My Discover to a friend's discover

myscorerocks · ‎10-06-2015

Can I transfer a friend's Discover balance to my Discover card? I read there are no Discover to Discover balance transfers, but I hope that to mean I couldn't transfer from my Discover to my Discover. Thanks for the advice!

NRB525 · ‎10-06-2015

Try it for a small amount and see.

I did some Discover BT's recently, and I don't believe it requires one to specify who owns the other account. You are paying funds to an account with the BT screen, so it's up to you to know which account you intend to pay.

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UncleB · ‎10-07-2015

@NRB525 wrote:
Try it for a small amount and see.
I did some Discover BT's recently, and I don't believe it requires one to specify who owns the other account. You are paying funds to an account with the BT screen, so it's up to you to know which account you intend to pay.

+1

I know for certain they don't care if the card you're paying off is in your name or not... I recently did a Discover balance transfer to pay off my grandfather's Care Credit - there was no problem at all. All they need is the account number, creditor name, and address. The name of the cardholder never even comes up.

That being said, many lenders have a policy against paying off their own accounts, so if there is a problem that's where it will be.

Frankly, I would just give them a call and see what they say. The few times I've dealt with Discover, their CSRs have really impressed me with how friendly and knowledgeable they've been.

If it's a problem, just pay off the friend's Discover with one of your own Visa, MasterCard or Amex cards, then use your Discover to pay that off. I know Capital One usually has an on-going "no fee" balance transfer deal, so if you have access to one that might be the path of least resistance if Discover proves to be a problem.

Good luck, and let us know how it works out!

TiggerDat · ‎10-07-2015

@UncleB wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:
Try it for a small amount and see.
I did some Discover BT's recently, and I don't believe it requires one to specify who owns the other account. You are paying funds to an account with the BT screen, so it's up to you to know which account you intend to pay.
+1

I know for certain they don't care if the card you're paying off is in your name or not... I recently did a Discover balance transfer to pay off my grandfather's Care Credit - there was no problem at all. All they need is the account number, creditor name, and address. The name of the cardholder never even comes up.

That being said, many lenders have a policy against paying off their own accounts, so if there is a problem that's where it will be.
Frankly, I would just give them a call and see what they say. The few times I've dealt with Discover, their CSRs have really impressed me with how friendly and knowledgeable they've been.

If it's a problem, just pay off the friend's Discover with one of your own Visa, MasterCard or Amex cards, then use your Discover to pay that off. I know Capital One usually has an on-going "no fee" balance transfer deal, so if you have access to one that might be the path of least resistance if Discover proves to be a problem.

Good luck, and let us know how it works out!

I believe the no fee for the transfer is only treated as if it were a purchase, meaning that if you revolve that balance you will be paying the normal amount of interest on the card. That is, unless you pay it off before the due date. If you are merely transferring to then transfer it again then you should be OK. It might actually be a way to also get CLIs easier with them too, it would look like usage and high payments. I might have to try that on the card they never give me an increase on.

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UncleB · ‎10-07-2015

@TiggerDat wrote:
@UncleB wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:
Try it for a small amount and see.
I did some Discover BT's recently, and I don't believe it requires one to specify who owns the other account. You are paying funds to an account with the BT screen, so it's up to you to know which account you intend to pay.
+1

I know for certain they don't care if the card you're paying off is in your name or not... I recently did a Discover balance transfer to pay off my grandfather's Care Credit - there was no problem at all. All they need is the account number, creditor name, and address. The name of the cardholder never even comes up.

That being said, many lenders have a policy against paying off their own accounts, so if there is a problem that's where it will be.
Frankly, I would just give them a call and see what they say. The few times I've dealt with Discover, their CSRs have really impressed me with how friendly and knowledgeable they've been.

If it's a problem, just pay off the friend's Discover with one of your own Visa, MasterCard or Amex cards, then use your Discover to pay that off. I know Capital One usually has an on-going "no fee" balance transfer deal, so if you have access to one that might be the path of least resistance if Discover proves to be a problem.

Good luck, and let us know how it works out!
I believe the no fee for the transfer is only treated as if it were a purchase, meaning that if you revolve that balance you will be paying the normal amount of interest on the card. That is, unless you pay it off before the due date. If you are merely transferring to then transfer it again then you should be OK. It might actually be a way to also get CLIs easier with them too, it would look like usage and high payments. I might have to try that on the card they never give me an increase on.

+1 to all of the above

I agree, while Capital One offers can vary, the current offer I have on my QS1 is no fee, but no APR promo, either - just the regular purchase rate. So, if the OP has the same offer and chose Capital One as the "go between" card, he would need to use Discover to pay it off ASAP, and would still incur a few days worth of interest. It's not ideal, but it's a work-around if Discover won't let him pay another Discover.

I'll also say that years ago when Capital One would send out no-fee checks with a 0% promo, I used them just as you say, allowing the balance to revolve for a few months, then rinse and repeat... it caused my credit line (back then) to sky-rocket. I've never received those checks on my current account, but if I ever do that's exactly what I would do.

myscorerocks · ‎10-07-2015

Thanks for the info. I had already planned to do a workaround if necessary. I would hope that, although it's discover to discover, it's not going to be a problem because it's one person's account to another. I'll keep you all posted! Given Discover offers the no fee balance transfer, that's definitely the best option. Please let me know if you come across other 0% interest with no balance transfer fee options. Thanks!

Anonymous · ‎10-07-2015

@myscorerocks wrote:
Thanks for the info. I had already planned to do a workaround if necessary. I would hope that, although it's discover to discover, it's not going to be a problem because it's one person's account to another. I'll keep you all posted! Given Discover offers the no fee balance transfer, that's definitely the best option. Please let me know if you come across other 0% interest with no balance transfer fee options. Thanks!

This is an interesting question. I would just pull up a chat session and ask the CR. I seem to remember that Chase doesn't allow this, but I don't remember seeing any specific verbage from Discover.

On a different note, is your Discover really no fee for blance transfers? I got mine almost 6 months ago and while it is 0 percent interest on the balance transfer for 12( or is it 15) months, I believe they did charge a 3 percent fee. I just woudn't want you to be hit with a fee you didn't expect. Good job if you have a better deal, though.

Anonymous · ‎10-07-2015

You cannot balance transfer from one Discover account to another Discover account and that is the same with most institutions even if the account holders are different for each account. The easiest work around is to call discover and ask them to send you balance transfer checks for the current offers you have on your account. I have done it a couple times and they only take 2-3 business days to arrive. Once you have the checks you write one out to yourself for the amount you need and deposit it into your checking account then do what you need to do with the funds. For me the checks have always cleared in one business day in my BOFA checking account like anyother check I have deposited. As long as you have the available credit to support the check plus the fees if there are any(3% of the balance transfered on the 12 month 0% apr offer) the everything should go smoothly and you will have no problems.

myscorerocks · ‎10-07-2015

This was a mail offer I received and it provides no balance transfer fees, but doesn't allow checks. Go figure. I'll transfer to another account and then back to the other Discover. Now to find another card with no balance transfer fees!

DantGwyrdd · ‎10-07-2015

And you can't do the transfer to your checking account with this offer? All my offers so far had that option, granted they were the standard 0% fee + low interest for a longer period of time or 3% fee with 0% interest for a slightly shorter period. Have you checked your online account with Discover? If the offer is there (under Account > Balance Transfer) you should be able to get it into your checking account from the online system if it's an option.