Transfering balances from one credit card to another

[njolakoski]

Hi everybody, and happy holidays to all!

Anyways,

I need some help from those of you who do have knowledge in this. Currently I have a Chase Credit Card, which I have "acquired" some debt on after some emergencies, I enjoyed 0% APR for awhile, but they hit me with a nice 19% after that.

I am looking to transfer to my balance from one credit card to another that offers 0% for 12% on Balance Transfers.

How would I go about doing this? And If I do this, is this a good idea?

[butch81385]

njolakoski,

I am currently looking to tansfer my balance as well. They raised my APR from 7.9% to 28.99% after being one week late for a payment . I was looking at capital one as they have a deal with 0% APR until Oct. 09, and 12.9% variable afterwards (I will have to see what the rate is after October to see if I keep it afterwards). I applied for the card and there was a spot on the online application for balance transfers. My initial application came back as approved, but the transfer came back as declined as their 30 second approval only gave me a credit limit of $1000 (my old card had a limit of $8000, with about $5000 on it to be transferred). I am to wait the 7-10 days until I get all of my paperwork in the mail which will have my finalized credit limit (which I can raise if needed), then fill out the online or paper form for balance transfer. Then, within 10 days they will pay off that amount on my credit card, and I will have that amount (+ a one time 3% fee during this 0% apr promo period) on my new card.

[no1_vern]

Call the CC company you are transferring it to. ASK how long it will be at 0%(3mo, 6mo, 1yr, etc), what the APR jumps to if you miss a payment, what the APR goes to at the end of your 0% period. Make sure the APR will be less than or no more than what Chase is now!

You will probably spend half an hour or so on the phone, but make sure you WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN. Who you spoke with, the length of time before the balance needs to be paid off, what the apr jumps to if you miss a payment and at the end of the period, how much the transfer fee is, etc. . .

NEXT: pay off the balance ASAP! Dont wait until the last month to pay it off, or you will be looking for another CC to transfer it to.

Quote:

Check the time limit carefully.
Most offers last only six or nine months, then revert to a more traditional rate, usually around 16 percent. If it's not clear what rate the card will eventually charge, call and ask. Use this work sheet to keep track of what the companies tell you.

2. Know what the zero or low interest really covers.
Many cards charge the low rate only for balances transferred from other cards. Sounds like a good deal. And it is -- if you remember that new purchases on these types of cards will be charged at a higher interest rate. What's more, the credit card company will apply all of your payments to the zero or low-rate balances first, until they are paid off. That means your new purchases will continue to revolve on the card and rack up interest costs. Of course, if you know that's how it works, you simply never use the card for new purchases. Instead use it as a smart way to lower the cost of your outstanding debt.

Other cards work the opposite way, applying the zero or low interest only to new purchases. If you don't realize this you can end up paying full interest on your existing debt plus the transfer fee. Best to avoid balance transfers on these cards, says Jane Bryant Quinn, personal finance expert and author of "Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People."

3. Beware of hefty fees.
Most cards charge a certain percentage when you transfer a balance from another card, usually about 4 percent, with a cap of $25 or $50. But, says Bill Driscoll, a financial planner in Plymouth, Mass., more and more cards are eliminating the cap. So, if you transfer, say, $5,000, you'll pay a $200 fee. Worse, some cards count the fee as a new purchase and charge the higher rate on that part of your balance. You want to only consider cards that have a cap on their transfer fees.

4. Watch out for bait-and-switch.
Just because you applied for zero percent doesn't mean you'll get it. Credit card companies will sometimes issue you the card but assign a higher rate if your credit score is low. Most people don't realize this has happened until they get their first statements. Be sure to read the agreement of terms that comes with your card carefully before you transfer a balance or make a purchase.

5. Always pay on time.
That zero rate will disappear the minute you're late. You'll end up paying the full rate that the card converts to immediately. Another late payment and your rate might be bumped as high as 30 percent.

