe it is with new accounts).

    As soon as your first monthly payment is made, you're still in the 0% BT period so you can BT back the 3% that you just paid off (albeit with another 3% fee) but you're able to maximise the amount stoozed on the Virgin Money card. Here are example figures:

    Credit Limit £20k - stooz £18,400 plus 2.98% BT fee = £18,948 owed
    First monthly payment = £548 BT fee plus £5 min = £553 paid
    2nd statement = £18,948 - £553 = £18,395
    This leaves £605 "headroom" to the max BT amount of 95% (inc fees)
    Do second BT of £580 plus 3% BT fee = £597.40
    3rd statement = £18,992.40 min payment £17.40 BT fee plus £5 = £22
    Balance = £18,972 with future min payments of £5.

    This method means you can squeeze almost the full 95% allowable BT % without having 3% of it eroded by the high first months payment.

    Only thing with this is that return gets less each month, ie. 2.98% for 15 months, then 14 months etc etc - think when I looked at it was about 7 or 8 months in when it became unprofitable and in the later months you're only just breaking even once you take transfer dates into the equation.
    "A child of five could understand this. Fetch me a child of five." - Groucho Marx
  • kingkano
    kingkano Posts: 1,977 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    While its 3% isnt there also a minimum?? (the numbers 25 and 75 stick in my head - could be a 25 minimum). So maybe okay for those with a very high limit.
  • Mutton_Geoff
    Mutton_Geoff Posts: 4,015 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I only intend to do this for the first month to regain the 3% of the BT credit limit. Doing it again to get back 3% of 3% simply not worth it but adding another £580 to the pot for 14 months that wasn't available at initial BT is worth doing.
    Signature on holiday for two weeks
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 350.4K Banking & Borrowing
  • 252.9K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 453.3K Spending & Discounts
  • 243.4K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 598K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 176.6K Life & Family
  • 256.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.