topic Re: Tempting balance transfer check offer in Credit Cards

Tempting balance transfer check offer

masscredit — Sat, 14 Nov 2015 16:01:45 GMT

I usually don't like to carry balances. Rather just have enough to keep utilization in the 1-2% range. But... I received a couple of balance transfer checks from Barclay. I can write them to myself, 0% until Feb 1st 2017 and only a 1% transaction fee. I would borrow $5K for over 14 months and it would only cost me $50.00. Tempting! I could take that money and invest it at a conservative rate and come up ahead. Hum...

I'd just give up some points by carrying a higher balance on the card for awhile.

Re: Tempting balance transfer check offer

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Nov 2015 16:16:40 GMT

I can only speak from experience! I did a BT into my checking account! I transferred the majority of my CL on Arrival+ to the RMC and wrote myself a check for 5,000, total 5,200, the CL was 7,000, this was in August! I took the time to pay down heavily so I'm atleast at 30% utilization! My score tanked, I currently owe 1,500 and will now just make $300 payments monthly. I haven't recieved a CLD or AA! With all the stories of AA & CLD & Barclay, I'd recommend a backup plan just in case. Good luck on w/e you decide!

Re: Tempting balance transfer check offer

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Nov 2015 17:45:42 GMT

@masscredit wrote:
I usually don't like to carry balances. Rather just have enough to keep utilization in the 1-2% range. But... I received a couple of balance transfer checks from Barclay. I can write them to myself, 0% until Feb 1st 2017 and only a 1% transaction fee. I would borrow $5K for over 14 months and it would only cost me $50.00. Tempting! I could take that money and invest it at a conservative rate and come up ahead. Hum...

I'd just give up some points by carrying a higher balance on the card for awhile.

That is called stoozing and is a very common although risky practice. My suggestion would be to deposit that 5k into a netspend premier as it has a 5%APY

Re: Tempting balance transfer check offer

kdm31091 — Sat, 14 Nov 2015 17:49:52 GMT

Although I do think AA paranoia goes too far sometimes, it seems BTs and Barclays just don't mix well. They seem to get very jumpy when your utilization gets high (via BT or otherwise). I dunno. I wouldn't do it, just because of the risk of the account being CLD or closed later. Nothing in life is completely free. It sounds great to use their money, invest and make a profit but in reality, it's a risky thing to do and not without possible consequences which is why you don't see everyone doing it.

Not to mention that the return on 5k, even at a high rate, is not going to be all that much or a life changing amount. The decision is yours though.

Re: Tempting balance transfer check offer

masscredit — Sat, 14 Nov 2015 19:34:14 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
That is called stoozing and is a very common although risky practice. My suggestion would be to deposit that 5k into a netspend premier as it has a 5%APY

I didn't know it had a name. Currently doing some more research into that.

Re: Tempting balance transfer check offer

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Nov 2015 20:09:43 GMT

Barclay's is weird. They have a reputation for not liking balance transfers, but they send me these checks and eMail offers constantly for both accounts. I took them up on it last month, so we shall see what happens.

Re: Tempting balance transfer check offer

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Nov 2015 20:37:03 GMT

Was going to take them up on 1% fee BT offer on SM but it expired the beginning of November. I can't recall how long it was for, but short enough I decided against it. Now have two new offers 2% for a year and 3% for 18 months IIRC. Might take them up on one of those.

Re: Tempting balance transfer check offer

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Nov 2015 20:38:04 GMT

@masscredit wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
That is called stoozing and is a very common although risky practice. My suggestion would be to deposit that 5k into a netspend premier as it has a 5%APY
I didn't know it had a name. Currently doing some more research into that.

I stumbled into that back in May right after I got serious with my credit. I think I learned about it from a few churning forums. It *CAN* be very risky...but as long as you arent't investing it into the stock market and it has a guaranteed rate of return...I don't see the harm in it. It would basically be a way to make $200 after the bt fee.

