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texaco offer

just found out that texaco are doing a 3.9% liftime on the balance transfers.
did some checks and found this was the lowest lifetime deal at the moment
http://www.find.co.uk/credit_cards_centre/Texaco_Credit_Card/
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Comments

  • bridiej
    bridiej Posts: 5,775 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Martin has put full details of this on the main site....

    It's only for credit card balance transfers though, which is a pain as wanted to get rid of a personal loan.! :(

    I just pop in now and then.... :)
    transcribing
  • nh
    nh Posts: 567 Forumite
    Martin has put full details of this on the main site....

    It's only for credit card balance transfers though, which is a pain as wanted to get rid of a personal loan.!   :(

    If you have an Egg/Mint card you could get the cash that way to pay off your loan.

    Example: You need 10K to pay off a loan
    You get a Texaco LOB card with 10K limit.
    You get an Egg card with a 10k limit.
    SBT you £10k from Egg into your bank account
    BT £10k from Texaco to Egg

    Result: You have £10k cash in your bank and your Texaco card has a £10k balance on a 3.9% lob (you have to arrange the BT in the first month though to qualify for 3.9%)

    Then you can pay off your loan (beware rule of 78 etc - check you will actually be saving money by paying it off)
    I'm married now! Yippee!
  • Hmm, so transfering 3.9% into a 5.5% savings account, free money forever?
    Regards

    Mark
  • Galstonian
    Galstonian Posts: 1,292 Forumite
    Until paid off, you still have to make minimum payments.

    And 5.5% gross equates to 4.4% for standard rate tax payers, less for higher rate so not a huge amount of money to be earned.
  • bridiej
    bridiej Posts: 5,775 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    What I wanted to do was:

    BT loan onto Egg

    Get Texaco card, BT Egg to Texaco

    Pay Texaco off.

    BUT there are two flaws to this that I can see:

    1. How do I know the credit limit I get with Texaco will be high enough? And will it affect my credit score thing if I get Texaco, it's no good and therefore I have to cancel it...?

    2. When you apply for the Texaco you have to give them details of which card to BT. So, if I nominate Egg, then Texaco limit not high enough but they have BT'd what i've got on Egg anyway, then I'm still stuck with the loan plus two cards.....

    Am I mad or is this right?? ???

    I just pop in now and then.... :)
    transcribing
  • Galstonian
    Galstonian Posts: 1,292 Forumite
    1) You don't. But conversely you can't expect them to say they'll give you enough without going through an application. If its not enough then you may not want to cancel it, its better than nothing and other cards may do the same.

    2) you can probably wait until after applying for this - I'm not certain look at the terms of the offer, it should say.

    I can't say for certain you're not mad but it would seem that you are (in the main) right.

    You should probably get your Equifax and Experian credit reports prior to applying just to check there are no reasons why you should be rejected.
  • Just read a couple of articles about the Texaco card being used for possible loan repayments, here's my dilemma -
    I have a personal loan that I took out 2 yrs ago for my car. Now, there is 2k left on it and I have another 2 yrs to go. The interest rate from the outset was 9% with no penalties levied if I pay up early.
    My thoughts are :

    1) Get a decent cashback credit card with a cheque book included

    2) Get Texaco card with 3.9% for life of balance offer

    3) Settle loan in full with a cheque from the cashback card

    4)Transfer debt asap from cashback card to Texaco card

    5) Set up direct debit to Texaco card paying same amount I was originally paying to the Loan company

    In doing this mythoughts are that I cut my interest rate by over 50% and also pay back the loan quicker plus I might even get a few pennies back from the cashback card (although not important would rather try and get a dead cheap interest rate than a few pennies)

    Now is this possible ?
    and
    Is it legal ?

    I would be grateful for anyones opinion on my idea before I go and do it.

    Cheers y'all !  ;D
  • deemy2004
    deemy2004 Posts: 6,201 Forumite
    just found out that texaco are doing a 3.9% liftime on the balance transfers.
    did some checks and found this was the lowest lifetime deal at the moment
    http://www.find.co.uk/credit_cards_centre/Texaco_Credit_Card/

    Sounds like a great way for long-term stoozing !

    £10k over 4 years - Fix the return at 5.65% Gross (so in a non tax payers name)

    At 2% repayments would result in the following in 4 years time
    Loan outstanding = 4520
    Total repayments = 6632
    Total cost             =11153
    Savings Compounded value = 12459
    Net Profit =£1306

    Comparison with 0% but on a 5.1% rate (i.e. you need to remain more liquid)
    Loan outstanding = 3870
    Total repayments = 6130
    Total cost             =10000
    Savings Compounded value = 12201
    Net Profit =£2,201

    Now totally in fantasy land, imagine 10 cards for 4 years ;D
  • MarkyMarkD
    MarkyMarkD Posts: 9,912 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    In doing this mythoughts are that I cut my interest rate by over 50% and also pay back the loan quicker plus I might even get a few pennies back from the cashback card (although not important would rather try and get a dead cheap interest rate than a few pennies)

    Now is this possible ?
    No, you aren't going to get any pennies back on a cashback card from making a balance transfer using a cheque (or via any other method for that matter).

    Apart from that, what you propose will work fine. If you transfer it to a 0% card, you should be able to reduce your interest to zero rather than just "less".
  • bridiej
    bridiej Posts: 5,775 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Right, have gone for it and applied for a Texaco card to transfer £5000 to Egg.

    Fingers crossed this works out as will save me a fortune! :)

    I just pop in now and then.... :)
    transcribing
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