sorry, not very good with understanding financial shenanigans, so ill explain my situation.

i have a 0% virgin credit card, we took it out cos we wanted to borrow the money for a bathroom. got a few grand transferred into my bank account to pay the bathroom bod by bank transfer. we set the direct debit higher to pay it off quicker. it ends i think towards the end of next year but the balnce will be paid off in 2 or 3 months time.

we’re looking at doing the same sort of thing for some new windows, more money transferred into my current account to pay window installer.
it would seem less faffage to just keep paying this one for longer, so i rang em and they said to borrow £2500 (may need a bit more, not sure yet) would be 3.5% fee then yes, keep paying it for longer at present direct debit amount, still within the cards expiry. so in effect itd cost us £87.50 to set this up.

i thought id look to see how that compares with other cards but its a minefield, balance transfer cards, purchase cards, mixture of both etc…..
is a balance transfer just swapping a balance from card to card? so not what id want.
and is a purchase card just for buying from shops on it? so not what id want either?

if im right, what sort of card should i look at for transferring money into a bank account and then paying off at 0%? i assume just the one with the lowest transaction fee but not sure what ‘type’ of card this would be.

and is this in fact my best option, or are there better options that i havent thought of?

thanks

We’ve just got a credit card from the Bank of Scotland 0% for 24 months to cover some building stuff.

Get on clearscore, check you credit rating and look at the offers available. You can see ones which you are guaranteed to be approved for and get the rate you want without having to have a hard credit check first. I used it to get a loan recently and will do the same when i need to get a new credit card

what type of card am i searching for tho? is it a ‘balance transfer’ card or are they just for transferring balances from one card to another?

thanks

BoS/Halifax one gives 0% on balance transfers [from other cards] and on any card purchases for the first 90 days I think it is.

I always just look up martin Lewis website to choose cards
Currently have an Asda card for shopping there as you get points
Halifax clarity for abroad
Post office as backup for abroad
Tesco for using in Tesco to collect points for Tesco vouchers which then double in value as evans vouchers

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/best-0-credit-cards

Barclaycard did a 0% and no fee card for me, just set up a S/O to pay it off over 2 years.

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http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/borrowing/

Follow suburbanreuban’s link – you need to look up “money transfer” cards.

thanks, followed the link then followed the subsequent link to money transfer cards.

if i then scroll down to ‘long low-fee 0% cards’ then theres a few at less than 1% fee (0.59% for example). i assume theres no catch with that? cant understand why some are over 3% and others less than 1% fee. sometimes by the same provider.

i assume if i ring virgin and ask if they can match their lowest % fee and add a balance onto my present card theyll tell me to do one yep? so i may as well just start another card and then cancel virgin in a couple of months?

i know applying for cards can have a negative impact on my credit rating but its high at the minute so cant see me being refused any.

thanks

When are you planning to do the windows? Can you just save the money you’d use to pay off the cards and buy the windows with cash then?

Alternatively a finance deal with window company. Careful though, the window business is full of sharks (some big name ones too).

f i then scroll down to ‘long low-fee 0% cards’ then theres a few at less than 1% fee (0.59% for example). i assume theres no catch with that? cant understand why some are over 3% and others less than 1% fee. sometimes by the same provider.

It’s all down to their assumed models on how many customers pay off within the interest free period and how many don;t pay off the debt in that time.

Hint: they prefer people not to pay off the debt in that time so they can rinse them with interest charges.

The rest of their pricing is about their risk profiling and the low rate competitive environment we’re in.

Be disciplined and make hay..! So, your only risk (apart from not paying it off in time) is not getting approved at the headline rate/enough credit limit.

PS I’m one of those people who has money on the bank but prefers to spend other people’s – have a look for 0% with 0% fees.

When are you planning to do the windows? Can you just save the money you’d use to pay off the cards and buy the windows with cash then?

Alternatively a finance deal with window company. Careful though, the window business is full of sharks (some big name ones too).
nah want them doing this summer ideally so no chance of saving enough. and id guess any finance deal with anyone would be more expensive than a card transfer fee wouldnt it?

OMITN, i didnt even know 0% interest 0% fee cards existed so did a search and this is the page it led me to…

im not sure how old the page is so whether these these offers still exist but i can certainly look into them. am i right in thinking that it really doesnt matter what the percentage is after the deal ends, could be 2% or 2,000,000%, as long as i can pay it off in time, all i need to pay is the fee (which is nothing)?

thanks a lot

i may be barking up the wrong tree with these ‘balance transfer’ cards, ive been speaking to someone else who says what i need is a ’cash advance’ or ‘money transfer’ card.

if you look at the link theyre different to the balance transfer cards and dont have any 0% fee options, in fact reading the bumph on that page it suggests that whereas most other cards are around 3%, these type of cards are usually a bit higher, around 4%.

have i understood this correctly? are these the right cards for putting money into my bank account rather than the balance transfer cards?

bluddy minefield innit 😕

Can you pay the installer with a CC? That would be best, since you can get long term 0% cards. The trick would then be to pay the installments into a savings account, thus earning interest for the 30-40 months of the 0% deal, then pay off at the end.