Using my NFCU cashRewards for a balance transfer...

[Anonymous]

Anyone have experience doing a balance transfer on their NFCU credit card? I'm trying to cash in on the 2.99 APR promotion going on but I was curious as to how long (ballpark) it usually takes. I chatted with a CSR yesterday and they said "up to 2 weeks" but is that really the case?

Also, does anyone have experience doing a balance transfer on a NFCU card that already has a balance? It seems like it could get confusing.I've never done a bank transfer before so maybe it's confusing to me bc I have no idea what I'm doing.  I've currently got a balance of about $2000 (out of $10,100 limit) on my cashRewards card and I thought maybe applying for another one of their cards and doing the balance transfer on that one would be easier but no dice. They denied my application so I'm waiting for my nice little letter in the mail to tell me why. Just want to see what the consensus is before I plunge head first into unknown territory. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I've balance transferred into NFCU -- typically takes, I think, around 5 business days.

As far as your card already having a balance... someone correct me if i'm wrong: the BT automatically starts accruing interest the day it posts. Your current balance, assuming those charges are accruing interest, accrue interest at the standard rate, while the BT accrues at 2.99%. Your payment will then go toward paying down the balance with the higher interest first, so it will go toward your already existing balance then the BT once that's paid off.

[DeeBee78]

General advice for any card (not just NFCU) is to not use the card during a special financing promotion, like deferred interest, or balance transfers. You also shouldn't BT to a card that has a balance on it already because you won't even make a dent in the balance transfer until you pay off the higher interest balance first. This might cost you more money than paying down the balance as you normally would.

About 10 years ago, Discover had a promotion - 0% interest for the life of the balance. Sounds great right? Well, the fine print said you had to post two transactions per billing period, and it had a minimum dollar amount on it as well. This meant you would accrue interest on the new transactions (at 17% or so, if I remember correctly), until you had paid off your "zero" percent BT.