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Best Balance Transfer?

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elvigy
Contributor

Best Balance Transfer?

Hi-new to the board and have a question. I'll try to keep it focused and not ramble. Smiley Happy

 

I had a Citi credit card a few years ago that had a $25,000 limit on it. I owed about 22k or so back in 2009 when they decided to raise my interest rate to 30%, even though I had never once paid late. The only way to stop that was to cancel the card and pay it off at the then current rate of 17%, which I've been doing. The balance is now about $6,500. Since that was my only credit card, I have lived without a cc for three years. The only debt I had was that card and my mortgage. Recently, though, I had to buy a new car since my old one pooped out on me. That was about 2 weeks ago so now I have a car payment starting in August and wanted to reduce the amount I'm paying towards the Citi card. I had been paying $550.00 a month but will need to cut that down to $300.00 to maintain my finances. But it seems sensible to try and transfer that balance to a new card to stretch the $300/month a little further.

 

As mentioned, I have no debts other than mortgage, the balance on the Citi card (which was closed at my request) and a new car loan which I don't think has shown up yet on my file. I do have the inquiries from obtaining the car loan (there were about 6 from a 2-3 day period). I only know my Equifax score which is 744. I have copies of the reports from all 3 agencies and no derogatory information.

 

So finally, I get to the question. What card would be best to transfer this debt? I was looking at the Chase Slate since it has 0 transfer fee and 0% APR for 15 months, but I keep reading that this card is hard to get and even if you do get it, the limit will be low, which won't do me any good. What do you think my chances of getting at least a $7k limit with them are? If low, what other card would be a better shot to accomplish a reasonable balance transfer?

 

Thanks for any suggestions!

Amex BCP | Barclaycard Arrival WMC | Chase Freedom Unlimited | Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature | Discover IT
Message 1 of 18
17 REPLIES 17
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Best Balance Transfer?

What does your cr say about the Citi cc?

Welcome to the forum!
Message 2 of 18
elvigy
Contributor

Re: Best Balance Transfer?

Thanks.

 

All 3 say the same thing-always paid on time, account closed at customer request, limit was $25k current balance is $6900. Highest balance was $22k.

 

Edit-Also, I didn't think to mention it but I did have other cards in the past. They're all closed now (I didn't know not to do that). They all show as closed by customer and all paid on time. There was a Target card and one or two other Visa or Mastercards, but don't have the report in front of me right now to list details. Does that help?

Amex BCP | Barclaycard Arrival WMC | Chase Freedom Unlimited | Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature | Discover IT
Message 3 of 18
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Best Balance Transfer?

So, no existing open lines cr?
Message 4 of 18
elvigy
Contributor

Re: Best Balance Transfer?

Er, cr? Line of credit? Not sure of all the lingo lol. But no, I don't have any open credit cards or loans beyond the mortgage (12 years) and now the new car loan. I've lived off the debit card from my checking account.

Amex BCP | Barclaycard Arrival WMC | Chase Freedom Unlimited | Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature | Discover IT
Message 5 of 18
HiLine
Blogger

Re: Best Balance Transfer?

The Slate should not be hard to get for a high credit limit. Your credit history looks good. With some reasonable income you should be able to get a reasonable limit on the Slate. It may be worth your time going over previous threads on the card to match the limits with applicants' income.

Message 6 of 18
elvigy
Contributor

Re: Best Balance Transfer?

Thanks! I'm searching now and it's hard to find a similar situation. Most people seem to have quite a few cards here. Smiley Happy

 

I make 57k a year so a 7k credit card doesn't seem out of line to me but who knows. My main fear is to end up with a limit too low to do me any good. Then I'm still paying 17% and applying somewhere else. Or would it be OK to apply with Chase and cancel it if I didn't get a high enough limit?

Amex BCP | Barclaycard Arrival WMC | Chase Freedom Unlimited | Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature | Discover IT
Message 7 of 18
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Best Balance Transfer?

Are you near a Chase branch? If so, I'd suggest speaking with a banker as your cr history is good but you have no open lines. They may have issues with that and the best way is to talk with them directly.

Chase is really good on recons so you have a good chance if your CL is insufficient.
Message 8 of 18
elvigy
Contributor

Re: Best Balance Transfer?

Hmm, good idea but according to their website there is not a branch within 30 miles of me. I may just pull the trigger and see. Even if worse comes to worst, I'll just keep paying the 17%.

 

Edit-So I just found out about the Credit Karma and Credit Sesame sites and gave those a shot. According to Credit Karma my score is 769 and Credit Sesame is even more generous with 810. That seems a bit much compared to the score I got from myfico.com based on Equifax. Are those sites reliable?

Amex BCP | Barclaycard Arrival WMC | Chase Freedom Unlimited | Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature | Discover IT
Message 9 of 18
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Best Balance Transfer?

Good luck! Remember, you can still recon and explain your lack of open cc's
Message 10 of 18
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