balance transfer general question

[SantaMar]

i owe 2k left on a card and the promo is going to expire.  i spoke to the card company (citi) and they keep promoting this balance transfer im approved for.  the say they can deposit the money in any account i want or even send me a check or whatever i want to do....

i was considering having them deposit the money in my wells fargo checking account...i dont have a citi account because i just have a credit card with them...im approved for like a 7500 balance transfer but i was thinking if i really wanted to avoid interest, i can have citi deposit 2k into my wells fargo checking account and then a couple weeks later use the wells fargo checking account to pay my citi credit card balance of 2k....that way i will avoid paying the 18% credit card rate after my promo expires and i will take advantage of the 0% balance transfer for 12 months....(the balance transfer only cost me 100 bucks) 

am i missing something??

[Swapmeet]

I have never heard of a balance transfer where a bank gives you money...that sounds like a cash advance to me. 

[mxp114]

I actually did this once before, made a check payable to myself and deposited for the 3.99% APR and $0 in fees. It appeared as a BT, some offers allow this.

[slick_shoes_182]

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@SantaMar wrote:

i owe 2k left on a card and the promo is going to expire.  i spoke to the card company (citi) and they keep promoting this balance transfer im approved for.  the say they can deposit the money in any account i want or even send me a check or whatever i want to do....

i was considering having them deposit the money in my wells fargo checking account...i dont have a citi account because i just have a credit card with them...im approved for like a 7500 balance transfer but i was thinking if i really wanted to avoid interest, i can have citi deposit 2k into my wells fargo checking account and then a couple weeks later use the wells fargo checking account to pay my citi credit card balance of 2k....that way i will avoid paying the 18% credit card rate after my promo expires and i will take advantage of the 0% balance transfer for 12 months....(the balance transfer only cost me 100 bucks) 

am i missing something??

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Many banks offer 0% "balance transfer" promotions than can be direct deposited and used in the manner you described. The small print is that there usually is a fee (probably 3% to 5%.. so if you were going to pay the 2K off right away, prepaying the 3% to 5% balance transfer fee could be a high effective amount to borrow for a short time period). Also note, at the end of a 0% APR, when you direct deposit the money, the APR for any unpaid balance wil typically be at the cash advance APR, which is often higher than the regular APR. Hopefully you would have the balance paid off by that time, anyways.

If its going to take you a while to pay off the 2K, then it may save you some money to use the direct deposit balance transfer. First, you should probably call and ask Citi if they can simply extend the balance transfer promo. I wouldn't count on it happening, but I recently heard of someone getting an extension from one of the credit card companies on this board. I'm always amazed at how much you can get if you ask. The worst that could happen is that you're in the same situation as before you asked.

Good luck!