Need advice, is this scheme ok or not?

MiserlyMartin

I have a Mint card previously used for its 9 months interest fee. Thats run out now so I shifted the debt. It has credit card cheques facilities so its a SBT card. I don't owe any money on it but I use it to max out new cards by balance transferring to it to the Mint card, leaving it in credit. I then write out a credit card cheque to 'withdraw' the money and pay it into my bank account.

Of course keeping this card open worsens my credit score and it stops me applying for any new RBS owned deals. My question is, is what I am doing sensible? Is there a better way to do this ie to max out a new credit card quickly? I have tried in the past to get balance transfers directly into my current account and was told they couldn't do it.

I do have a Nationwide cashback card which I use for my general spending, paying off in full on time. Could I ask for balance transfers into that instead so I can close the Mint one? I guess I could do it this way but is it wise. Will it wipe out any cashback I have built up with the Nationwide card if I transfer a large balance to it?

BTW Also noticed there seems to be far less 9 Month deals around with no BT fees than this time last year! Worrying

YorkshireBoy

MiserlyMartin wrote:

I have a Mint card previously used for its 9 months interest fee. Thats run out now so I shifted the debt. It has credit card cheques facilities so its a SBT card. I don't owe any money on it but I use it to max out new cards by balance transferring to it to the Mint card, leaving it in credit. I then write out a credit card cheque to 'withdraw' the money and pay it into my bank account.

Except for pre-May 1st 2005 Egg Green and current Egg Money (ex Blue) cards, this is the only "fee-free SBT route" available to the stoozer now.

MiserlyMartin wrote:

Of course keeping this card open worsens my credit score and it stops me applying for any new RBS owned deals.

You can't prevent RBS/NatWest/Tesco etc declining you, but why keep such a high limit when you're not using it? Consider reducing the limit so as not to affect greatly your chances with other providers.

MiserlyMartin wrote:

My question is, is what I am doing sensible? Is there a better way to do this ie to max out a new credit card quickly? I have tried in the past to get balance transfers directly into my current account and was told they couldn't do it.

Your method seems to work well for others, although I've not used it myself - yet! For a list of SBT cards (although almost all with fees these days), see https://www.stoozing.com/0fees.htm - the SBT cards are marked with a red asterisk. See also Martin's articles on the credit card section of the main site.

MiserlyMartin wrote:

I do have a Nationwide cashback card which I use for my general spending, paying off in full on time. Could I ask for balance transfers into that instead so I can close the Mint one? I guess I could do it this way but is it wise. Will it wipe out any cashback I have built up with the Nationwide card if I transfer a large balance to it?

You can't balance transfer from a debit card. It has to be a recognised credit card, eg Mastercard, Visa, storecard etc.

MiserlyMartin wrote:

BTW Also noticed there seems to be far less 9 Month deals around with no BT fees than this time last year! Worrying

BT fee-free cards are still around in abundance. A recent article on https://www.thisismoney.co.uk stated that only 32% of BT cards are actually charging a fee. Again, look at the stoozing link above for further details.

MiserlyMartin

Thanks

YorkshireBoy wrote:

You can't prevent RBS/NatWest/Tesco etc declining you, but why keep such a high limit when you're not using it? Consider reducing the limit so as not to affect greatly your chances with other providers..

I have already reduced the credit limit on the Mint card to about £500. I have also reduced the credit limit on my American Express Blue card that I use for general spending (always paid off in full on time) much to the amazement of the customer advisor in India. She could not understand why someone would want to cut their credit limit!

YorkshireBoy wrote:

You can't balance transfer from a debit card. It has to be a recognised credit card, eg Mastercard, Visa, storecard etc.
BT fee-free cards are still around in abundance. A recent article on https://www.thisismoney.co.uk stated that only 32% of BT cards are actually charging a fee. Again, look at the stoozing link above for further details.

It is a Nationwide Cashback Visa Card, sorry should have made that clear. So do you think that is an option instead of the Mint? I usually spend about £250 a month on that one. It would take ages to spend off the 'in credit' thinking about it. But is closing the Mint worth the extra hassle in not being able to build up credit spending quickly? Sorry had a hard week - the brain is not functioning well tonight.

YorkshireBoy

MiserlyMartin wrote:

I have already reduced the credit limit on the Mint card to about £500. I have also reduced the credit limit on my American Express Blue card that I use for general spending (always paid off in full on time) much to the amazement of the customer advisor in India. She could not understand why someone would want to cut their credit limit!.

I'd definately keep the Mint, and a £500 limit is not going to hurt your ability to get further cards. Unless, that is, the new card provider has some kind of algorithm that penalises you on the "number" of cards held as well as the available/used credit.

MiserlyMartin wrote:

It is a Nationwide Cashback Visa Card, sorry should have made that clear. So do you think that is an option instead of the Mint? I usually spend about £250 a month on that one. It would take ages to spend off the 'in credit' thinking about it. But is closing the Mint worth the extra hassle in not being able to build up credit spending quickly? Sorry had a hard week - the brain is not functioning well tonight.

Re the Nationwide, do you mean their "Visa Cash Reward" card? Firstly, and personally, I would never mix BT'ing and spending on the same card - it's a recipe for disaster. Secondly, you know the Mint route works - you've been using it. Although I've just read through Nationwide's T&C's and can't find anything, I'm not sure what their "unwritten" policy is on positive balances - are you? In summary, my approach would be to use Nationwide for your day-to-day spend and keep Mint solely for your SBT route via their cheques.

MiserlyMartin

Cheers. Yes I do mean the Visa Cash Reward Credit Card. Ok let me make this clearer about what I was thinking of doing. What happens if I were to do a balance transfer to the nationwide card (maxing out the new card)? The Nationwide card would then be in credit to me. My plan was to ring up Nationwide and ask them to write me a cheque. Does it work like that? Surely this technique if possible could be used with any card?

johnmoney05

MiserlyMartin wrote:

Cheers. Yes I do mean the Visa Cash Reward Credit Card. Ok let me make this clearer about what I was thinking of doing. What happens if I were to do a balance transfer to the nationwide card (maxing out the new card)? The Nationwide card would then be in credit to me. My plan was to ring up Nationwide and ask them to write me a cheque. Does it work like that? Surely this technique if possible could be used with any card?

Can you do that? I very very doubt it. I had once done the same, but just wanted to use it for shopping. It didn't work. Tell you the details, I just got a new card which offer 2% cashback. And the limit was £1,000. I transferred £2,000 into the card from my bank account. So I thought I could use my new card for £3,000 in one transaction. NO. They didn't allow me to do that. I even had difficulty to use my card. I only could use £1,000 in a month untill I cleared off all the balance there. This was my case. Your case?? Think about it....

GlennTheBaker

Sounds like you're better off keeping the Mint card for its SBT facility - no messing about getting the company to tranfer funds into your account etc, just write yourself a cheque.