Credit card balance transfers

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mobeyone

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Anyone have some useful advise regarding balance transfers, i.e. dos and donts?
 
ive just done it for the first time, used the post office CC as it has 6 mnths free and 6 mnths int free for new purchases. also no transfer fee.

takes some time sorting it out though, over a month in my case!
 
Shude, i have just been reading that post!!!!

NOOOOO!!!

I just got myself an MBNA plat plus card and trx some money onto it. Read on the internet that they are very very good at stealth charging you...

Have done it once before from "crap one" to M&S money!
 
Lots of advice...

What do you want to hear ;)

A good site for all money type stuff is the motleyfool (http://www.fool.co.uk), and they have some comparisons between the various credit card and loan offers.

If existing credit cards, phone up the company and ask what their best transfer rate is and how long it lasts. Some like MBNA do 3 months at a low rate, others don't do any discount.

If a new card, then some are doing 0% for 12 months, 9 months, 6 months etc.

You should be careful about the charges also. When you do a BT some will charge a % (usually around 2%) up to a maximum, say £50. Others don't have a maximum. Also this charge is likely to be subject to a higher rate (normal rate) than the BT.

Like all good loan sharks the balance transfers usually at a lower rate than any outstanding balance will get paid off first, allowing them to continue charging you a higher rate.

Or were you after something else?
 
sparkyspost said:
Like all good loan sharks the balance transfers usually at a lower rate than any outstanding balance will get paid off first, allowing them to continue charging you a higher rate.
Current Nationwide TV ads say they remove the higher rate items first.
 
sparkyspost said:
Lots of advice...

Like all good loan sharks the balance transfers usually at a lower rate than any outstanding balance will get paid off first, allowing them to continue charging you a higher rate.

Or were you after something else?


Thats it - never missed a payment and never had any charges:D so im not worried about that. What I am worried about is as has ben said getting stung on the transfer. MBNA have given me 9% for 9 months and then i will clear the card, keep it clean for a month or two and then trx another balance again.

Is this a good move?
 
Surely you can get an unsecured personal loan at less than 9%???

PJ
 
imadoofus said:
Surely you can get an unsecured personal loan at less than 9%???

PJ

true but not for the money i have on the cards, simply not worth it.
 
I jusy got one of those card where the crustations play golf:D :D zero interst on balance transfers till September 2007. Only thing is, it costs 2% to transfer it, but at around 1.25% per month interest, works out quite cheap.
 
Hi,

Do's and don'ts.

Make sure you pay off minimum balance (each month) on time else interest charged on whole balance.

Transfer as much as possible on to a card which charges up to a maximum of £50 for a balance transfer.

Save unpaid balance in a high interest account (Ing @ 4.5% and First Direct @ 4.75 % to name but a couple).

Get another interest free card for everday purchases etc.

Six weeks or so before interest free period(s) run(s) out apply for (an)other interest free transfer card(s).

Carry on till you run out of credit cards to apply for ;) or you can't get sufficient credit etc. :eek: to cover accrued 'debts' (i.e. 'stash' earning interest) .

Ultimately pay off all balances and pocket earned interest :D (on debts ;))

I still haven't paid for my last ML 270 CDi service (B) which was some twenty months ago ;)

Cheers,
 
Whatever you do it quickly as the knives are out for us "rate tarts". Card Companys simply do not like organised punters who borrow "loadsamoney" from them at zero %. For example, I have a stack of cards with no real debt, I just merry-go-round a lot of money which I then sit in an offset account reducing my mortgage by hundreds each month, Beneficial recently wrote to me (I had a zero balance and not used their card for some time) and advisied that they were reducing my limit from £15K to £500. I cut the card up and returned it to them. I suspect others will be following suit.
 
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IanAlexander2 said:
Whatever you do it quickly as the kiives are out for us "rate tarts". Card Companys simply do not like organised punters who borrow loadsamoney from them at zero %. For example, I have a stack of cards with no real debt, I just merry-go-round a lot of money which I then sit in an offset account reducing my mortgage by hundreds each month, Beneficial recently wrote to me (I had a zero balance and not used their card for some time) and advisied tjat they were reducing my limit from £15K to £500. I cut the card up and returned it to them. I suspect others will be following suit.

THis is the plan!

Well, i have around 5 or 6 cards at the moment, three of which are currently interest free for various months, so i dump money into these cards and then spend if needed of one card while i clear as much as possible of the others in the interest free periods. My ultimate aim is to increase the limits on the cards to allow a "bulk" transfer to take place leaving the cards zero thus increasing my credit score at the same time:D .

Never given it much thought until recently! I was also told by one company to transfer the full balance and then transfer it back for an even lower rate!

Just got a call from mbna to say the transfer has been completed aswell! not bad hey!
 
One thing to bear in mind is you cannot transfer balances between cards issued by the same issuer, e.g. Royal Bank Of Scotland (RBS) own Natwest.

MBNA & HBOS (Halifax/Bank Of Scotland) have many "Affinity" cards - Save the Whale, Dolphin, Hedgehog etc, so make sure the new interest free card you choose is not issued by the same issuer as the card you want to transfer a balance from.

Also set up a DD to pay off the minimum per month so you never forget to pay the minimum 5% and get stung for late payment charges.

I'd rather be called a "Rate Tart" than pay interest anyday:D
 
Virgin credit card isn't to be sniffed at. It's 2% to transfer the balance but it's 9 months interest free.

http://www.moneysupermarket.com has some good info and comparisons.
 
I think 9% is quite high for a balance transfer. Although still cheaper than a standard rate.
I just got a flyer about credit card cheques in the post from the Halifax offering 6.9% for the life of the balance, but only if you use them before 26th July. After that they are 23.95% (eek :O)

It seems if you pay off your balance regularlily you can build up your credit limit. If you maintain a card really well and want to consolidate all onto one ask them to increase your limit with the purpose of transfering a balance.
They should be interested in this. Obviously they aren't to know that you have just done this to the last card.

Another issue with your credit position is to be careful not to be in your current accounts overdraft. This detracts from your credit status with your bank. Well certainly with the Halifax as I found out a few years ago.
 

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