Balance Transfers

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Soldato
Joined
10 Mar 2006
Posts
11,436
Location
East Lancs
So, I have ~£5k debt on a 19% Barclaycard which needs clearing.

Long story short, it was racked up during a challenging period, followed by some classic head-in-sand minimum payment ignorance for a while.

Anyway, not the end of the world, however I have been largely blind to balance transfers and would like to transfer the balance to a 0% card so I can blast £300 a month (minimum) at it and clear it off once and for all.

I'm just looking for some human input on it just so I know I'm doing the right thing. A quick personalised search on Money SuperMarket gives me lots of shiny bright offers of 0% for 22 months with no up front costs (but obviously x% for purchases which I don't care for).

Is there something I'm missing? Is it that simple (beyond getting approved)? Are there any particular cards or offers I should look out for? Is it better to go direct or use a comparison site?

I have a decent credit rating and aside from an overdraft and Mortgage this is my only debt.

(oh and I agree RE: the post regarding education to banking and other life skills from the other thread! :D)
 
It's that simple

Usually there is a 3% or so fee for transferring, but that's it, but if there is an offer with no fee then even better

Divide the amount you owe by no. months interest free, set that up as a S/O and cut the card up.

Job done
 
I got slightly confused when I wanted to do this too. But yes, it is that simple.

Just make sure you're looking at the no fees cards, not just the longest 0% interest cards as they will charge you a % of the amount you transfer.

Also bear in mind you may not get the advertised length of 0% interest, but if you're credit is generally good I don't see why not.
 
You might find it hard to get enough credit to cover your £5k, they seem to start you off at around £1k on a new card at least that's been my experience, may vary depending on your credit rating.
 
Tatsuki said:
You might find it hard to get enough credit to cover your £5k, they seem to start you off at around £1k on a new card at least that's been my experience, may vary depending on your credit rating.
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The limit you get is purely down to however much they want to do. My first balance transfer card came with a £9k limit for example.

For OP, as others have said yes, it is that simple. If you find you don't have enough time to clear the debt entirely before the zero interest period is up, don't forget you could repeat the process in x months and move the debt to another card again. Obviously only opinion etc, seek professional advice, yada yada.
 
its really that simple. they make their money with the balance transfer fees.
you sometimes find the purchase interest on the balance transfer card can be higher than normal
 
Try MBNA I used them to do this for £3.5k of debt, only a 1% fee, and 0% APR until 2020.
They gave me a £12k limit as well for some crazy reason haha
 
To reiterate the previous comments, it really is that simple. They usually ask how much debt you need on the application and, as long as you have an income and your credit history isn't shot to bits (yours sounds fine based on what you have said), a £5k limit should be accepted no problem.

It looks like Sainsbury's are currently doing a 28 month at 0% with no fee which might be your best bet. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/balance-transfer-credit-cards#sainsburys28

Just remember to set up a direct debit for the minimum payment, you will lose the 0% if you miss a payment.
 
Just got myself a Tesco card with 32 months at 0% for balance transfers and a transfer fee of 0.65%.
I only wanted to clear £2500 and they gave me a card with a £5600 limit.
 
Beautiful, thanks guys! I really appreciate all your comments and advice.

I've picked up a 24 month 0% Virgin Money card with 0% fee and a £6300 limit. I should have that cleared off well before the 2 years is out.

Much appreciated!
 
You may also be able to switch to another 0% card if you don't clear it in time. It's common enough to have a phrase for it - "card tart".

It might seem odd behaviour by the card companies, but they're playing the numbers. Overall, it's more profitable for them to have more customers even if they have to essentially buy customers. Some customers will use the 0% period to clear the debt and not use the card again...but only some. Those who don't will provide more than enough profit to cover the costs of those who do (which aren't very high, since they will be repaying the debt). So it's that simple because it benefits the card company for it to be that simple.

Inertia works for the companies too. Take me, for example. I set up a direct debit for minimum payment each month and left it at that for ages, even after I was in a position where I could easily have paid more. The card company got a bundle of free money out of me just from my own inertia. Me and many others. I could probably have bought a 1070 with that wasted money. All I had to do was change the payment. Not even that, really - I could have just phoned the card company and told them to do it. Which I did, eventually.
 
I used experian credit matcher. Was pretty good. Got me a good transfer deal on a barclaycard, with super low fee.
 
weringo said:
Just remember to set up a direct debit for the minimum payment, you will lose the 0% if you miss a payment.
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Take note of this!

Read so many stories over on MSE where people have accidentally missed payment, and then get stung with the high rates as they've lost the 0% bonus rate.
 
I set up a DD for the first payment on my Santander 0% card, the muppet's took over a week to set it up so I missed the first payment. Had to argue with them as they wacked on a missed payment charge and interest :o
 
i must be a bit anal, im always ready to fire a payment on due day. no point doing a DD as i use whatever is left on my account and overpay the min.

only time i got it wrong was paying a couple of days before the due date.. so had to pay again to avoid a charge. oops.
 
neil_g said:
only time i got it wrong was paying a couple of days before the due date.. so had to pay again to avoid a charge. oops.
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Surely as long as you pay before the due date your okay. I always pay a day or two before to make sure the payments cleared to avoid late fees.
 
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