RS Grant

...which one do I go for?!

I'm wanting to take out a Credit Card which I can put a wee bit on, and pay off gently without any interest.. for at least 6 months.

I've got NO idea which one is the best, what do you all recommend?? Is there a website that has pro's and con's listed??


Cheers,
Grant

+Doc+

IMO be grafty, take out 2 credit cards and transfer the bill from one to another, this way you will get 0% interest for at least 6 months.
Try Goldfish and Capital One.

Im sure there is a website explaining how its done....over to the monetry experts

Horico

there are loads of companies offering zero zero deals at the minute....some are as long as 9 months....

While I do work for one of them....have a look at a few and see what you want....just do a search and they'll crop up....

if you do anything tho...pay off as much as you can....especially before you get the interest after the intro period...

Did you know that if you are on a std ish rate card and pay the minimum each month - it could take 40 years to pay it off!!!!!

If you wanna know anything in detail...PM me....

DPat

www.FOOL.co.uk

Phantom_Flan_Flinger

The problem recently is that more and more of the CC companies are now charging a fee for balance transfers, so be careful and check the small print.

Saying all that IF.com are offering 9 months 0% for balance transfers and purchases with no balance transfer fee.
No good if you have a card issued by HBOS though.

Edit - Noticed the IF card doesn't appear in the Motley Fool website, even though it beats their best buy. I believe they work on affiliations with their 'partners' so you may not get the 'best buy.'

Dave.

RS Grant

DPAT... I thought you were havin a go mate, was about to give you a mouthful before I clicked on the link, lol, thanks mate!!

Well, what I'm told is that I can get a card with 0% interest for 6 months, so put the money on the account.... pay it off without interest, then after 5 months (if I still have a balance) transfer to new card with another 6 months interest free........ Hence avoiding the interest.

Is that possible?!


Cheers,
Grant

+Doc+

Yes quite possible as long as you read the small print.
Some time back Barclays were offering a 1 yer 0% inerest balance transfer thingy, dont know if that is still current.

Phantom_Flan_Flinger

People do it all the time. Just make sure you apply for your new card in plenty of time for the paperwork, card and balance transfer to go through, otherwise you may get stung for a months interest.

As for Barclaycard, their best offer is 0% until May 2006, but as they state on the website -

A handling fee of 2% (maximum £50) will be charged per balance transfer.

The three main sites for comparisons are -

Moneysupermarket, Moneyextra and Moneyfacts.

I don't believe these sites work with affiliates.

Dave.

Big Den

It is possible but if you apply for a new card issued by the same bank & are successful you cannot transfer the balance from one to the other.

For example if you had a Barclaycard then applied for a SKY Credit card you would not be able to transfer the balance from the Barclaycard to the SKY one as Barclays bank are the issuer of both cards. Similarily, the Virgin credit card is issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland I think.

Although, there are lots of different credit cards out there, the amount of actual issuing banks is limited so you may find that one bank actually issues many cards under lots of different names.

Hope this makes sense!

Den

DPat

No prob mate

You can do this, but...
A good rate of interest on your savings is 5%, if you pay high rate tax (40%) the effective interest rate becomes 3%
If you then have to pay a 2% premium to take out the balance transfer every 6 months - you will make a loss

The best thing to do is use the money to pay down your mortgage - that way you get your mrtgage rate, without the tax impact!

Miss Kinky

try http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/

Jamo

iTrader: (23)

as above head towards money saving expert.

I think you will find lloyds tsb are currently offering a 12 months interest free balance transfer, and there apr is competitive.

Someone above mentioned capital one. dont go near them.

and again to re-iterate what someone mentioned above about minimum payment, whilst it still is a massive amount of time, its on "average" 26.4 years accross the board.

I am quoting from the moneysavingexpert website.

I also work for one of the main credit card companies, and my advice to you would be, dont get one.

hth

jamo

Horico

no....it's a very difficult concept in todays 'convenience' world but saving for things in the 1st place and managing money effectively is by far the best way forward...

It's not a suprise that more people are starting to do this - the national spend is down slightly and in the news...is it just a coincidence that we're all being hammered by loan companies on tv telling you to put it all in one place?

People are realising....