I have discussed it here before somewhere, you can have multiple net spend premier cards, basically because once you go over 5k the 5% is diminished. And there are instructions on how to handle your account to avoid fees as well. I was tickled to see netspend have something like that to begin with ya know?

I say go for it unless you make over $100 an hour and your time setting stuff up would be better suited elsewhere.

It is not going to change your life by any means. Barclays may not like it I guess? How important is your relationship with barclays?

We are talking $17 a month here. Maybe you could look into couponing or energy efficency instead....

Re: Tempting balance transfer check offer

masscredit — Sat, 14 Nov 2015 21:16:41 GMT

I value my relationship with Barclays but I don't think they'd really care what the money is used for. One of the suggestions that they list is just writting myself a check. I got the energy efficency covered. It's pretty much a way of life now. My highest electric bill during the Summer was just over $90.00 (that's with central air). Current bill is $32.00. That is down 2/3 from the same time last year. Something that I do once in awhile is look for bank offers for opening a new account. Recent rewards from doing that were $50.00 from one bank (kept that account) and $200.00 from other (worst bank I've ever dealt with. closed the account after I got the money). That money went towards last month's vacation. I also do the coupon thing once in away. Not as good as some others but I can do ok. Do very well at CVS!

I don't expect something like this to be life changing. Would be nice to take $5K, invest it at 10% and come out with an extra $500.00 with very little work. Okay, maybe $350.00 after taxes. That would go towards another vacation. Plus it would run up the account balance and show that it's been paid down over time instead of doing a PIF before the statement closes. I wouldn't want to go much beyound $5K. Don't want my score to take to much of a hit and also wouldn't want to spook them.

Strange that they present these offers to people then start balance chasing some accounts when they are used.

Re: Tempting balance transfer check offer

pizza1 — Sat, 14 Nov 2015 21:24:50 GMT

@masscredit wrote:
I value my relationship with Barclays but I don't think they'd really care what the money is used for. One of the suggestions that they list is just writting myself a check. I got the energy efficency covered. It's pretty much a way of life now. My highest electric bill during the Summer was just over $90.00 (that's with central air). Current bill is $32.00. That is down 2/3 from the same time last year. Something that I do once in awhile is look for bank offers for opening a new account. Recent rewards from doing that were $50.00 from one bank (kept that account) and $200.00 from other (worst bank I've ever dealt with. closed the account after I got the money). That money went towards last month's vacation. I also do the coupon thing once in away. Not as good as some others but I can do ok. Do very well at CVS!

I don't expect something like this to be life changing. Would be nice to take $5K, invest it at 10% and come out with an extra $500.00 with very little work. Okay, maybe $350.00 after taxes. That would go towards another vacation. Plus it would run up the account balance and show that it's been paid down over time instead of doing a PIF before the statement closes. I wouldn't want to go much beyound $5K. Don't want my score to take to much of a hit and also wouldn't want to spook them.

Strange that they present these offers to people then start balance chasing some accounts when they are used.

Hey Mass...

I know theres been a lot of cray cray talk about Barclays lately and AA, and I do still stand firm on NOT doing a BT, or whatever is youre doing. Its a risk you take with any lender, I know you already know that, since youve thought it out some. Im a firm believer that when you take advantage of BT's, and checks from Barclays, that somehow you get flagged in their system in the future. Ive been researching them, and taking notes literally for the last 2 yrs, and Ive decided they are my PIF lender.

Theyre are known for not taking AA immediately, its always a few months down the road. Barclays is a lender you want to PIF with monthly for best results, LOL.. Just my personal take. But if you decide, I wish you good luck, and hope it all works out.

