Should I try a BT offer?

Anonymous · ‎04-22-2007

I currently am using 40% of my high credit limit. My fico score is 731 and rising due to making $1,000

payments. I am afraid to try a BT but I don't know if I will be able to transfer the whole balance.

I could have it paid off in one year if I had a 0% rate.

Anonymous · ‎04-22-2007

So am I correct that you are asking about doing a BT in order to move debt from higher APR card(s) to lower APR card(s)? Well, umm, this should be obvious, but if you're moving debt to lower interest cards, and you keep making payments on time, where is the downside? You said you could have it paid off in a year with a 0% rate, right? What's the APR now? 15%? 20%? More? If you move the debt to an 8% or 10% card, then you might not have it paid off in a year, but it will certainly be paid off sooner?

I guess I'm still not getting your dilemma or concerns.

Tuscani · ‎04-23-2007

At 731, you should have no issues getting nice BT card with a 0% APR. Just remember to read the fine print.. That rate may sky rocket after the intro period. And remember, the BT rate generally does not apply to new purchases made with the card. So use it for BTs only.

Anonymous · ‎04-23-2007

Following up on and emphasizing what the previous poster said, VERY IMPORTANT to use a BT card only for BT. The reason is yes, the BT rate doesn't usually apply for purchases, but there's an additional very important reason, which is that if you make purchases on a card on which you are carrying a BT, they usually apply payments in such a way that the PURCHASE BALANCE DOESN'T GET PAID OFF. ALL your payments go toward the 0% BT, and the purchase balance which is drawing interest stays the same. This doesn't make you have any late or missed payments, but it causes the interest to keep on accruing.

Anonymous · ‎04-23-2007

What they all said.

Plus, read the fine print to make sure there is no BT fee (like 3% of the amount transferred). This could wipe out any gain you made by transferring.

Anonymous · ‎04-23-2007

Yes, a lot of BOA card offers in particular do not have ANY cap on that 3% fee. So you do a $10,000 transfer and pay a fee of $300! A lot of other cards have a $50 or $75 cap on the fee, and some have no fee. Read the stuff carefully and get the right card, with a score of 731 you should have no trouble getting a good deal.

Tuscani · ‎04-23-2007

My sister made the BT mistake (why don't siblings listen?). She BTed $7k onto a 0% intro card with a 10k limit. Things were fine for 6 months.. except over the 6 month intro not only did she pay nothing towards the balance, but she charged $3k more thus maxxing out her card. Well the 6 months is up, and now rather than paying the 15% or so on the $7k she had, she is paying 24% on 10k! OUCH!

Anonymous · ‎04-24-2007

Thanks for the great answers. I should have been more detailed.

I have $13,000 on one card and $1,000 on another. One is a Visa and the other is a master card.

I had a 8.99% rate until BOA bought out both of them. Shortly after I was rate jacked to 23%.

No I did not make any late payments! My revolving debt ratio was the only bad thing on my account.

I immediately started making huge payments to get my balance lowered. A few months later I called them and they told me that they could lower my rate to 18%. I said that still sucks compared to my old rate.

Fast forward to today. I now have $13,000 on my cards instead of $20,000 like I had when I was rate jacked.

I was asking you guys if I should do a BT because I don't know if a card would take on that much of a balance with a fico of 731. I didn't want them to laugh at me.

I do plan to pay it off without using it, and I will never use a credit card again.

It made sence to me to use a credit card for home improvements instead of using home equity line of credit because the rate was the same but I didn't need an appraisal. I didn't know that they were going to rate jack me, but I bet they didn't think I would be able to pay off my balance within one year because they ticked me off either.

Message Edited by portager on 04-24-2007 03:13 PM

Anonymous · ‎04-24-2007

First, who says you have to get just 1 card? Second, even if it won't all fit on one card, you can move whatever size chunk will fit. Citbank has a bunch of cards with a $250 fee cap on BT, but they have some with $75, and the last time I checked they have 4 with no fee on BT under the 0% offer These were all the Citi Professional cards, and the Home Rebate Card. Discover has 0% for 1 year with a $50 fee cap. Plus, what kind of stuff are you getting in the mail? I got my first Citi cards a few years ago, and at that time, they didn't give me the whole CL they were willing to give me in one shot. I got 1 card, and then another, and that got me the entire limit they were willing to give me at that time. I don't see how a 731 FICO is going to be any kind of holdup for getting enough CL, your income will probably factor into that part of it more heavily.

Tuscani · ‎04-24-2007

MikeToreno wrote:
First, who says you have to get just 1 card? Second, even if it won't all fit on one card, you can move whatever size chunk will fit. Citbank has a bunch of cards with a $250 fee cap on BT, but they have some with $75, and the last time I checked they have 4 with no fee on BT under the 0% offer These were all the Citi Professional cards, and the Home Rebate Card. Discover has 0% for 1 year with a $50 fee cap. Plus, what kind of stuff are you getting in the mail? I got my first Citi cards a few years ago, and at that time, they didn't give me the whole CL they were willing to give me in one shot. I got 1 card, and then another, and that got me the entire limit they were willing to give me at that time. I don't see how a 731 FICO is going to be any kind of holdup for getting enough CL, your income will probably factor into that part of it more heavily.

And Citi has been known to waive that BT fee.