Barclay balance transfer checks , help please

cuti · ‎02-15-2015

I got Barclay apple visa for about 2 months with 2000 cl , and recently i recieved a promo 0 % interest balance transfer until may/2016 , i call backdoor number and ask for credit limit increase about few time before one nice lady willing to increase it up to 4000 cl , and my question is does anyone ever deposit Barclay check into checking account , and how long does it take to clear the check and most important is how long it will post balance on Barclay account ?? right now my Apple with 0 balance and it will report to credit bureau by feb/19 , should i wait until it report 0 balance , and then deposit 3800 into my checking for safety ? or if i deposit the check tomorrow , you think by the feb/19 the chance of report 0 balnce or 3800 balance which one i higher chance ??? im scare if it repost 3800 to credit bureau by feb/19 it will kill my score even more , but if it report 0 balance it does help my score alot , the reason im rush to deposit the check , because all the credit card i want to transfer banlance will be due in a week , and i want to pay off most of them , so my score should increase alot by next month , when my utilization go down under 30% . thanks for take time to read my post you guys the best .

ps : and of course before march/19 i will bring the balance from Apple card under 50% , better than it report 3800 balance on 4000 cl lolzzz

DaveInAZ · ‎02-15-2015

I used 0% BT checks from my Barclays Rewards MC back in 2012, depositing them in my checking account, they cleared in a day or two like other checks, and it showed up on my statement like any other transaction, I think it said "balance transfer check". You can deposit on 2/18, maybe even 2/17, and it shouldn't show up before your 2/19 statement.

The "trick" to using those 0% BT checks is to NOT charge anything on that card until it's paid off. If you charge on the card most of your payment will be applied to the 0% BT amount and you'll be charged full interest on those charges. And a good thing about using the BT checks is when you do pay it off they should gice you a nice auto CLI. I had my card up to $3300 with a $3500 CL. My credit score suffered, but when I paid in full right before the end of the 0% interest they auto CLI'd me from $3500 to $5700.

cuti · ‎02-15-2015

Wow thank you very much DAVEINAZ , this is very good info you give me .

Anonymous · ‎02-15-2015

If you deposit the check in your checking account, (versus paying another CC), how does Barclay know it's a balance transfer? Or do they care?

DaveInAZ · ‎02-15-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
If you deposit the check in your checking account, (versus paying another CC), how does Barclay know it's a balance transfer? Or do they care?

They're "regular" checks that be used to pay anything, another CC, rent, yourself, etc. I highly doubt if Barclays looks at the check to see who was paid, they're cleared through an automated process. And I doubt even more if they care, they're hoping they'll earn interest by you not paying it off before the end of the 0% interest, or more likely, you continue to charge on the card and they earn interest on those charges. It's in their terms that they apply payments proportionately against any previous balance..

JSS3 · ‎02-15-2015

CAPTOOL

They get their 3% BT fee. That's what they care about.

Anonymous · ‎02-15-2015

@DaveInAZ wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
If you deposit the check in your checking account, (versus paying another CC), how does Barclay know it's a balance transfer? Or do they care?
They're "regular" checks that be used to pay anything, another CC, rent, yourself, etc. I highly doubt if Barclays looks at the check to see who was paid, they're cleared through an automated process. And I doubt even more if they care, they're hoping they'll earn interest by you not paying it off before the end of the 0% interest, or more likely, you continue to charge on the card and they earn interest on those charges. It's in their terms that they apply payments proportionately against any previous balance..

Okay, thanks. I just got them in the mail with the 0% deal until 5.16. I don't have any balances to transfer, but I do have a $2600 tax payment coming up in April. If I can use their money for free for a while, I can dump the money set aside in to my rainy day fund.

lhcole77 · ‎02-15-2015

@DaveInAZ wrote:
I used 0% BT checks from my Barclays Rewards MC back in 2012, depositing them in my checking account, they cleared in a day or two like other checks, and it showed up on my statement like any other transaction, I think it said "balance transfer check". You can deposit on 2/18, maybe even 2/17, and it shouldn't show up before your 2/19 statement.

The "trick" to using those 0% BT checks is to NOT charge anything on that card until it's paid off. If you charge on the card most of your payment will be applied to the 0% BT amount and you'll be charged full interest on those charges. And a good thing about using the BT checks is when you do pay it off they should gice you a nice auto CLI. I had my card up to $3300 with a $3500 CL. My credit score suffered, but when I paid in full right before the end of the 0% interest they auto CLI'd me from $3500 to $5700.

My Barclays account gives me a grace period on purchases even when I am using BTs.

They spell it out very clearly on statements.

For purchases I PIF before statement due date. No interest.

I also make additional payment each month towards BT balance.

Anonymous · ‎02-15-2015

Be sure to look over them carefully because I had received a total of three checks I could use, however, one check had a BT fee of 2% and the other two checks had a BT fee of 3%. Not sure if it applies to the checks you've received but worth noting anyway.