Will the Barclaycard loophole save me money?

somnerd13

I currently have three credit cards;

NatWest Credit Card: £367.41 @ 18.9% APR
HSBC Credit Card: £337.76 @ 18.9% APR
Barclaycard (£0 @ 29.9% APR)

I have just been looking through various Credit Card related articles on here and have noticed one talking about the Barclaycard loophole whereby existing customers can use their Barclaycard for a 6.9% balance transfer for life of balance. I checked the Barclaycard website and sure enough it appears that this is offered to all 'existing customers'.

Now this is where I am slightly unsure, maybe it seems too good to be true or something.. I currently have around £700 of debt on two seperate credit cards, both at 18.9% APR. By balance transfering both of these to the Barclaycard with the offer of 6.9% APR I would be making quite a large saving.

I understand there will be a few of so much % for the transfer, but surely this will not make too much difference considering the pretty big saving?

Am I correct here or am I missing something?

Mickey_Monk

There is NO fee to transfer a balance to Barclaycard's 6.9% life of balance deal.

Yes it is good if you DON't spend on the card as any new spending will be charged at the normal (higher) rate and your payments will go to pay off the lower interest rate first.

somnerd13

Mickey_Monk wrote: »

There is NO fee to transfer a balance to Barclaycard's 6.9% life of balance deal.

Yes it is good if you DON't spend on the card as any new spending will be charged at the normal (higher) rate and your payments will go to pay off the lower interest rate first.

No transfer fee? Well that's great!

I certainly won't spend on the card. I think I'll transfer my balances tomorrow and slightly lower my repayment to ease my cashflow a little, though with the lower interest rate I'll still be paying quite a bit less in the long run. This then leaves me to cancel one of the credit cards and keep the other strictly for emergencies as the 18.9% APR is probably the best I can hope for now.

Sounds like a plan.

Tom_Saunders

it's a dead cert to save you money, don't spend on it and transfer it now !

somnerd13

Tom_Saunders wrote: »

it's a dead cert to save you money, don't spend on it and transfer it now !

As much as I'd like to transfer it now, I have spent about £31 on it and obviously want to clear that first. Now that isn't going to be a problem, except for the fact that according to the Barclaycard internet banking page, I have £0.96 spent, £1.00 pending and nothing else, despite the rest (£30 or so) having showed us as pending for the last few days. Where has it gone?

Oh well, it should be back within a day or two so as soon as it is I'll pay the lot off and get the balance transfer done!

Just one thing, if for some reason Barclaycard stop the 6.9% rate can I then balance transfer back to the credit cards I originally transfered it off? I can't see any reason for them stopping the 6.9%, unless I miss a payment, but I don't plan to as I'll set up a direct debit for the minimum amount each month and a standing order for £60.