Citi Balance Transfer question

Anonymous · ‎07-28-2017

Hi guys,

I've got a Citi DoubleCash card I've had for a little over a year. Recently I noticed there's an offer on my account for a balance transfer for 0% for 18 months, and you have the option of having it direct deposited into your checking or receive a paper check. On the card, I've currently got a balance of about 1,000/12,500, which my interest-free period just expired. I've done a lot of searching but couldn't find any hard evidence or conclusive information on this but: Can I direct deposit a balance transfer to my checking, use it to pay off my purchase balance, not use the card until the balance transfer is paid in full, and be okay? Will taking a balance transfer affect my current purchase balance if I pay it off right away with this balance transfer? I asked Citi and didn't really get a real response and hoping someone out there is familiar with this process. They say future purchaes will be charged interest, but I'm not really sure how this affects the current balance. It appears as if it's pretty much a 0% cash advance.

Anonymous · ‎07-28-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi guys,

I've got a Citi DoubleCash card I've had for a little over a year. Recently I noticed there's an offer on my account for a balance transfer for 0% for 18 months, and you have the option of having it direct deposited into your checking or receive a paper check. On the card, I've currently got a balance of about 1,000/12,500, which my interest-free period just expired. I've done a lot of searching but couldn't find any hard evidence or conclusive information on this but: Can I direct deposit a balance transfer to my checking, use it to pay off my purchase balance, not use the card until the balance transfer is paid in full, and be okay? Will taking a balance transfer affect my current purchase balance if I pay it off right away with this balance transfer? I asked Citi and didn't really get a real response and hoping someone out there is familiar with this process. They say future purchaes will be charged interest, but I'm not really sure how this affects the current balance. It appears as if it's pretty much a 0% cash advance.

Yes you can do all of that but it's not exactly a 0% cash advance. With that balance transfer comes a fee, usually with Citi, 3% or 5%. So it could cost you $30 or $50. Check the terms to make sure. You'll have to compare that fee vs whatever interest you might pay once your promotional period ends and you pay off the balance.

Anonymous · ‎07-28-2017

I have two large purchases coming up in the next week (some dental work and desperately needed new tires) which I view as both essential. It'd be nice to have 0% interest on these balances to ease the burden a little bit. Cash is a little short right now, but looking at it, the roughly $60-80 would be cheaper than carrying the balance and continuing to make payments as is with the interest. To confirm, with my existing purchase balance, the balance transfer wouldn't affect my ability to pay it off right away, in addition to not accruing interest on it? So long as I obviously don't make any future purchases on the card...

K-in-Boston · ‎07-28-2017

Any payment over the minimum payment has to be applied to the balance with the highest APR first. Let's say this BT goes through before your statement closes and you made $500 in purchases and did a BT for $5000. If your minimum payment was $50 and you paid $550, $50 would go to the balance transfer (or more likely the fees) and the $500 would cover your purchases. Any new purchases after the BT may have no grace period and would accrue interest immediately depending on the lender.