Liberally stolen from :
5 credit card balance-transfer trip-ups

Print out this page: Checklist for transferring credit card balances
and fill in the workpage according to the instructions

BTW: Businessweek says:

Quote:

For balance transfer cards, which allow consumers to consolidate outstanding debt from one or more cards and sometimes include a low introductory rate, average annual percentage rate inched down to 13.13 percent, from 13.14 percent the week before.

Overall, the average APR charged for all variable rate cards tracked by Bankrate was 11.10 percent, down from 11.27 percent the previous week.

[no1_vern]

NOTE; Credit-card industry may cut $2 trillion lines: analyst | U.S. | Reuters

Quote:

The U.S. credit-card industry may pull back well over $2 trillion of lines over the next 18 months due to risk aversion and regulatory changes, leading to sharp declines in consumer spending, prominent banking analyst Meredith Whitney said.

The credit card is the second key source of consumer liquidity, the first being jobs, the Oppenheimer & Co analyst noted.

"In other words, we expect available consumer liquidity in the form of credit-card lines to decline by 45 percent."

You probably want to jump ship pretty quickly, before the card you want to go to reduces its 0% plans..

[Steve R Jones]

American Express has all sorts of deals.
Can also check out: Credit Cards - Compare Credit Card Offers at CreditCards.com

I flipped my balance a couple months ago to AE @ 3.99% till the transfer balance is paid...Also got Zero % on all new purchases for the next twelve months...

DO NOT Close the old account. Doing so can hinder your credit rating.

[surreal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by butch81385

njolakoski,

I am currently looking to tansfer my balance as well. They raised my APR from 7.9% to 28.99% after being one week late for a payment

Have you called them? And told them to put your interest rate back, (or was it a special with the above consequences in the small print?)
Regardless I'd still call them... and raise a bit of a stink...

[M_Six]

Also, make sure they'll transfer your entire balance. I tried transferring a balance once years ago and they decided after I got the card and transferred the whole balance (I thought) that they'd only accept part of the balance. So I then ended up with two balances to deal with.

[butch81385]

Quote:

Originally Posted by surreal

Have you called them? And told them to put your interest rate back, (or was it a special with the above consequences in the small print?)
Regardless I'd still call them... and raise a bit of a stink...

I had called them once before (when that payment was late by a week) and they were less than helpful. I had a fixed 7.9% APR with a fine print that any "default" would take me to the "default APR" and they classified anything over 3 days late as a Default.... Though, from my understanding, it doesn't officially go as a credit card default on your credit rating until after 30 days late.

[doddsy]

guys.......

credit cards aare a very expensive form of debt.

rate whoring and transferring balances with charges each time . 3% of the transferred balance i think .....is crazy. if you've a large outstanding balance - nuke it. take a loan if you have to and repay that as quickly as possible. the beauty of the loan is you must pay it back in a specified time at a much lower rate then your card debt. not preaching here .. just offering genuine advice ...use your card then clear it when the bill comes in or don't use it. cc debt is way too expensive

[Rootstonian]

Yeah, call them up. Especially if you've be a long-time customer or have made a year's worth of steady payments. Everyone forgets to mail a bill at one time or another. If you have a good history of payments and this is your FIRST late then they should reverse it.

Tell them this (and be relaxed and calm; no yelling or threats). If they won't go back on it (and I'm 10 out of 10 on getting a late fee reversed), then ask what they are going to do for you to keep you as a customer "because, right now, I'm ready to transfer my balance to another institution".

They'll probably try and lie to you about how bad that is, yada, yada. Don't listen. They make thier money off interest and will want to keep you. I did the transfer balance for 3 years once..about 5 different cards...was nice not paying any interest

I got a lappy at Best Buy a few years ago. Their return policy is 2 weeks. Sure enough, 15 days later, the sucker goes $200 down in price. I called, got all the newbs, but was finally able to talk to someone high up. They didn't want to budge cuz the "rules are the rules". I told them to pull up my history and politely asked them if they wanted to lose that kind of revenue on 1 day and $200 and if so, I would like to close my account now. I got the $200 credit