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Credit card balance transfers

S

silent tone

Golden Member
I have several cards and get 0% checks in the mail all the time. I currently have a car payment with >0% interest. Is it feasable to put a few thousand on each card, and make no other charges on these cards to keep the 0% active, then after a year or whatever the period is, swap the balances around between the cards until I can pay them all off?
 
I'd tend to think that is either illegal.. or that these types of cards don't allow balance transfers, or it is against the terms. In any case, it would probably damage your credit in some way to constantly transfer such balances from card to card so frequently.
 
Originally posted by: Injury
I'd tend to think that is either illegal.. or that these types of cards don't allow balance transfers, or it is against the terms. In any case, it would probably damage your credit in some way to constantly transfer such balances from card to card so frequently.
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Wrong on all accounts. The only credit damage will be if you don't pay.
 
You just have to make sure the cards have 0% without the requirement to make monthly purchases. Many longer term offers require this, and the catch is that you always pay off lower % interest first, so if you have $4000 at 0% and $5 at 20% - you'll pay that 20% on the $5 until the entire $4000 is paid off.

Also make sure there are no balance transfer fees.

Finally, I wouldn't count on there being as many 0% offers in the future as there are today (the offers will be harder to come by and shorter in length). Interest rates are on the rise.
 
Originally posted by: istallion
Originally posted by: SampSon
I know a couple people that do balance swapping to keep a low interest rate.
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Any unexpected fees? Any further info?
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Many credit companies have transfer fees, so read the fine print.

Otherwise there is nothing wrong with it. You may have to spend some time on the phone to get what you want done of course.
 
Originally posted by: istallion
I have several cards and get 0% checks in the mail all the time. I currently have a car payment with >0% interest. Is it feasable to put a few thousand on each card, and make no other charges on these cards to keep the 0% active, then after a year or whatever the period is, swap the balances around between the cards until I can pay them all off?
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yeah i do this all the time. I did it for 2 years after college to pay off all my debt. i got away with clearing off ~20K in debt and only paid $450 in interest when all the debt was on my credit card. you just gotta be smart about how you work the system and bi dilligent on keeping your payoff dates
 
Originally posted by: FoBoT
scheme + money == bad idea :thumbsdown:
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The "DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE INDEX" would have you think otherwise, but then again I'm not a broker 😛
 
And keep in mind that some cards have a policy of 0% interest for six months or a year, but if you have any of the original balance remaining at the end of that period, you get charged all back interest at one time. BTW, I am doing this idea with about half of my credit card debt. So far, so good.
 
you can do it, but its alot of work to keep up on, make all the payments vs just one a month, its not that bad though, i move money around all the time w/ new cc's that have 0% apr on balance transfers
 
Perfectly legal. The only issue is if there are fees or charges for balance transfers. (read the fine print carefully) Sometimes the fee itself is more than what the interest would have been on an other card. It depends on how much you're spending. The important thing is to make sure you make all payments. If you're late or miss payments, the 0% interest often turns into a fairly large interest rate.

I've done this without any trouble.
 
Originally posted by: Mill
Originally posted by: Injury
I'd tend to think that is either illegal.. or that these types of cards don't allow balance transfers, or it is against the terms. In any case, it would probably damage your credit in some way to constantly transfer such balances from card to card so frequently.
Click to expand...

Wrong on all accounts. The only credit damage will be if you don't pay.
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That's crazy. I can't believe the CC companies haven't done something about this to wring people for more money.
 
One thing I that's fun to do is get a card that offers cash advances. Usually the interest rate is like double the normal rate but whatever.... Then get a 0% balance transfer, and pay off.

I had to do that for my wife's engagement ring. went to jew town and they give you a great discount with cash money. 😱
 
Im still doing it........
Have just transfered our debt from a fixed 6.9% to a nice fixed 2.9%
I got the 2.9% offer because early in the year I transfered all our debt from them to another companies 6.9 and they ofcourse then offered us the 2.9

You cannot be late on any payments in these offers as your interest rate will go up to 20%+ so do what I do and have online bill pay or setup an auto pay deduct


good luck :thumbsup:
 
Every 0% card I've seen (and those that are not) have balance transfer fees. Not since 199x have I seen a no transfer fee offer. Even cards with sign up and will transfer a balance over have some fee associated with it... we just went through a few of them when we bought our dining room set looking for just that type of thing.

I'm not saying there aren't any, but, it sure seems very rare. The CC Companies are onto that scheme and have been, so, if there is one that's ignoring it, has 0% and no annual fee, fill me in.

Thanks.
 
Originally posted by: istallion
Originally posted by: SampSon
I know a couple people that do balance swapping to keep a low interest rate.
Click to expand...

Any unexpected fees? Any further info?
Click to expand...

Just make sure you make payments on time or you will find yourself paying 19% interest all of a sudden. I paid off some credit cards this way. Usually transferred the balance after 6 months when the into 0% rate ran out.
 
My dad has done this a few times....

Logistical nightmare, but if you stay on top of it you really can save quite a bit....
 
Originally posted by: dman
Every 0% card I've seen (and those that are not) have balance transfer fees. Not since 199x have I seen a no transfer fee offer. Even cards with sign up and will transfer a balance over have some fee associated with it... we just went through a few of them when we bought our dining room set looking for just that type of thing.

I'm not saying there aren't any, but, it sure seems very rare. The CC Companies are onto that scheme and have been, so, if there is one that's ignoring it, has 0% and no annual fee, fill me in.

Thanks.
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Discover (a card which I dont know anyone who has it, cause it's not that widely accepted, but anyway) is offering 0% until JULY 05 with no Balance transfer fees on their platinum card. You need to have decent credit but damn its a good deal.
 
don't forget you don't make the same monthly payments to CC's as you do auto loans, the CC bills are in % of the total amount so if you move to much you may not be able to make the payments.
 
Originally posted by: SampSon
I know a couple people that do balance swapping to keep a low interest rate.
Click to expand...

it is bad for your credit rating...plus this car loan would not be a balance transfer...it would actually qualify as a a purchase.
 
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