Re: Tempting balance transfer check offer

masscredit — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 04:51:12 GMT

@pizza1 wrote:
@masscredit wrote:
I value my relationship with Barclays but I don't think they'd really care what the money is used for. One of the suggestions that they list is just writting myself a check. I got the energy efficency covered. It's pretty much a way of life now. My highest electric bill during the Summer was just over $90.00 (that's with central air). Current bill is $32.00. That is down 2/3 from the same time last year. Something that I do once in awhile is look for bank offers for opening a new account. Recent rewards from doing that were $50.00 from one bank (kept that account) and $200.00 from other (worst bank I've ever dealt with. closed the account after I got the money). That money went towards last month's vacation. I also do the coupon thing once in away. Not as good as some others but I can do ok. Do very well at CVS!

I don't expect something like this to be life changing. Would be nice to take $5K, invest it at 10% and come out with an extra $500.00 with very little work. Okay, maybe $350.00 after taxes. That would go towards another vacation. Plus it would run up the account balance and show that it's been paid down over time instead of doing a PIF before the statement closes. I wouldn't want to go much beyound $5K. Don't want my score to take to much of a hit and also wouldn't want to spook them.

Strange that they present these offers to people then start balance chasing some accounts when they are used.
Hey Mass...

I know theres been a lot of cray cray talk about Barclays lately and AA, and I do still stand firm on NOT doing a BT, or whatever is youre doing. Its a risk you take with any lender, I know you already know that, since youve thought it out some. Im a firm believer that when you take advantage of BT's, and checks from Barclays, that somehow you get flagged in their system in the future. Ive been researching them, and taking notes literally for the last 2 yrs, and Ive decided they are my PIF lender.

Theyre are known for not taking AA immediately, its always a few months down the road. Barclays is a lender you want to PIF with monthly for best results, LOL.. Just my personal take. But if you decide, I wish you good luck, and hope it all works out.

Thanks for the advice! I've found that when I take advantage of one of their offers, they start sending me more. Seems like I get them every couple of weeks after that. I took advantage of their deferred interest promotion for Apple products a few weeks ago. Then I received these checks. Same happened when I used a BT check last year. They kept pouring in after that.

Re: Tempting balance transfer check offer

myjourney — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 05:05:00 GMT

I get these checks at least once a month for the last 3 years and I would say the people that use them the majority see no Ill effects down the road

I think what needs to be looked at with Barclay's BT is if those BT's with adverse effects had been a BT from another lender?

The old move balance from A when 0% ends over to B and finally ending up with lender C and not making a big dent in the amount .....it happens for sure

Any lender on account review could certainly detect/spot this pattern and say oh no no no I'm going to make money off of this loan

Let see Chase had 3600 balance up until May when Discover opened with a 3500 balance 11 months later Cap 1 opens with a 2900 balance and each time a new card opened the previous card dropped to 0 balance .....

That being said check your math to be safe because I've never seen a check with 1% BT fee

5K BT for $50?

Usually they're 3-4% min $5

Re: Tempting balance transfer check offer

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 14:05:57 GMT

@masscredit wrote:
I value my relationship with Barclays but I don't think they'd really care what the money is used for. One of the suggestions that they list is just writting myself a check. I got the energy efficency covered. It's pretty much a way of life now. My highest electric bill during the Summer was just over $90.00 (that's with central air). Current bill is $32.00. That is down 2/3 from the same time last year. Something that I do once in awhile is look for bank offers for opening a new account. Recent rewards from doing that were $50.00 from one bank (kept that account) and $200.00 from other (worst bank I've ever dealt with. closed the account after I got the money). That money went towards last month's vacation. I also do the coupon thing once in away. Not as good as some others but I can do ok. Do very well at CVS!

I don't expect something like this to be life changing. Would be nice to take $5K, invest it at 10% and come out with an extra $500.00 with very little work. Okay, maybe $350.00 after taxes. That would go towards another vacation. Plus it would run up the account balance and show that it's been paid down over time instead of doing a PIF before the statement closes. I wouldn't want to go much beyound $5K. Don't want my score to take to much of a hit and also wouldn't want to spook them.

