How to Respond to Balance Transfer Question in App?

[audioman00]

Hi All,

When an app asks "Are you interested in a balance transfer?", I've always wondered if your answer impacts your application odds either positively or negatively. I tend to answer "no" and assume I can always initiate one after the app is approved if I choose. 

Thoughts? 

[Shooting-For-800]

Ditto

[Remi1]

I was thinking of asking the same exact thing! Wish there were more responses/insight on this.

I've wondered as well if it affects approval odds, or if it has any impact on SL - such as would they be more likely to give you a higher SL to accomodate the BT amount vs. what SL they'd give without any mention of BT?

(i.e. You'd like to BT $5,000. If you put this on the app, would it increase the odds of them giving you a $5k+ SL to accomdate the BT?)

Like you, I've always assumed I'd wait until after applying to see the SL and do BT after if I wanted to, rather than include it on the app partially because I'm afraid it may negatively affect the app (but I have no idea if it actually does or not).

It'd be really interesting to know the info/experiences on this/any data points. Especially if the time came to get a new card and do a BT, I'd hate to shoot myself in the foot by either including it or not including it in app and hurting chances either way (if it does). Or if it's not mentioned in the app and end up with a lower SL than needed for a BT, when if it HAD been mentioned it could've resulted in a high enough SL to cover BT. Again, not sure if that's a thing or not.. But would love any answers/data on if including a BT amount affects approval odds or could result in someone getting a higher SL (to cover the BT) than they'd get without BT amount included.

(.. I suppose I have many thoughts on this subject  but unfortunately no answers for you, sorry..)

[FinStar]

I tested this variation with 2 different CCs (same lender) and guess what?  No impact to SL or future BT offers.

What this question really prompts (or tracks) is the potential of BT activity and/or potential offers in the future from what I can tell.  Your profile is what's going to drive the approval and the SL (not the questions).  All things considered, a variety of lenders attempt to capture as much data from the get-go to determine the viability of the product.  

[Remi1]

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@FinStar wrote:

I tested this variation with 2 different CCs (same lender) and guess what?  No impact to SL or future BT offers.

What this question really prompts (or tracks) is the potential of BT activity and/or potential offers in the future from what I can tell.  Your profile is what's going to drive the approval and the SL (not the questions).  All things considered, a variety of lenders attempt to capture as much data from the get-go to determine the viability of the product.  

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Can I ask how you tested it? Did you just app for both with BT info included in one and not the other, or were there other aspects to the test? I'd be curious what the test BT amount was and SLs both were.

[FinStar]

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@Remi1 wrote:

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@FinStar wrote:

I tested this variation with 2 different CCs (same lender) and guess what?  No impact to SL or future BT offers.

What this question really prompts (or tracks) is the potential of BT activity and/or potential offers in the future from what I can tell.  Your profile is what's going to drive the approval and the SL (not the questions).  All things considered, a variety of lenders attempt to capture as much data from the get-go to determine the viability of the product.  

---

Can I ask how you tested it? Did you just app for both with BT info included in one and not the other, or were there other aspects to the test? I'd be curious what the test BT amount was and SLs both were.

---

The test was fairly straightforward.  2 different cards that offered BT promotions as part of the introductory offer.  There were no BTs included with the submission, the initial prompts on each application was something along the lines of whether I would be interested/or if the card would be used for BTs.  One application was answered with "yes", the other with "no".  Applications submitted within 10 minutes of each other, both approved.  SL $17,500 each.

I'm fairly sure there could be variations with the results, the bottom line was the initial questions were not influential with the decision.  And, as a hypothetical scenario, if I had submitted a BT of $20K on the app where "yes" was indicated (for illustration purposes), the full BT would've been declined - or partially approved - given that $17.5K was the max they were willing to approve regardless, for 1 card.

[Remi1]

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@FinStar wrote:

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@Remi1 wrote:

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@FinStar wrote:

I tested this variation with 2 different CCs (same lender) and guess what?  No impact to SL or future BT offers.

