Question About Balance Transfers

[kcos194]

DW just got a Citi DC, has an 18 month 0% BT offer, and we haven't gotten the cards yet for me to review the cardholder agreement. Neither of us have done a BT before. CL is 5200, balance I'm considering transferring would be ~3,000. BT and purchase APR is 18%. Remaining 2200 is more than we'd use it for in monthly spend.

Question is this: does new spending have to be PIF for the 0% BT interest to stay in effect? I don't plan on carrying a balance, but if I had to, I want to know if it's interest on both or just the new purchases? Is that answer bank/card specific, or a general rule? 

I'm likely to do it regardless since the balance we'd be transferring is on a card at 26% so either way it's a better option, just curious how the machinations of it work. 

Thanks! 

[gdale6]

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@kcos194 wrote:

DW just got a Citi DC, has an 18 month 0% BT offer, and we haven't gotten the cards yet for me to review the cardholder agreement. Neither of us have done a BT before. CL is 5200, balance I'm considering transferring would be ~3,000. BT and purchase APR is 18%. Remaining 2200 is more than we'd use it for in monthly spend.

Question is this: does new spending have to be PIF for the 0% BT interest to stay in effect? I don't plan on carrying a balance, but if I had to, I want to know if it's interest on both or just the new purchases? Is that answer bank/card specific, or a general rule? 

I'm likely to do it regardless since the balance we'd be transferring is on a card at 26% so either way it's a better option, just curious how the machinations of it work. 

Thanks! 

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The BT will still be 0% but you will be paying interest on your purchases unless the entire balance is paid in full including the BT. This applies to all offers of BT. Only way to not pay interest is to have a concurrent 0% on purchases or SD the card until the BT is paid off.

[kcos194]

Got it. Not as bad as I thought. Plan is to pay the balance in the spring after tax return/bonuses hit, so not the end of the world if it happens. 

Cool, thanks for the reply. 

[SouthJamaica]

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@kcos194 wrote:

DW just got a Citi DC, has an 18 month 0% BT offer, and we haven't gotten the cards yet for me to review the cardholder agreement. Neither of us have done a BT before. CL is 5200, balance I'm considering transferring would be ~3,000. BT and purchase APR is 18%. Remaining 2200 is more than we'd use it for in monthly spend.

Question is this: does new spending have to be PIF for the 0% BT interest to stay in effect? I don't plan on carrying a balance, but if I had to, I want to know if it's interest on both or just the new purchases? Is that answer bank/card specific, or a general rule? 

I'm likely to do it regardless since the balance we'd be transferring is on a card at 26% so either way it's a better option, just curious how the machinations of it work. 

Thanks! 

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I think you're asking the wrong question. Your balance transfer rate will stay intact, but your purchases would be crazy. One should never combine a balance transfer and purchases, because you lose your grace period and start paying on the purchases through the nose from day one.

[TheRedHat]

One other thing to consider. Would it be possible to meet your sign-up bonus goal in the first billing cycle and then do the balance transfer during the second billing cycle? If you did, that would cover your balance transfer fee and the interest you paid on the other card and you'd have a little bit left over.

One warning about what I said above, however: If you choose to do this, just to be on the safe side, you should pay off your entire purchase balance BEFORE your first statement cuts.

[kcos194]

That's actually a good idea, thanks for the tip. I can do it any time within the first 4 months of account opening. And I'll hit the SUB in 3 weeks. I was planning on doing the BT in November or December, since that will not only give me more time to pay down the current balance so less transfers, but also since Feb/March is my bonus season and that gets used to zero out any CC balances we have.

So I'm thinking at most I'll only have 2-3 months of purchases on there before the BT is paid off. Should be totally doable to PIF in full each month and not pay any interest on either.