How to transfer credit card balances?

regulus · 6 Dec 2010 at 19:03

Silly question I suppose, but then again, I don't really look into these things.

How do you transfer a HSBC credit card with £12 'debt' to a Tesco credit card? They have a 13 month 0% interest offer I want to take them up on.

Please don't give me a lecture on the evils of credit cards as I'm one of the last persons on the forum that would get myself into unmanageable debt.

Is it as easy as ringing up Tesco Finance and requesting a transferral form?

[TW]Fox · 6 Dec 2010 at 19:15

1) Apply for Tesco credit card
2) Receive card. Call to activate.
3) Whilst calling, enquire about balance transfer. They will action this for you
4) Pay a fee (Usually about 3% of balance).
5) ???
6) PROFIT

Though why the heck you'd waste your time doing this for 12 quid is anyones guess.

Unlight · 6 Dec 2010 at 19:15

Why would you want to transfer a £12 balance??

regulus · 6 Dec 2010 at 19:16

[TW]Fox;17944869 said:
1)

Though why the heck you'd waste your time doing this for 12 quid is anyones guess.

Because I want to do a purchase for around a grand and pay it off without suffering APR?

regulus · 6 Dec 2010 at 19:16

Unlight said:
Why would you want to transfer a £12 balance??

see above

Unlight · 6 Dec 2010 at 19:17

Why not make the purchase on the new card when you get it? Confused about the £12..

PapaLazaru · 6 Dec 2010 at 19:17

Just pay the £12 off. Surely?

regulus · 6 Dec 2010 at 19:19

Keeping money on the card for the heck of it, they keep threatening to close it.

Unlight · 6 Dec 2010 at 19:21

Now im even more confused..

OllyM · 6 Dec 2010 at 19:22

Why would you want to balance transfer £12?!

PapaLazaru · 6 Dec 2010 at 19:22

regulus said:
Keeping money on the card for the heck of it, they keep threatening to close it.

Ah fair point. I had a Virgin card with nil balance for 3 years. They kept putting up the limit and it was up ro £12k, even though I had never used it.

When it epxired they refused to renew it. It was my super emergency fund.

LuciferCalling · 6 Dec 2010 at 19:24

you will often get a different interest free period for a balance transfer compared to purchases, so worth checking

[TW]Fox · 6 Dec 2010 at 19:25

regulus said:
Because I want to do a purchase for around a grand and pay it off without suffering APR?

So why will balance transferring £12 help?

You are going to need to be a bit more clear.

Why not just get a card offernig 0% on purchases and buy it on that?

regulus · 6 Dec 2010 at 19:27

Right, I worded it wrong. I can see the confusion.

I had no idea how balance transfers worked. I always keep a balance on my credit card, just to keep it open and for credit rating purposes. Because I have had it for so long, I get hit with APR rates, so a new credit card is needed for a big purchase. Forget the £12, that is just my case, I was also wondering in general how exactly transfers works. That I didn't put into my OP. It was a terrible example

Mucky_Pup · 6 Dec 2010 at 19:30

You get a new card, phone up the new credit card company, give them the details of your old card and how much you want to balance transfer, then they effectively just pay your old credit card company that amount on your behalf, and stick it on your new card plus a percentage fee, then you pay that back in the time frame you have for 0% on balance transfers.

regulus · 6 Dec 2010 at 19:31

Fox (in his usual unusual style) explained it well enough in his first post.

Tesco is the one that initiates the transfer IF there is funds forthcoming from the current credit card company.

regulus · 6 Dec 2010 at 19:33

Mucky_Pup said:
You get a new card, phone up the new credit card company, give them the details of your old card and how much you want to balance transfer, then they effectively just pay your old credit card company that amount on your behalf, and stick it on your new card plus a percentage fee, then you pay that back in the time frame you have for 0% on balance transfers.

Excellent, that's actually all I wanted to know. Why I started dropping figures, I wouldn't know. It didn't make sense. Not even if I read it now.

Pug · 6 Dec 2010 at 19:42

Tbh transferring a balance so low would cost you so much in fees it would be silly.

regulus · 6 Dec 2010 at 19:46

Pug said:
Tbh transferring a balance so low would cost you so much in fees it would be silly.

It would be, therefore I obviously won't do it. If it was higher it would be worth it off course.

[TW]Fox · 6 Dec 2010 at 19:46

regulus said:
Right, I worded it wrong. I can see the confusion.

I had no idea how balance transfers worked. I always keep a balance on my credit card, just to keep it open and for credit rating purposes. Because I have had it for so long, I get hit with APR rates, so a new credit card is needed for a big purchase. Forget the £12, that is just my case, I was also wondering in general how exactly transfers works. That I didn't put into my OP. It was a terrible example

Ok.

Firstly do not keep a balance on your credit card. This is a ridiculous thing to do. Instead, buy things with your credit card and pay it off in full every month. This will keep it open AND help your credit rating. Keeping a balance on it is a stupid idea.

Next, a balance transfer is where you shift debt from one card to another. If you had, say £1k owning on a PikeyCard @ 20% APR, you could apply for a new card with a new lender offering 0% on balance transfers. Then you could transfer the £1k to the new card, and save on the interest payments.

If you want to buy something big which you cannot afford to buy or wish to spread the payments on, you need a card which offers 0% on purchases. These are quite common.

DO NOT keep a balance on a credit card for no reason, it's just completely daft.