Balance transfer more than I owe - what issues?

[frugal47374]

I have a new NFCU card offering $0 fee, 0% for 15 months balance transfers (for the next 30 days).

What happens if I do a balance transfer of more than I owe on the other card?

If, for instance, there were absolutely no repercussions, it would seem to make sense to transfer the amount of my credit limit to a card offering 2% bonus on purchases, in effect giving that 2% card an additional 0% for 15 month bonus.

But since I'm surely not the first person to think of this, it seems that something makes this strategy impossible or risky.

[pizzadude]

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@frugal47374 wrote:

I have a new NFCU card offering $0 fee, 0% for 15 months balance transfers (for the next 30 days).

What happens if I do a balance transfer of more than I owe on the other card?

If, for instance, there were absolutely no repercussions, it would seem to make sense to transfer the amount of my credit limit to a card offering 2% bonus on purchases, in effect giving that 2% card an additional 0% for 15 month bonus.

But since I'm surely not the first person to think of this, it seems that something makes this strategy impossible or risky.

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I think this depends on what the other CC would do with a check that's greater than the balance;  they might take it and leave a credit balance on your account but I suspect at some point they'd mail you a check for the difference if you have a rolling credit balance for a few statements so I'm not sure you'd achieve your desired results this way.

[SweetCreditObsession]

I agree that this does seem risky. Please let us know how you proceed.

[Anonymous]

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@pizzadude wrote:

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@frugal47374 wrote:

I have a new NFCU card offering $0 fee, 0% for 15 months balance transfers (for the next 30 days).

What happens if I do a balance transfer of more than I owe on the other card?

If, for instance, there were absolutely no repercussions, it would seem to make sense to transfer the amount of my credit limit to a card offering 2% bonus on purchases, in effect giving that 2% card an additional 0% for 15 month bonus.

But since I'm surely not the first person to think of this, it seems that something makes this strategy impossible or risky.

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I think this depends on what the other CC would do with a check that's greater than the balance;  they might take it and leave a credit balance on your account but I suspect at some point they'd mail you a check for the difference if you have a rolling credit balance for a few statements so I'm not sure you'd achieve your desired results this way.

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I imagine this is what would happen. After a certain period of time the bank issuing the card you transferred the balance to would likely send a check for the creditamount on the card.

If NFCU allows BTs as a check or direct deposit to your bank account you could always put that money into an account that you will only use to pay off that 2% card. This would essentially achieve the same thing as transferring an excess to your CC but would require a little more oversight on your part.

[SoCalGardener]

I agree with everyone else. Speaking from my own recent experience, after a refund was applied to one of my Mastercards, it gave me a negative balance. I didn't even do anything, like request it, and they cut a check and sent it to me within a few days. So I don't think there's anything to gain with your plan/idea.

Of course, every issuer has different rules, so checking with the specific card companies ahead of time might be a good idea.

[frugal47374]

I don't think I've been clear what my goal is.

My ultimate goal is to borrow as much money at 0% interest as possible. 

Since NFCU doesn't allow the balance transfer to be directly to me, my method is to transfer the 0% money to credit cards and then I could spend that as I choose.

If the recipient of the balance transfer sent me a check for the credit balance, that's fine.  That accomplishes my goal of borrowing at 0%, just with some extra steps.

So far I've done balance transfers rounding up to nearest $100.  I'm just wondering if I did more if anyone would complain.  Nearest $1000?  Nearest $5000?

It sounds like no one here has had experience doing that so I'll give this some thought....

[gdale6]

I have done this. I moved 5K from a commerical bank to my CU credit card that has no cash advance fees. As soon as the -5K registered in the account I just transferred the full amount to my CU checking account. I have done this several times without so much as a question. The banks are not going to let a large negative balance sit for too long, per banking laws they have to refunded it if a credit balance remains after 3 statement cuts but as I said large negatives get checks issued pretty quick.

[Loquat]

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@frugal47374 wrote:

I have a new NFCU card offering $0 fee, 0% for 15 months balance transfers (for the next 30 days).

What happens if I do a balance transfer of more than I owe on the other card?

If, for instance, there were absolutely no repercussions, it would seem to make sense to transfer the amount of my credit limit to a card offering 2% bonus on purchases, in effect giving that 2% card an additional 0% for 15 month bonus.

But since I'm surely not the first person to think of this, it seems that something makes this strategy impossible or risky.

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I would think the more important question would be if it's a good idea to max out a new card regardless of the goal you're trying to achieve.  I would tread lightly with a new card and proceed with a bit of caution.  

[Anonymous]

You can always just deposit it directly to your account. Call your bank and get their deposit mailing address and put your checking account number as the account number for the BT and put in the deposit mailing address. Money shows up in a week or so. 

[frugal47374]

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@Anonymous wrote:

You can always just deposit it directly to your account. Call your bank and get their deposit mailing address and put your checking account number as the account number for the BT and put in the deposit mailing address. Money shows up in a week or so. 

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Thanks for pointing that out.  I've never heard of that but I found some old discussions of this on the Internet.

First time for me makes it a little scary ... but I may try that.