Balance Transfer Question

[Stralem]

So my sister has three cards: a Barclaycard Rewards ($2700, 22% APR), a Capital One Green Cash ($750, 18.99% APR), and a Citi Simplicity ($1000, 22% APR). She has a $600 balance on the Cap One and a $1700 balance on the Barclaycard. The Simplicity had a $350 balance she just paid off. She asked me if transfering the balance from the Cap One to the Barclaycard and having 2 out of 3 cards reporting a $0 balance would out-weight the double hit of almost maxing out a card with a higher APR than the one that originally held the balance.

I had no idea what to tell her. Honestly I think the effects would cancel each other out, but I'm not willing to bet money on that.

What say you guys?

And if it helps, she planned on paying off the Barclaycard by July, just before she and her idiot husband my dear brother-in-law are to leave for the Bahamas.

[creditnocash]

is there a bt fee for that? 

if shes not applying for any other credit, it really shouldnt matter. the only thing shed be losing is money on interest. 

[Gunnar419]

Has she received any BT checks from any of these card companies? Or has she checked on their websites to see if she has any BT offers online?

Given the high APRs on all the cards and probable BT fees, I don't really see the point in making a balance transfer unless someone's making a low APR offer.

[Stralem]

There is a fee, but I don't know what it is. Probably something like 3%.

She's not applying for any new credit. She probably couldn't get any even if she tried considering she has at least one recent collections on her reports.

I don't think it matters in the grand scheme of things, either, but in the short term? That's where hesitate to provide an answer.

[creditnocash]

---

@Stralem wrote:

There is a fee, but I don't know what it is. Probably something like 3%.

She's not applying for any new credit. She probably couldn't get any even if she tried considering she has at least one recent collections on her reports.

I don't think it matters in the grand scheme of things, either, but in the short term? That's where hesitate to provide an answer.

---

in the short term it really wouldnt matter. if shes not applying for credit, it doesnt matter what her reports look like. 

reports dont have memory of balances, just that they were paid on time. 

[FinStar]

---

@Gunnar419 wrote:

Has she received any BT checks from any of these card companies? Or has she checked on their websites to see if she has any BT offers online?

Given the high APRs on all the cards and probable BT fees, I don't really see the point in making a balance transfer unless someone's making a low APR offer.

---

+1

In the grand scheme of things a low or 0% APR offer would be the best choice if either or both cards have that at this point.  She can check either account if there any available BT promotions.

[user5387]

It might be difficult to figure out which factor outweighs the other in terms of scoring.

I'm not sure that there's a clear starting point for maxing a card.  Some people say 90%, and this thread suggests 80%:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/Magic-line-at-90/td-p/1286243

Even if you don't care about the score hit, there's a risk of AA from other creditors, and a maxed card might trigger such a thing.

If it was me, I think I'd leave things as is.

[Stralem]

Thanks guys. I'll fill in dear sis on her options when I next see her.

Personally, I think she should just pawn some of her gawdy jewelry and pay everything off in one fell swoop, but what do I know... :/