Strange that they present these offers to people then start balance chasing some accounts when they are used.

I think you have a solid plan masscredit. Like another poster stated make sure you check your math and read the fine print on your BT offer. I do BTs all the time on my Ring cc to give it use and, to date, I have not experienced AA.

Unless you're looking to buy a home or apply for new credit, I wouldn't worry about utilization. I don't know anything about netspend but I think earning money for very little work is always a plus. Enjoy! Please let us know what you decide to do.

Re: Tempting balance transfer check offer

masscredit — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 15:25:56 GMT

I'm looking at the checks now. There are actually two sets of checks. They are -

The first two (blue) -

0% promotional APR through at least February 1, 2017

Transaction fee: Greater of $5 pr 1%

The second two (white) -

0% promotional APR tjough at least May 1, 2017

Transaction fee: Greater of $5 or 3%

Transaction(s) most post to account by January 4, 2016

Promotional APR through the last day of the billing cycle that ends on or after February 1st / May 1st.

Others here might see this offer too.

I'm taking a look into the Netspend to see what it's about.

Re: Tempting balance transfer check offer

vayub4 — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 15:39:16 GMT

I got this same offer about 2 months ago. Too bad my Barclay has only $3k limit.... I took $2500 in my checking account and paid only $25 in fees!!! And nothing has changed as far as my relationship with them is concerned. Limit is still the same, though my scores took a little hit, i don't really care about it because I don't plan to app for anything soon. I also kno that the scores will be back up as soon as I pay it off in december 2016

Re: Tempting balance transfer check offer

datrucking210 — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 17:32:46 GMT

In our experience, we have been carrying a balance of $2400 on my DW barclays reward CC since February of this year. It was an emergency and she wrote a check to herself. This was around the time her CL was $2500 so she almost maxed it out. A couple a days later she got an CLI of 1k automatically. Is like she got rewarded. We have made a couple of purchases but paying those in full and just leaving the $2,400 since it's 0% interest till April 2016. A couple of weeks ago she got another increase and now her CL is $4,450. We haven't experience any AA yet but we do plan to pay it off in February.

Re: Tempting balance transfer check offer

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 18:47:44 GMT

@masscredit wrote:
I'm looking at the checks now. There are actually two sets of checks. They are -

The first two (blue) -
0% promotional APR through at least February 1, 2017
Transaction fee: Greater of $5 pr 1%

The second two (white) -
0% promotional APR tjough at least May 1, 2017
Transaction fee: Greater of $5 or 3%

Transaction(s) most post to account by January 4, 2016

Promotional APR through the last day of the billing cycle that ends on or after February 1st / May 1st.

Others here might see this offer too.

I'm taking a look into the Netspend to see what it's about.

I trust your judgement masscredit. You will make the right decision for yourself.

Re: Tempting balance transfer check offer

vanillabean — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 19:20:31 GMT

How can other lenders tell introductory 0% APR vs promotional 0% APR vs regular credit card interest?

Re: Tempting balance transfer check offer

myjourney — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 19:29:33 GMT

@Anonymous-own-fico wrote:
How can other lenders tell introductory 0% APR vs promotional 0% APR vs regular credit card interest?

They can't

However they can see balances and monthly payments which if you think about it can say just what amount you've paid and how long the amount has and is being carried

3600 balance May 2015

25.00 monthly paid June 2015 through Feb 2016 (minimum payments)

Re: Tempting balance transfer check offer

vanillabean — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 01:14:46 GMT

And then of course it's often said never to charge anything to card when used in a 0% APR period. But if I remember correctly, it's okay as long as you pay in full the charges as well as the promotional balance minimum. Have forgotten though whether those charges have to paid within the billing cycle or within the corresponding grace period!

Added: Revisited a summary of the Credit Card Act, see Higher Interest Rate Balances Paid First, so the grace period. Maybe.