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Any negatives to balance transfers?

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McNugget
Regular Contributor

Any negatives to balance transfers?

I have some balance transfer offers on a few of my cards, but I've never taken advantage of one before.  Do companies typically lower the credit limit on the card you are transferring from?  Do they try to close the card?  I don't want either of those things to happen, but I'm not sure what to expect.

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Message 1 of 9
8 REPLIES 8
UpperNwGuy
Valued Contributor

Re: Any negatives to balance transfers?

If you transfer all the way up to your credit limit on the card with the 0% offer, your utilization on that card will be very bad.

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Any negatives to balance transfers?

Balance transfers just show up as a payment on the old account. Unless you had it maxed or other behavior that would have resulted in adverse action, it’s very unlikely that paying off your card will result in anything happening other than maybe a credit limit increase. 

Message 3 of 9
McNugget
Regular Contributor

Re: Any negatives to balance transfers?


@UpperNwGuy wrote:

If you transfer all the way up to your credit limit on the card with the 0% offer, your utilization on that card will be very bad.


Thanks for the tip!  *nerd alert* I keep track of that stuff on an Excel spreadsheet, so I'll run some scenarios to see what benefits me the most. 

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Message 4 of 9
longtimelurker
Epic Contributor

Re: Any negatives to balance transfers?


@McNugget wrote:

@UpperNwGuy wrote:

If you transfer all the way up to your credit limit on the card with the 0% offer, your utilization on that card will be very bad.


Thanks for the tip!  *nerd alert* I keep track of that stuff on an Excel spreadsheet, so I'll run some scenarios to see what benefits me the most. 


So just to combine the previous explanations, any problem usually won't occur on the "from" card, the one you are paying off.   It just looks like a normal payment, so only if they are balance chasing you, you should be fine on this card.    Then, on the "to" card, like any purchase, if your balance ends up near the credit limit, your score will suffer.

 

The other issue is to check to see the rules on the card you are balance transferring to.   While some allow you to make purchases and keep the grace period, others don't.   If you lose the grace period, make sure you don't charge anything else to this card until the balance is paid off.

Message 5 of 9
Shooting-For-800
Senior Contributor

Re: Any negatives to balance transfers?

I just write the 0% checks to myself and deposit them.

 

This allows me to pay who I want a when I want.

 

 

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Message 6 of 9
Five6Two
Frequent Contributor

Re: Any negatives to balance transfers?


@Shooting-For-800 wrote:

I just write the 0% checks to myself and deposit them.

 

This allows me to pay who I want a when I want.

 


True, maybe OP does not have that offer available? Usually writing yourself a check and depositing it can take just as long as an electronic Balance Transfer. 

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Message 7 of 9
McNugget
Regular Contributor

Re: Any negatives to balance transfers?


@Five6Two wrote:

@Shooting-For-800 wrote:

I just write the 0% checks to myself and deposit them.

 

This allows me to pay who I want a when I want.

 


True, maybe OP does not have that offer available? Usually writing yourself a check and depositing it can take just as long as an electronic Balance Transfer. 


I don't even know what this means.  Smiley Sad

 

I mean, I know what writing a check to myself does.  I didn't get anything in the mail, if that's what this was talking about; it was just the introductory balance transfer rate (0%, no fee) through the cc company website.  Took less than 30 seconds.  

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Message 8 of 9
Blackswizz750
Established Contributor

Re: Any negatives to balance transfers?

Transferring without a 0% promotion with a BT fee. You might as well keep it on the card with a APR.
Message 9 of 9
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