Credit limit reallocation with Wells Fargo Reflect 0% Balance Transfer

[JdsFico]

This is really just a post in case anyone is searching for information on 0% balance transfer cards or the wells fargo reflect specifically. I have about 10k in credit card debt and have been playing the balance transfer game for a little bit to keep it largely interest free while I pay it down. Some of my 0% promos were expiring so I did a bit of a spree including a wells fargo reflect card which comes with 0% for 21 months on balance transfers and purchases.

I was approved for 5150 starting limit (low 700s fico 8 in all 3) which wasn't quite enough, but I also had a wells fargo active cash card with no balance and 4k limit. I googled information about credit limit reallocation and it seems WF allows it. A simple call and I moved 2350 over from active cash to the new reflect, so now it has 7500 limit, no waiting period, no pull or requirment for credit limit increase, no new limit on balance transfer offer, nothing, they just moved it in around 4 hours.

I used the new limit to deposit 5400 into my wells fargo checking account which I will use to PIF the expiring card promo balances, and it showed up in a day or two after the request. Very pain free way to use balance transfer and wells fargo made it even more useful by allowing a simple credit limit reallocation. Not often am I pleasantly surprised by banks but they did a good job on this one, well done Wells Fargo.

[GZG]

Really nice BT, glad to see WF was able to do this for you seamlessly 

[ptatohed]

Awesome, good for you.  GL getting the debt paid off.  It seems like you are on the right course to do so!    

[omgitsMatt]

Thanks for sharing that information, that was something I was researching a few weeks ago in preparation for a few months from now.

Can you clarify further though, did you reallocate limits with a card you haven't used for anything in six months or more?

Older data points indicate that was once the case, I'm curious if you fit in that criteria where the card you took limits from wasn't used in a long time?

[JdsFico]

The card I transfered tge credit limit from (active cash) had a previous balance on it for the past year so I think it would have been considered "active" even though I hadn't used it to make a purchase. I used funds from a balance transfer to pay it off before I initiated the credit limit reallocation so it had a 0 balance when I did the reallocation (0/3850). The order of operations was basically:

1. balance transfer from a new wells fargo reflect card with 21 mo promo into an existing WF checking account

2. pay down the balance on the active cash card until it reported 0

3. call WF for credit limit reallocation (2350) from active cash (0/3850) to reflect (4515/5150)

4. complete another balance transfer to wf checking using the increased credit limit on the reflect. (5670/7500)

Banks won't let you balance transfer within the same bank card to card, but they seem fine if you do the deposit into a checking account with a balance transfer and then use that money to pay down a card within their company, and its faster too. A bit of a dumb rule if it is so easy to bypass but whatever. The useful aspect of WF credit reallocation for me was that it increased the efficacy of the new reflect card's promo offer by increasing the credit limit on that new card above what they gave me as a starting limit.

For me, I needed the funds to pay off expiring BT promos so was willing to go to around 4500 on the 5150 starting limit, so I did a  $4300 BT to checking, multiplied by 5% fee so 4515/5150 (87.6%). By reallocating another 2350 of credit limit to the reflect, the new limit was now 7500, so I completed another 1100 transfer which brought the total balance with fees to 5670/7500 (75.6%) which is my highest utilization on any card but it has 21 month 0% apr promo. The old active cash card was going to be $0 balance anyway, so now it is 0/1500 instead of being 0/3850, which is still 0% anyway.

So I ended up with a slightly decreased utilzation on the reflect, albeit with a higher balance, and the same 0% utilization on the active cash. Including other BT cards I now have 4 cards reporting balances with utilizations in the 40-80% range, but none are accruing interest, and 11 other cards reporting 0 balance, so the ratio isn't terrible and my overall utilization is 27% which squeeks under that 28.8% threshold for a score ding. 

[ElvisCaprice]

Ouch, those fees.  No wonder Wells is accommodating.   

[omgitsMatt]

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@JdsFico wrote:

The card I transfered tge credit limit from (active cash) had a previous balance on it for the past year so I think it would have been considered "active" even though I hadn't used it to make a purchase. I used funds from a balance transfer to pay it off before I initiated the credit limit reallocation so it had a 0 balance when I did the reallocation (0/3850). The order of operations was basically:

1. balance transfer from a new wells fargo reflect card with 21 mo promo into an existing WF checking account

2. pay down the balance on the active cash card until it reported 0

3. call WF for credit limit reallocation (2350) from active cash (0/3850) to reflect (4515/5150)

4. complete another balance transfer to wf checking using the increased credit limit on the reflect. (5670/7500)

Banks won't let you balance transfer within the same bank card to card, but they seem fine if you do the deposit into a checking account with a balance transfer and then use that money to pay down a card within their company, and its faster too. A bit of a dumb rule if it is so easy to bypass but whatever. The useful aspect of WF credit reallocation for me was that it increased the efficacy of the new reflect card's promo offer by increasing the credit limit on that new card above what they gave me as a starting limit.

For me, I needed the funds to pay off expiring BT promos so was willing to go to around 4500 on the 5150 starting limit, so I did a  $4300 BT to checking, multiplied by 5% fee so 4515/5150 (87.6%). By reallocating another 2350 of credit limit to the reflect, the new limit was now 7500, so I completed another 1100 transfer which brought the total balance with fees to 5670/7500 (75.6%) which is my highest utilization on any card but it has 21 month 0% apr promo. The old active cash card was going to be $0 balance anyway, so now it is 0/1500 instead of being 0/3850, which is still 0% anyway.

So I ended up with a slightly decreased utilzation on the reflect, albeit with a higher balance, and the same 0% utilization on the active cash. Including other BT cards I now have 4 cards reporting balances with utilizations in the 40-80% range, but none are accruing interest, and 11 other cards reporting 0 balance, so the ratio isn't terrible and my overall utilization is 27% which squeeks under that 28.8% threshold for a score ding. 

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Thank you for sharing!

[JdsFico]

yea 5% bt fee is kinda high but it helps that it's a one time fee for 21 months. Probably works out to around 3% apr which isn't that bad for a "loan". For instance, I could have taken $5500 and bought a cheap motorcycle with cash, paid it off over 21 months, and that'd be cheaper than whatever auto financing would want. Obviously it's not ideal to pay fees but I kinda cornered myself, it's the best option as of now if you don't include chargeoffs or chap 7 which I wasn't interested in.

[hdporter]

Because a bt fee is assessed on the initial balance, rather than the average balance outstanding during the promo period, you're looking an effective cost that's likely double what you've estimated (i.e. more like 6% APR)

Not terrible, but not great eithet.

[KatzNDawgs]

So WF doesn't consider a BT to checking account as a cash advance? If so, I was not aware of that.