CC with 0% question

[haulingthescoreup]

Most BT's have the 3% transfer fee, but many cap them, frequently around $99. (Think I saw that Disc caps at $75.) But BofA doesn't --that 3% just keeps rising and rising, the more you want to BT. On a $10K BT, that's a $300 fee --to me, that's a lot. Also, some Citi and Chase cards don't cap their BT fees, so read carefully.

Some of the AmEx's don't have BT fees, although I don't think that I've seen a combination of no fee, 0% on their BT's.

Read those T&C's! (terms and conditions)

[Anonymous]

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haulingthescoreup wrote:
Most BT's have the 3% transfer fee, but many cap them, frequently around $99. (Think I saw that Disc caps at $75.) But BofA doesn't --that 3% just keeps rising and rising, the more you want to BT. On a $10K BT, that's a $300 fee --to me, that's a lot.

Read those T&C's! (terms and conditions)

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On one of my current BoA balance transfer offers, it reads--"The transaction fee for balance transfers is 4% of each transaction, minimum $10, maximum $90.  However, effective as of 03/2008, each balance transfer is subject to a 3% transaction fee, minimum of $10 and the Minimum Finance Charge is $1.50."

You're right.  It is important to "read those T&Cs," since they do vary.              

[Anonymous]

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
I know this isn't what OP was asking about, but just wanted to point out that on the subject of retroactive interest, virtually all offers of 0% on purchases on store cards do charge interest retroactively from the purchase date if the balance isn't PIF by the end of the promotional period.

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Thank you, cheddar, I didn't realize that!

I will add another Post-It note to my overloaded brain...

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Yes, be very careful w/ BT on STORE CARDS...def. retroactive and can kill the whole reason you bought the item.

[Anonymous]

are store cards the only cards that try to pull the retroactive interest trick?

[Anonymous]

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@RobertEG wrote:

Yes, a BT can be very good, providing you know the game, and add up all the charges against the bennies.  Most BTs charge you an immediate fee of 3% of the BT amount, so it is instant money in their pocket, and most BT rates only extend for six months, after which the default rate then prevails (not retroactive, but still there for balances at time of the expiration of the BT rate).  And also remember that most BTs generate a hard inquiry before granting, which willl result in a 5-10 point hit on your credit score. 

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I've done 3 BTs in the past year and never got a hard inquiry, as far as I know.  Also, the fees were capped, twice at $75 (Chase Toys R Us card, NOT a store card) and once at $99 (Citi DIvidends card), so they ended up getting FAR less than 3% from me.  However, these fee caps seem to be much less common now.

Message Edited by Mike14 on 01-25-2009 09:34 PM

[Anonymous]

Mike, you never got a hard inquiry from a balance transfer?  Did your balance transfers involve no new credit lines being opened(i.e. you simply used promotions that came about from your existing credit lines)?  I thought that anytime you open a new credit line or card you get a hard inquiry.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Mike, you never got a hard inquiry from a balance transfer?  Did your balance transfers involve no new credit lines being opened(i.e. you simply used promotions that came about from your existing credit lines)?  I thought that anytime you open a new credit line or card you get a hard inquiry.

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Oh, I never opened a new card for a BT, just used promotional offers on existing accounts.  I thought Robert was saying just doing a BT causes a hard inquiry.

[oracles]

Just wanted to add:

I know BofA does not have a cap on their Bt, but if you call they will work with you. I had a Bt with them some time ago and asked if they can reduced the fee. They were very nice and worked with me on paying far less than what the fee would have been at 3%.

I would definitely recommend calling any company and asking if they will reduce the fee.

YMMV

[Anonymous]

To clarify the posts cautioning against making purchases after the BT:

In my experience, some cards offer the 0% on more than just balance transfers.  I've opened several cards that had 0% on purchases (one for 15 months) as well as BTs.  These invariably also offered 0% on BTs.  I've also recieved promo rates on cash advances, although I doubt many banks are making such offers now.  So the OP's boyfriend may in fact have 0% on purchases during the promotional period, as well.  As mentioned above, the only way to know details about the offer for sure is to read the fine print, as the banks will specify rates for each type of transaction. 

One card's offer was for 12+ months 0% on BTs, and something like 3 months on purchases, running concurrently.  An offer like this is probably designed to get people "stuck" with interest accruing on their purchases after the 3 month period ends, while they are stuck paying down their 0% balance transfers before payments will credit to the portion of priniciple they're paying interest on.