Balance Transfer Apocalypse

[Anonymous]

Currently I have the following issuers allowing me to do balance transfers:

Discover and Citi.

Citi allows BT into checking accounts...

But Discover is only allowing balance transfers to creditor accounts.

So what if I...

1. Did a City BT into my checking for cash...

2. Then did a discover BT to hold the City BT debt...

3. Then did a 2nd City BT for more cash?

Is this a brilliant loophole or am I missing something important that makes this a bad idea?

(If I sound like a reckless consumer, I'm not. I've been using BTs as easy/cheap money to buy discounted ad inventory. Hence my obsession with finding new BTs that deposit cash.)

[frugal47374]

I don't see that as unethical.

I do BT when I have 0% deals (since, aside from that, I always PIF.)  So if I use a BT to pay off a credit card reaching the end of a 0% deal, I'm doing the equivalent.  Increasing my cash position over what it would have been if I hadn't done the BT.

[wasCB14]

I am not a BT expert, but I'd just give a general caution that with high unemployment, a lender may close a customer's account if it sees something that raises concerns. Even if you're willing to provide a recent tax return, a lender may be worried you'll lose that income.

[Anonymous]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

I am not a BT expert, but I'd just give a general caution that with high unemployment, a lender may close a customer's account if it sees something that raises concerns. Even if you're willing to provide a recent tax return, a lender may be worried you'll lose that income.

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Yes, I understand these are sensitive times.

I've concluded: it's a matter of how much are the rewards worth the risk. I've had Risk managers retaliate against me once, but my diversification made my "punishment" so much less severe. 

If this plan can be executed, my only dilemma would be the utilization ratio.

My guess is that my usual 65% would now be considered too risky in this current climate.

[Anonymous]

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@frugal47374 wrote:

I don't see that as unethical.

I do BT when I have 0% deals (since, aside from that, I always PIF.)  So if I use a BT to pay off a credit card reaching the end of a 0% deal, I'm doing the equivalent.  Increasing my cash position over what it would have been if I hadn't done the BT.

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My thoughts exactly.

I like holding onto cash for as long as possible.

BTs have been the easiest/cheapest way to leverage other people's money.

It's just a new "loophole" I thought off to get around the "BT crunch". You can probably tell Im not use to "loopholes" unless you consider a BT as one that circumvents the cash advance process, ha. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Currently I have the following issuers allowing me to do balance transfers:

Discover and Citi.

Citi allows BT into checking accounts...

But Discover is only allowing balance transfers to creditor accounts.

So what if I...

1. Did a City BT into my checking for cash...

2. Then did a discover BT to hold the City BT debt...

3. Then did a 2nd City BT for more cash?

Is this a brilliant loophole or am I missing something important that makes this a bad idea?

(If I sound like a reckless consumer, I'm not. I've been using BTs as easy/cheap money to buy discounted ad inventory. Hence my obsession with finding new BTs that deposit cash.)

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I have 2 disc cards.

That would mean 3 balance transfers from the same card.

My gut feeling is: Big chunks of credit moving back and forth in such short time would raise major red flags with the issuer that allows me cash BTs.

[Anonymous]

@Anonymous I merged your posts on BT. 
I see previous threads were also merged. To avoid future issues, refer to our User Guidelines and our Terms of Service.

[NRB525]

OP, it seems that you have created a Balance Transfer situation by starting three threads on the same topic here at MyFICO.

Before providing any commentary, please share some details on the scope of these BT:

Which CC do you already have,

each card limit,

and currently how much owed on each. 
When you buy ad inventory, do these sellers take credit cards?

The size and speed of BT, combined with tightening down credit requirements can be a flag.

[Anonymous]

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@NRB525 wrote:

OP, it seems that you have created a Balance Transfer situation by starting three threads on the same topic here at MyFICO.

Before providing any commentary, please share some details on the scope of these BT:

Which CC do you already have,

each card limit,

and currently how much owed on each. 
When you buy ad inventory, do these sellers take credit cards?

The size and speed of BT, combined with tightening down credit requirements can be a flag.

---

I had one thread lamenting the lost of BTs.

Later on I came up with an idea to get around the lack of available BTs and created another thread for that.

They both got merged.

I have all the major CCs. Chase. Discover. Citi. Amex. Cap1 etc. etc. Minimum of two for each brand.

On average about 10k credit limit each.

I use an amex card for revolving life expenses. Its under $1k debt.

I hold another $1k debt on another amex.

And a final $1k on discover. 

By the end of next week the debt on two out of three of theses cards will be wiped away.

And finally, the inventory is cheaper when paid in cash.

Credit score sitting above 760. But each Credit report varies greatly on inquiries. EX has a lot while TU has almost none.

[Anonymous]

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@NRB525 wrote:

OP, it seems that you have created a Balance Transfer situation by starting three threads on the same topic here at MyFICO.

The size and speed of BT, combined with tightening down credit requirements can be a flag.

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When you say "flag" do you reckon they would stop the balance transfer from going through?