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Should I Apply for a 0 APR Balance Transfer Card?

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Should I Apply for a 0 APR Balance Transfer Card?

I now have:

 

4000 on citi AA, APR 17%, CR 9000

2500 on chase United, APR 17, CR 8000

1000 on Fidelity Amex, APR 12, CR 2500

 

My FICO is around 700. If I apply a 0 balance transfter fee 0 APR card (like chase slate, 15month), will it help my credit score?

Message 1 of 10
9 REPLIES 9
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Should I Apply for a 0 APR Balance Transfer Card?

Not really with regards to credit score improvement; you might get a marginal increase from transferring some of your cards to 0; however, your revolving utilization would stay roughly the same once the BT card's aggregate limit is factored in, and you'll tkae a hit for the new account.  Also your BT cards's utilization will be higher than likely the current utilization on any of the other 3 cards, so you'll take another ding there.

 

If you're struggling to pay off your current balances at their current interest rates, then a BT card makes a lot of sense; it probably makes financial sense to do so anyway if you can't simply write a check for the balances; however, FICO wise it's probably a penalty for the next half year to year.




        
Message 2 of 10
bichonmom
Senior Contributor

Re: Should I Apply for a 0 APR Balance Transfer Card?

+1 The point of doing a BT isn't to increase your FICO; it's to save money on interest and pay off the debt asap. Definitely worth doing with the amounts owing you listed.

 

 

EQ FICO 750 | TU FICO 761 (Walmart) | EX FAKO 767 | Goal: 800+

Edits, funky spacing and spelling due to my iPad not getting along with the forum editor!

Message 3 of 10
Creditaddict
Legendary Contributor

Re: Should I Apply for a 0 APR Balance Transfer Card?


@Anonymous wrote:

I now have:

 

4000 on citi AA, APR 17%, CR 9000

2500 on chase United, APR 17, CR 8000

1000 on Fidelity Amex, APR 12, CR 2500

 

My FICO is around 700. If I apply a 0 balance transfter fee 0 APR card (like chase slate, 15month), will it help my credit score?


Your credit score is no good if you have to much debt... So unless you are trying to buy a house in a few months I don't care if my score went down to 500 Fico if I could pay 0% on $7500... You would recoup your 3-4% many cards charge these days for BT then the rest would be just going towards paying off... have you ran the figures on if you continued to pay what you do now all to 1 card? bet it would really make sense then Smiley Happy

 

Message 4 of 10
improvingmycredit
Valued Contributor

Re: Should I Apply for a 0 APR Balance Transfer Card?


@Anonymous wrote:

I now have:

 

4000 on citi AA, APR 17%, CR 9000

2500 on chase United, APR 17, CR 8000

1000 on Fidelity Amex, APR 12, CR 2500

 

My FICO is around 700. If I apply a 0 balance transfter fee 0 APR card (like chase slate, 15month), will it help my credit score?


Hi diablo2man!

Unfortunately, you probably wouldn't qualify for a card that will give you the CL you need to BT all your debt.  (unless you have an in with NFCU).  Most credit card companies won't let you transfer balances from cards they back to another card they back with a lower interest rate so Chase/Citi are out and they own 2 of the best 0% BT offer cards out there.  The only other card I might recommend is Discover and they probably wouldn't give you the CL you need though I think you would be approved for a card (I'm thinking 3K depending on your income).  And +1 with regards to not worrying about your FICO score if you have no major purchases coming up in the near future.  Your FICO will rebound as your debt decreases.

Having to pay all that interest and on top of that to 3 different cards can be a pain and make one feel like you are getting no where fast in getting them paid down.  If I were you, I'd try for a LOC with a CU or a CU credit card with a low interest rate and transfer all balances to one card for one large minimum payment at a lower interest rate.  Do you have any local CUs that you are a member?  With your FICO, you should be able to quality for what you need after speaking with a loan officer and explaining why you want the card/LOC.  That's my 2cents. Smiley Happy


Starting Score: 642
Current Score: EQ 773, EX 780, TU 777 (All FICO)
Goal Score: 800+

Cards: NFCU Flagship 50K, DC 30K, BCP 28.6K, Arrival+ 25K, Citi DP 22.8K, CSR 20.5K, TotalRewards 25K, QuickSilver 20K

Message 5 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Should I Apply for a 0 APR Balance Transfer Card?

thanks. I tried PenFed Personal Loan for Debt Consolidation but they turn me down...

Message 6 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Should I Apply for a 0 APR Balance Transfer Card?

I get


@Creditaddict wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

I now have:

 

4000 on citi AA, APR 17%, CR 9000

2500 on chase United, APR 17, CR 8000

1000 on Fidelity Amex, APR 12, CR 2500

 

My FICO is around 700. If I apply a 0 balance transfter fee 0 APR card (like chase slate, 15month), will it help my credit score?


Your credit score is no good if you have to much debt... So unless you are trying to buy a house in a few months I don't care if my score went down to 500 Fico if I could pay 0% on $7500... You would recoup your 3-4% many cards charge these days for BT then the rest would be just going towards paying off... have you ran the figures on if you continued to pay what you do now all to 1 card? bet it would really make sense then Smiley Happy

 


i guess that's better. I just got a mortgage 2 month ago so I don't care Smiley Happy

 

Thanks,

Message 7 of 10
improvingmycredit
Valued Contributor

Re: Should I Apply for a 0 APR Balance Transfer Card?

Just and FYI... PenFed is extremely hard to qualify for their credit products.  Very conservative!  Do a little research around and find a local CU that is a little more liberal in their lending practices.   When I was rebuilding about 1.7 years ago... I had a EX 620 FICO and was able to secure a CC with a CU that transfered all my debt to one card.  It can be done.   Smiley Happy


Starting Score: 642
Current Score: EQ 773, EX 780, TU 777 (All FICO)
Goal Score: 800+

Cards: NFCU Flagship 50K, DC 30K, BCP 28.6K, Arrival+ 25K, Citi DP 22.8K, CSR 20.5K, TotalRewards 25K, QuickSilver 20K

Message 8 of 10
bichonmom
Senior Contributor

Re: Should I Apply for a 0 APR Balance Transfer Card?

Interesting. I didn't know that if you have balances on CCs like OP does, you can't get a 0% intro BT w/ a diff card with a bank you already have credit with.

 

However, I just got Citi Dividend and they sent me 2 BT checks w/my card today. So, while I have the option of calling them and doing a BT by phone (many people posted on my thread today that that takes several days/weeks to go through), I can also just write one of the checks and deposit it into my ckg acct. Then I can pay my Navy CC as usual. The checks are BT checks w/0% -- NOT a cash advance, just to be clear.

 

So, OP could do something like that, I would assume. He's not avoiding paying the debt; he's only transferring bal to a lower interest rate CC.

 

 

EQ FICO 750 | TU FICO 761 (Walmart) | EX FAKO 767 | Goal: 800+

Edits, funky spacing and spelling due to my iPad not getting along with the forum editor!

Message 9 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Should I Apply for a 0 APR Balance Transfer Card?


@improvingmycredit wrote:

Just and FYI... PenFed is extremely hard to qualify for their credit products.  Very conservative!  Do a little research around and find a local CU that is a little more liberal in their lending practices.   When I was rebuilding about 1.7 years ago... I had a EX 620 FICO and was able to secure a CC with a CU that transfered all my debt to one card.  It can be done.   Smiley Happy


yea i know but I don't quailty any local CU, which is absurd since I live in the largest financial capital in world and work in finance too Smiley Happy

Message 10 of 10
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