Using balance transfers to increase usage

Anonymous · ‎12-02-2016

I'm sure many of you get to a point where you have so many cards you cant really use them as much as the card issuers might like. I was wondering if anyone else uses balance transfers to double usage. For instance, instead of just paying the balance on my Discover card. I transfer the entire balance to a Capital One card, and then pay the entire thing. I hope this will lead to larger CLI in the future. Does this make sense?

blondy250 · ‎12-02-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
I'm sure many of you get to a point where you have so many cards you cant really use them as much as the card issuers might like. I was wondering if anyone else uses balance transfers to double usage. For instance, instead of just paying the balance on my Discover card. I transfer the entire balance to a Capital One card, and then pay the entire thing. I hope this will lead to larger CLI in the future. Does this make sense?

Balance transfers have fees, usually 2 to 3 percent, making that a poor way to show usage. It is easier to use a card every few months (3-6 months for me) for a small purchase.

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steelers1 · ‎12-03-2016

Don't do a BT just to show usage.

Pay a bill i.e cable, cell phone, insurance etc. to show usage if you don't want to purchase anything.

Put one bill on each card then rotate them.

You have to pay those bills anyways and you might as well earn some rewards while your at it.

Anonymous · ‎12-03-2016

I don't pay any fees when I do BT with Capital One. I just pay the normal purchase APR, which doesnt matter since I pay the amount off prior to the billing cycle closing.

So, in effect I pay nothing extra, and double my usage. This way I don't run the risk of getting CLD for not using some of my cards enough.

I figured it would be a common practice, but I guess not. I already already pay everything with my credit cards. There are no additonal transactions I could possibly charge, other than just buying stuff and returning it. I purchase items with my Barclay and Discover cards, then just transfer the balance to Capital One.

txtjjs · ‎12-03-2016

Usually BTs are treated like a cash advance in that they start accruing interest from day 1. Regular putchases usually have a grace period. If it's a 0% promo with no fee, it may work, but I would be cautious about interest kicking in. Just something to consider. Have a great weekend!

Anonymous · ‎12-03-2016

I didn't know you could have a card that doesn't charge BT fees outside of an intro period deal.

UncleB · ‎12-03-2016

This might vary from person to person, but I do have a couple of data points to provide.

With Capital One, in my own case they didn't count BTs as usage... I have two Capital One cards that previously were on the same CLI 'schedule'. I had a large BT on my QS MasterCard but very few swipes, and on my QS Visa I had total usage that was less than the BT on the other card. When it came time for a CLI I was granted $1k on the Visa, but for the MC I got the following message:

So the BT didn't help at all.

I think it might have been different with my Discover card, but I can't be sure because at the same time I PIF a large-ish BT I also had a 'bump' in my TU, so there's no clear comparison like there is with Capital One, where for me there's no doubt.

Hope this helps.

thummel · ‎12-03-2016

It's a lot easier to just use the card every so often for something small then to do a balance transfer. Otherwise why have the card at all?

Anonymous · ‎12-03-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
I don't pay any fees when I do BT with Capital One. I just pay the normal purchase APR, which doesnt matter since I pay the amount off prior to the billing cycle closing.
So, in effect I pay nothing extra, and double my usage. This way I don't run the risk of getting CLD for not using some of my cards enough.

I figured it would be a common practice, but I guess not. I already already pay everything with my credit cards. There are no additonal transactions I could possibly charge, other than just buying stuff and returning it. I purchase items with my Barclay and Discover cards, then just transfer the balance to Capital One.

Is it really that hard to just swipe your Cap1 card instead of the Discover or Barclay's from time to time? Unless you are only using each card for one swipe every 6 months, you could add a swipe or two to Cap1. If they are getting no BT fees and no interest, I doubt they are going to reward this behavior.

Anonymous · ‎12-03-2016

@UncleB wrote:
This might vary from person to person, but I do have a couple of data points to provide.

With Capital One, in my own case they didn't count BTs as usage... I have two Capital One cards that previously were on the same CLI 'schedule'. I had a large BT on my QS MasterCard but very few swipes, and on my QS Visa I had total usage that was less than the BT on the other card. When it came time for a CLI I was granted $1k on the Visa, but for the MC I got the following message:

So the BT didn't help at all.

I think it might have been different with my Discover card, but I can't be sure because at the same time I PIF a large-ish BT I also had a 'bump' in my TU, so there's no clear comparison like there is with Capital One, where for me there's no doubt.

Hope this helps.

I just got this on my Quicksilver today - didn't realize I haven't used it (and needed to make a payment) since July. Time to make the quarterly pencil purchase!