Balance Transfers - how is it looked upon by cc comps?

[themeggerz]

The worst that could happen is they offer you 0% on Chase to keep your balance (hoping that you will not pay it off in full in time and get hit with deferred interest).

[crunching_numbers]

---

@themeggerz wrote:

The worst that could happen is they offer you 0% on Chase to keep your balance (hoping that you will not pay it off in full in time and get hit with deferred interest).

---

Most BT offers do not charge you "deferred interest". Those are from special financing offers like no interest if paid in 90 days. With BT's, after your promotional period runs out, you just start paying your regular interest rate on whatever balance remains.

When I BT'd out of Chase, they gave me a BT offer to BT back in.

[jamesdwi]

---

@natasjlp wrote:

I have a balance of about 7k on one cc and have an offer from another cc for a balance transfer ,which offers 0% interest for 18 months. My question is how will the original cc company take that? I wish to have a long positive relationship with them. Will they lower my CL, consider closing my account, any sort of negative connotations or would they actually be happy and reflect positively because I paid off the balance in full? 

---

you are probably over thinking it, I'm not even sure the companies even track where the payment comes from, its either a paper or electronic check tthat appears, and it would hard to track if it came from a credit card company or from a bank. for instance if you BT's to CapOne or Chase both have banking divisions so making it hard to tell, and do CCC really want to track every account number for each new company or when they get new numbers or aquired.

If a CCC did track that the balance was paid off using a BT, it would be a sign that the company has a potential problem, it shows that you have better offers, deals interest rates availble than the company is offering. so they could be loosing a customer or lessen the amount of money they are making off you. But most card companies just don't care they made there money off the swipe (1 - 3%) and any interest you paid them.  Once it paid off they are free to use that money for otehr users purchases, and they don't have to worry about you defaulting on the payments and perhaps you will charge more now.  

[Chris123nTx]

Just do it. These are account features and no one is going to have an issue with it.

[lolabelle]

---

@crunching_numbers wrote:

...

When I BT'd out of Chase, they gave me a BT offer to BT back in.

---

That's my experience, too.  

Purely anecdotal, but I've shuffled balances from Chase a few times over the past few years and there's never been any negative result.  I do seem to get frequent balance transfers offers from them, though.

[natasjlp]

well... there I was ready to move forward with a balance transfer for about $5k. then I took a look at the fees involved.. 

$10 minimum or 4% which ever is higher. This works out to be $200!! really? I'd rather pay the standard interest rate on the original card.

Are all or most CC transfer fees structured like this?? forget about it.. maybe it's negotiable? yeesh..

[MarineVietVet]

---

@natasjlp wrote:

well... there I was ready to move forward with a balance transfer for about $5k. then I took a look at the fees involved.. 

$10 minimum or 4% which ever is higher. This works out to be $200!! really? I'd rather pay the standard interest rate on the original card.

Are all or most CC transfer fees structured like this?? forget about it.. maybe it's negotiable? yeesh..

---

Most of the ones that I've been offered are usually 3-5%. But I've seen posts here of some 0% BT transfer fees.

I've never tried to negotiate a BT fee but I guess you could try.

[crunching_numbers]

You need to calculate out what the interest would cost you for the timeframe of the BT.  If you post your interest rate you have now on the Chase card you are transferring out of, and how much a month you plan to pay off against the transfer, and how many months that transfer was for (6 mos, 12 mos, 15 mos, 18 mos...) then we can help you determine how much you might save even at 4%. Remember, that is 4% one time, instead of interest every month.