Discover it Balance Transfer versus Citi Diamond preferred/Citi simplicity - better BT option?

[c32knight]

Hello all,

Currently in the market for a 0% balance transfer card to wipe out approx 20k over the next 9-12 months. I have been pre approved for the above cards. My question is which is more likely to give a limit close to what I am looking for. I did some lurking/searching in this topic and from what I have gathered, Citi appears to be more conservative with initial limits. I have a Citi double cash card, going on 7 years but with only a 4.5k SL. I use the card once a year to keep it active. Similarly, I have a discover it student card which has a 2.5k SL. Also used a couple times a year to keep active but always 0 balance. Most of my spend is on my Amex Platinum with NPSL (35k internal limit), Amex BCP 25k SL, or CSP 24k SL. I do have a Navy platinum (25k SL) with an 8.99% i could use as my BT card but would like to get something with 0% if possible. 

Additional data points

Fico 8 scores between 752 and 790

Income $400k+

[OmarGB9]

Definitely Discover would probably yield a better SL, especially with your income. Just be aware that Disco will almost certainly ask for tax returns. They claim its to verify identity and not to verify income, but I highly doubt it. Anyway I say this because they require you to permit them to verify your tax info via Equifax, and for some, that's a deal breaker. 

Besides the two you mentioned, there's the Penfed Gold Visa, and BoA usually has pretty good BT offers.

[c32knight]

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@OmarGB9 wrote:

Definitely Discover would probably yield a better SL, especially with your income. Just be aware that Disco will almost certainly ask for tax returns. They claim its to verify identity and not to verify income, but I highly doubt it. Anyway I say this because they require you to permit them to verify your tax info via Equifax, and for some, that's a deal breaker. 

Besides the two you mentioned, there's the Penfed Gold Visa, and BoA usually has pretty good BT offers.

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Thanks for the insights! I didn't even think of Pen Fed and they gave me fantastic terms on my car note. 

[OmarGB9]

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@c32knight wrote:

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@OmarGB9 wrote:

Definitely Discover would probably yield a better SL, especially with your income. Just be aware that Disco will almost certainly ask for tax returns. They claim its to verify identity and not to verify income, but I highly doubt it. Anyway I say this because they require you to permit them to verify your tax info via Equifax, and for some, that's a deal breaker. 

Besides the two you mentioned, there's the Penfed Gold Visa, and BoA usually has pretty good BT offers.

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Thanks for the insights! I didn't even think of Pen Fed and they gave me fantastic terms on my car note. 

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No problem!

And lucky you, I'm in the market for a new car and tried prequalifying with PF, but they said no. At least it wasn't a HP.

But yes, I brought up the Gold with them cause I just got approved for it myself.

[c32knight]

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@OmarGB9 wrote:

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@c32knight wrote:

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@OmarGB9 wrote:

Definitely Discover would probably yield a better SL, especially with your income. Just be aware that Disco will almost certainly ask for tax returns. They claim its to verify identity and not to verify income, but I highly doubt it. Anyway I say this because they require you to permit them to verify your tax info via Equifax, and for some, that's a deal breaker. 

Besides the two you mentioned, there's the Penfed Gold Visa, and BoA usually has pretty good BT offers.

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Thanks for the insights! I didn't even think of Pen Fed and they gave me fantastic terms on my car note. 

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No problem!

And lucky you, I'm in the market for a new car and tried prequalifyiI kng with PF, but they said no. At least it wasn't a HP.

But yes, I brought up the Gold with them cause I just got approved for it myself.

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I lucked out on the car note before interest rates went crazy. And currently have a pre approval for the gold with them. Will probably pull the trigger later today once I do the math on exactly how much I'll save in interest to justify a hard pull and another trade line. 

[Alucard]

I hate discover with a passion. I had two cards with around 10k limit. I used their balance transfer and was making payments sizable payments each month. Then their CEO is in the press stating they are going to restrict credit and look at scaling back limits and next thing you know my credit limit for both cards went from 10k to way lower. Was not worth the hard pull and I regret using them. No other card in my portfilio took such action.

[nbnsraz]

I do think that you would struggling with any of those 3 to hit the 20k limit you need to really capitalize on a BT offer. That said, I think the Diamond Preferred would get you the closest of the three you had mentioned. 

Have you thought about Wells Fargo Reflect? WF seems to be a bit more generous with the limits from my estimations lately. It's also 21 months of 0% interest on BT's. 

[c32knight]

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@nbnsraz wrote:

I do think that you would struggling with any of those 3 to hit the 20k limit you need to really capitalize on a BT offer. That said, I think the Diamond Preferred would get you the closest of the three you had mentioned. 

Have you thought about Wells Fargo Reflect? WF seems to be a bit more generous with the limits from my estimations lately. It's also 21 months of 0% interest on BT's. 

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I applied for the Discover BT card approximately 20 minutes ago and it was a waste of a hard pull IMO. 4k spending limit. I tried applying for the PenFed as they tend to pull EQ while Discover pulled EX, but the site crashed multiple times throughout the process. I am not sure if the application was actually submitted or not, but no other credit pulls have come up so I am assuming not. 

I did see this offer in my WF app earlier today actually. I have been banking with them for almost 20 years so this may be a route as well. Thank you for the suggestion!

[c32knight]

Pulled the trigger on the Citi Simplicity card (3% fee on BT instead of 5% on the Diamond) after being frustrated with PenFed and Discover. Instant 18k approval. 

[pizzadude]

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@c32knight wrote:

Pulled the trigger on the Citi Simplicity card (3% fee on BT instead of 5% on the Diamond) after being frustrated with PenFed and Discover. Instant 18k approval. 

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Congrats on the approval !  Feel free to open a new thread in Credit Card Approvals to continue the discussion.