Barclay BT Question

Absolution16 · ‎09-24-2016

As my signature suggests, my No-AF Barclay Arrival has a whopping $1,500 limit, which I got approved in March 14th of this year.

I've noticed their balance transfer offers on their website for the last couple of weeks, but this week, I got a set of checks for 2 different balance transfer offers from them in the mail.

1. 0% APR until 09/01/2017 with $5 or 2% whichever is greater. (2 blue checks)*

2. 0% APR until 03/01/2018 with $5 or 3% whichever is greater. (2 white checks)*

*Must post by November 1st to take advantage of the offer.

My questions:

1. When October 4th hits, my 7th statement will cut. What are my chances that I may get a SP CLI from them? I have spent on average of about $500 on the card in the first 3 1/2 months, but since then, I have put only about 5 charges totaling less than $100 in the past 3 months or so. It seems you can only get a HP CLI if you request one on the website, so I am assuming you have to call the EO about this?

**NOTE: I don't even need a CLI on this card really. The ONLY reason I MIGHT need it is if they are going to start panicking because I transferred $1,000 into a $1,500 CLI account. Obviously it is a concern of usage ratio on the account.

2. Just how much is safe to transfer into this account? With $1,500 limit and the general concensus that Barclay loves to AA you for things like carrying high balance, is it dangerous to assume that transferring $1,000 is considered unsafe?

I have never done balance transfers before. So I am a total newbie with this thing. Any comments would be appreciated.

Anonymous · ‎09-25-2016

I'd say to use pretty much any card other than Barclay's for a balance transfer ( and yes, I've done successful balance transfers with them and did not have an issue).

Too many people in the board report issues after having done balance transfers with Barclay, especially a BT for a large proportion of the credit limit, as you are proposing to do. It's just not worth the worry and hassle to do it with Barclay's, in my opinion.

Anonymous · ‎09-25-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
I'd say to use pretty much any card other than Barclay's for a balance transfer ( and yes, I've done successful balance transfers with them and did not have an issue).

Too many people in the board report issues after having done balance transfers with Barclay, especially a BT for a large proportion of the credit limit, as you are proposing to do. It's just not worth the worry and hassle to do it with Barclay's, in my opinion.

I agree. I have never gone there. It's just not worth the risk.

Absolution16 · ‎09-25-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I'd say to use pretty much any card other than Barclay's for a balance transfer ( and yes, I've done successful balance transfers with them and did not have an issue).

Too many people in the board report issues after having done balance transfers with Barclay, especially a BT for a large proportion of the credit limit, as you are proposing to do. It's just not worth the worry and hassle to do it with Barclay's, in my opinion.
I agree. I have never gone there. It's just not worth the risk.

Thanks guys both of you for your input.

That's quite unfortunate. I don't know why Barclay is so uptight with everything. If they are gonna be like that, why even bother making offers to begin with?

Anonymous · ‎09-26-2016

I, too, have used my Ring for BTs without any adverse action. No one can say with 100% certainty that doing a BT to a Barclay card causes adverse action. It's a hypothesis that you would have to test for yourself because each credit profile is different. Like with anything your mileage may vary. I will say that if you are an aggressive credit seeker then it may not be in your best interest to BT to a Barclay card because they can be new accounts/inquiry sensitive. It was one of the first things I remember reading about them when I was looking to apply for the Ring.

As KDM has mentioned in numerous threads requesting a BT could cause a manual review of your account. I copied a section from the T&C which references Barclay doing manual reviews for BTs. Please see below.

Reasons we may Decline a Balance Transfer: This offer is subject to credit availability. If your account is closed or your credit line is lowered for any reason, it could affect the available credit on your account and your ability to take advantage of this offer. We reserve the right to conduct a credit review, including obtaining third-party credit reports, to determine your eligibility for this offer. All balance transfer decisions, including decisions to honor balance transfer checks, are made solely at our discretion. Under certain circumstances, including but not limited to failure to maintain your account in good standing and failure to maintain your credit worthiness, we may decline to honor a balance transfer, including a balance transfer check.

Please come back and update your thread with your decision. Best of luck to you!