Balance Transfer

[SoSoBorenNu]

I have an offer from Mercury (former Barclay card) 5.99% APR on Balance Transfers for 9 months, 24.74% variable APR after that I would love to use to clear my only balace which is an AMEX Bonvoy card  Balance around 4K  so I can pay it quicker at lower interest.  I have only had this AMEX card (limit 10K)  for 4 months and have paid off all charges up until now in full.  My daughters wedding last month has run my reserves down.  Is there any reason transfering this balance is a risk or unwise decision?

[Anonymous]

Is there a balance transfer fee?
What is the available credit on the Mercury card?

[Anonymous]

Will you be able to pay off this balance in the 9 months? Will there be a BT fee?

If there’s no BT fee and you’re just paying 5.99% interest, I’d do it

[SoSoBorenNu]

The fee is 3% of the balance transfered (min $5) and the limit is $6,400 - good questions.  Thoughts?

[NRB525]

There’s not likely any consequences for doing the BT. Barclays will be happy to see you pay it down.

On the AMEX Bonvoy, are you eligible for Plan It? This allows you to designate large individual charges over $100 to pay over time with a set monthly fee. I also have a variation to combine up to ten items over $100 each, into one Plan. This may give you options at a similar actual APR, to pay it down on the AMEX at less than full interest cost compared to if you simply triggered interest on the AMEX. Placing items in a Plan It also isolates them, so you don’t start paying interest on everything else you charge.

[SoSoBorenNu]

Thanks for the reply! I do actually see the “plan it” feature and had not looked into what. It was. I didn’t realize there was an extra benefit there. I will look into that today. I feel silly I didn’t look into that more- thanks!

[Anonymous]

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@SoSoBorenNu wrote:

I have an offer from Mercury (former Barclay card) 5.99% APR on Balance Transfers for 9 months, 24.74% variable APR after that I would love to use to clear my only balace which is an AMEX Bonvoy card  Balance around 4K  so I can pay it quicker at lower interest.  I have only had this AMEX card (limit 10K)  for 4 months and have paid off all charges up until now in full.  My daughters wedding last month has run my reserves down.  Is there any reason transfering this balance is a risk or unwise decision?

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Only potential problem I can think of relates to the limit of the Mercury card and the 63% utilization the BT would cause on it. Not a big deal if you're not needing every FICO point for a while, but it's really about the max util threshold I'd ever want to go personally.

Plus that 3% fee is $120. Depending on the interest rate on the Bonvoy and how fast you're going to pay it off, $120 + 5.99% interest on $4k for however long might not even be a savings.

[SoSoBorenNu]

Thanks for triggering me to look at the obvious- the "plan it" feature is a great option.  I can't believe I had not investigated that further.  I will be using the BT for a smaller Pottert Barn balance.  Thanks!

[HeavenOhio]

If the AMEX card is only four months old, wouldn't it have 0% interest for several months?

[FlaDude]

I'm not sure how open you are to getting a new card, but there are many that offer 0% for a lot more than 9 months, and a few that even offer no transfer fee on top of that. Amex ED, Chase Slate, BOA come to mind.