Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hi, I don't post here; my posts are usually found in the Baltimore forum, my hometown which I left 47 years ago.
So much for my personal history, but I love my hometown.
My question is this: I recently made a balance transfer between two credit cards. My old credit card was charging about 10% APR, the new one had a promotional APR of 0% for 15 months. (Transfer fee was 1% of balance transferred.) The amount transferred was slightly in excess of $10,000.
What puzzles me is this: Normally when I make on-line transactions between credit card banks and banks holding my funds, the transactions go through in a matter of 24-48 hours. In this case (the transactions are between Chase and Barclay), I was told the transactions could take as much as 2-3 weeks to be finalized.
Could it be that my debt, about $10,700, was sold (auctioned) off to a bidder that would break even if I paid my debt in 15 months, or would gain if I took longer to pay my debt or, heaven forbid, I would miss meeting my monthly debt payment?
I hope my question makes sense to those out there in the business/finance/commerce community. I'll look forward to your responses. Thanks.
0% APR is a promotion they do to get you to get their cards.
I'm assuming they assume that if you're transferring a balance, they're expected you to carry a balance after the months are up and get to hit you with fees.
0% APR is a promotion they do to get you to get their cards.
I'm assuming they assume that if you're transferring a balance, they're expected you to carry a balance after the months are up and get to hit you with fees.
Yep,..They want you to NOT pay it off when the promotion is over.
What puzzles me is this: Normally when I make on-line transactions between credit card banks and banks holding my funds, the transactions go through in a matter of 24-48 hours. In this case (the transactions are between Chase and Barclay), I was told the transactions could take as much as 2-3 weeks to be finalized.
Could it be that my debt, about $10,700, was sold (auctioned) off to a bidder that would break even if I paid my debt in 15 months, or would gain if I took longer to pay my debt or, heaven forbid, I would miss meeting my monthly debt payment?
I did a balance Transfer to a 0% card a while back and it took a week or so to actually go through.
It just recently took me several weeks as well for the transfer to a new card. I needed a new heat pump and put it on my older visa card then applied for a 0% 15 month promotion and transferred the funds. It will be paid off by next spring. Then hopefully I'll finally be able to completely pay all off at the end of each month which I intend to do so I won't need to use my bank debit card for gas anymore.
It is a gamble for the bank doing the 0% offer.
They are betting you won't pay-off the balance so quickly...that they won't make money(above and beyond the 1% transfer). Plus they want new CC holders, so they get the swipe-fee.
The only good deal is paying off credit card debt. The issuers wouldn't do this if they weren't making money. They have no interest in having you pay less. I'd opt out of all of these offers and just concentrate on working, saving and paying off CC debt.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.