Balance Transfer Card-Citi, Slate, or Discover?

[Anonymous]

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@tennisfan78 wrote:

Wow, Congrats!!! Thats awesome. Did they tell you your credit scores?

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Thanks! Citi approved online, so no clue. And talking to the Discover credit analyst(?), I was too nervous initially and too excited afterward to remember to ask the score and which report they were looking at.

I did, however, look at my EQ FICO (via the free 10-day Scorewatch trial) and get my EQ report right before applying. It was 755 and good enough that I felt more confident about just trying my luck online. My initial plan was to apply on the phone or in person in case I needed to make a better case for myself as a grad student on the lower levels of the income totem pole.

I also found helpful Credit Karma's stats on the various cards I was interested in. I had a better idea of the range of credit scores the companies would approve and the initial credit limits they allow. For some cards like the Chase Freedom, the site graphs the average scores approved over time and the data are recent. (Is it bad form to be talking about another site?)

(By the way, I'm the original poster QCFB; I registered anew since I couldn't remember what login details I used previously.)

[Anonymous]

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@rudy0720 wrote:

Citi Simplicity has longest BT terms at 0% for 18 months but does have 3% BT fee

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Yes, that's why I have my fingers crossed for the Freedom card. Given the amount I'm transferring, the $100 cash back should be enough to pay for the 3% BT fee. That, along with the possibility of earning rewards over the long haul, is why I opted to apply for the Freedom over Slate, even though the latter charges no fee for transfers made in the first 60 days.