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Balance Transfer from Dis to C1, then C1 to Dis-- will this work?

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teachag89
Established Member

Balance Transfer from Dis to C1, then C1 to Dis-- will this work?

First, let me say that I am asking for advice, not judgement.  I have several open credit cards and all are paid off.  My Discover card, however, has a $1500 balance with a low interest rate, good cash back bonuses, etc. and will not be paid off for several months.  In attempt to boost my score a few points, I am thinking about transferring the $1500 balance to another one of my cards (no balance transfer fee, same APR as purchases) just before Discover reports and then transferring it back onto Discover before the other card reports.  I have a couple of weeks in between when the two report and have figured out the reporting dates, etc.  I am well aware that this is not a long term fix, only a short term trick.  Will this backfire somehow on my credit report?  I don't see how unless they report balance transfers.  I know if I zero out/ pay down to less than 9% my Discover account that my score will shoot up several points and I need those several points ASAP in order to do a certain mortgage program.  Thank you for the advice and again, I don't need a lecture on being financially stable, etc... I am a teacher, do not get paid in the summer & paying off this card is simply not at option at the time.  Thanks :smileyhappy:

Message 1 of 18
17 REPLIES 17
myjourney
Super Contributor

Re: Balance Transfer from Dis to C1, then C1 to Dis-- will this work?

Be aware this can lead to AA just an FYI

Before you app think...
Have you done your research of the CC?
Does it fit your spending?
Do you have a plan for the bonus w/o going into debt?
Can you afford the AF?
Do you know the cards benefits? Is it worth the HP?
Message 2 of 18
shakalaka
Established Contributor

Re: Balance Transfer from Dis to C1, then C1 to Dis-- will this work?

Problem ist, that BT take a while. So it can be, that you miss the dates. You cannot influence this sometimes.



FICO (TU/EX/EQ): 773/766/778 - Total CL 255+K
Message 3 of 18
enharu
Super Contributor

Re: Balance Transfer from Dis to C1, then C1 to Dis-- will this work?

The BT can take up to a few weeks to clear and there's a chance you will be stuck with high balances being posted on both accounts instead. And then, there's a risk of AA as well because what you are doing is certainly shady. You probably will need to come up with a very good explanation for this if a manual review does happen.
JPMorgan Palladium (100k), AmEx Platinum (NPSL), AmEx SPG (46k), AmEx BCP (42k), Chase Sapphire Preferred (47k), Citi Prestige (31k), Citi Thank You Preferred (27k), Citi Executive AAdvantage (25k), JPMorgan Ritz-Carlton (21k), Merrill+ (15k), US Bank Cash+ (22.5k), Wells Fargo (12k), Bloomingdale’s (12.4k), Chase Freedom (5k), Discover IT (5k).
Message 4 of 18
teachag89
Established Member

Re: Balance Transfer from Dis to C1, then C1 to Dis-- will this work?

Myjourney, can you elaborate? I haven't done this yet and it's just a thought. I want to hear about possibilities I haven't considered.
Message 5 of 18
oscar_actuary
Frequent Contributor

Re: Balance Transfer from Dis to C1, then C1 to Dis-- will this work?

curious if there is a BT fee back to Discover,.

 

Also, when you say you have sevral CC with paid off balances, yet somehow you think showing $1500 less in credit is going to shoot your score up, I scratch my head.  The logic and/or math is not there

 

So for that and other reasons previously statesd I vote it's a crummy idea.

 

 

FICO EX 827, 2015 Feb; FICO EQ 836/900 (Citi), 2014 Dec; FICO TU08 818, 2015 Feb.

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Message 6 of 18
myjourney
Super Contributor

Re: Balance Transfer from Dis to C1, then C1 to Dis-- will this work?


@teachag89 wrote:
Myjourney, can you elaborate? I haven't done this yet and it's just a thought. I want to hear about possibilities I haven't considered.

Sure 

When banks start to see the same amount moving from account to account and back to same account again it looks as if you can't pay and are in financial trouble.

That in turns sends up a red flag and they start to take a closer look at your credit such as how many cards, how much you owe, income, DTI 

 

The method you mentioned taking was a popular thing long ago and banks got wise to it...another one which you can't do anymore was to pay a credit card with a credit card same thing as what you're thinking of doing...

 

IMHO if you had a 3rd card with BT you could do it until you returned back to work after the summer but from one account to another then back again IMHO

I wouldn't do it

Also it takes time to BT and your scores may drop during the process because it may show up in 2 places on your CR ....ouch.....but they would recover at some point 

 

Before you app think...
Have you done your research of the CC?
Does it fit your spending?
Do you have a plan for the bonus w/o going into debt?
Can you afford the AF?
Do you know the cards benefits? Is it worth the HP?
Message 7 of 18
teachag89
Established Member

Re: Balance Transfer from Dis to C1, then C1 to Dis-- will this work?

Thanks for the input. It sounds like a bad idea. I'm not financially in trouble or avoiding making a payment. It just seemed like an easy way to gain a few points in order to get a better interest rate. But, I think I'll leave the balance on Discover and pay it down slightly. I truly appreciate the insight!
Message 8 of 18
Creditaddict
Legendary Contributor

Re: Balance Transfer from Dis to C1, then C1 to Dis-- will this work?

Id say if you were looking to hopefully gain some points and get a new credit card or something sure... if it ends up missing the dates and doesn't report all paid on both like you hoped and you don't get card, no biggie, back to discover but since you are talking about a mortgage... EVEN if you get the reporting and get the approval for the mortgage... doubt you would be able to get to closing in time.... these days I thought it was pretty standard that they pull credit the day before or day of closing to make sure all still good? Thats why everyone is so careful about INQ and new credit until after you walk out of closing!

and if $1500 is the deal breaker on this mortgage as someone else brought up... something is wrong here.

Message 9 of 18
myjourney
Super Contributor

Re: Balance Transfer from Dis to C1, then C1 to Dis-- will this work?


@teachag89 wrote:
Thanks for the input. It sounds like a bad idea. I'm not financially in trouble or avoiding making a payment. It just seemed like an easy way to gain a few points in order to get a better interest rate. But, I think I'll leave the balance on Discover and pay it down slightly. I truly appreciate the insight!

Those points truly aren't worth it  

Continue paying as normal and as you pay it down the scores will rise naturally 

Better safe than sorry is always my approach

Before you app think...
Have you done your research of the CC?
Does it fit your spending?
Do you have a plan for the bonus w/o going into debt?
Can you afford the AF?
Do you know the cards benefits? Is it worth the HP?
Message 10 of 18
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