What this question really prompts (or tracks) is the potential of BT activity and/or potential offers in the future from what I can tell.  Your profile is what's going to drive the approval and the SL (not the questions).  All things considered, a variety of lenders attempt to capture as much data from the get-go to determine the viability of the product.  

---

Can I ask how you tested it? Did you just app for both with BT info included in one and not the other, or were there other aspects to the test? I'd be curious what the test BT amount was and SLs both were.

---

The test was fairly straightforward.  2 different cards that offered BT promotions as part of the introductory offer.  There were no BTs included with the submission, the initial prompts on each application was something along the lines of whether I would be interested/or if the card would be used for BTs.  One application was answered with "yes", the other with "no".  Applications submitted within 10 minutes of each other, both approved.  SL $17,500 each.

I'm fairly sure there could be variations with the results, the bottom line was the initial questions were not influential with the decision.  And, as a hypothetical scenario, if I had submitted a BT of $20K on the app where "yes" was indicated (for illustration purposes), the full BT would've been declined - or partially approved - given that $17.5K was the max they were willing to approve regardless, for 1 card.

---

Wow, thank you for the info! I find it interesting to have solid "testing"/info on this. And that they both got the same exact SLs despite different BT answers (also regardless of answer of BT question, as I know people app back to back and end up sometimes with wildly different SLs). I'm glad someone (you) tried it! As I said in my inital reply to OP I'd be partially afraid to include BT info due to if it'd negatively impact app decision, but the other partial reason would be, as you noted, possibly being approved for a lower SL amount than the BT and then being stuck with a partial BT causing a situation where it may not end up being as useful. However I suppose that partial fear is gone because I (admittedly) just learned that when you app including BT info, most lenders usually give about two weeks to modify or cancel the BT request before it is processed, so it seems. Thank you again for the data!

[FinStar]

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@Remi1 wrote:

---

@FinStar wrote:

---

@Remi1 wrote:

---

@FinStar wrote:

I tested this variation with 2 different CCs (same lender) and guess what?  No impact to SL or future BT offers.

What this question really prompts (or tracks) is the potential of BT activity and/or potential offers in the future from what I can tell.  Your profile is what's going to drive the approval and the SL (not the questions).  All things considered, a variety of lenders attempt to capture as much data from the get-go to determine the viability of the product.  

---

Can I ask how you tested it? Did you just app for both with BT info included in one and not the other, or were there other aspects to the test? I'd be curious what the test BT amount was and SLs both were.

---

The test was fairly straightforward.  2 different cards that offered BT promotions as part of the introductory offer.  There were no BTs included with the submission, the initial prompts on each application was something along the lines of whether I would be interested/or if the card would be used for BTs.  One application was answered with "yes", the other with "no".  Applications submitted within 10 minutes of each other, both approved.  SL $17,500 each.

I'm fairly sure there could be variations with the results, the bottom line was the initial questions were not influential with the decision.  And, as a hypothetical scenario, if I had submitted a BT of $20K on the app where "yes" was indicated (for illustration purposes), the full BT would've been declined - or partially approved - given that $17.5K was the max they were willing to approve regardless, for 1 card.

---

Wow, thank you for the info! I find it interesting to have solid "testing"/info on this. And that they both got the same exact SLs despite different BT answers (also regardless of answer of BT question, as I know people app back to back and end up sometimes with wildly different SLs). I'm glad someone (you) tried it! As I said in my inital reply to OP I'd be partially afraid to include BT info due to if it'd negatively impact app decision, but the other partial reason would be, as you noted, possibly being approved for a lower SL amount than the BT and then being stuck with a partial BT causing a situation where it may not end up being as useful. However I suppose that partial fear is gone because I (admittedly) just learned that when you app including BT info, most lenders usually give about two weeks to modify or cancel the BT request before it is processed, so it seems. Thank you again for the data!

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Sure, anytime @Remi1.

And, yes, even if the question was answered with "no" as far as BTs go, there's still the timeframe to submit them after approval/card received, etc., if one decided to do so after the fact.  So, if the BT option was used 1x, there's the potential that BT offers would likely follow at some point in the future 😁