CreditCards Blog

we are in the process of paying off all our debts and feel quite proud of myself that we have paid 10k off in the last 6 months (shows just what can be done with a bit of hard work eh?)

Anyway, Barclaycard have just increased my credit limit by 1300 (how generous!) so I am assuming my credit rating is obviously back on the up.

I am thinking of doing a BT from my hubby's A&L visa to this, there is just over 2800 left to pay on his A&L visa card but the APR on that is 30%, my Barclaycard is 14.9% but I assume there will be a BT fee for doing this so would it be worth doing?

I don't want to apply for a 0% CC yet as I tried back in October and was declined (although I think this may be because we were still waiting to be put on the electoral roll on 1st Dec from when we moved house in March grr!!!!), so I would rather wait a few more months before trying again

any advice?

If you have no chance of getting a new card, why not ring BC up and ask whether they can offer you a preferential BT rate. If they can, tell them that the balance you want to transfer is 2800 and see if they'll increase your CL to 3k to accommodate. They may not want to increase your CL so soon after the latest increase but you never know; worth a try. Even with a BT fee, you may find you save a lot of interest, giving you a good opportunity to clear off more of your CC debt.

I'm not sure with Barclaycard but with other companies they only charge a fee if the BT is at a special rate. If it's done at the standard rate they may not charge a fee.

Whether there is a fee or not then it still is probably best to do the transfer, it'll probably save money in the long run.

You may have already seen this guide but if not it's worth a read:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/cut-credit-card-interest

Just spoke to Barclaycard to see if they have any deals for existing customers and was told that something will be announced within the next few days. I was told that it might be 0% (don't know how long for) or 6.9% (Life of balance?).

thanks everyone for your replies, I hadn't thought if BC would offer me a preferential rate to BT this money, would they do that even though I already have an outstanding balance with them?, but yes I agree its worth a try and will still probably save us interest in the long run, thanks!

I hadn't thought if BC would offer me a preferential rate to BT this money, would they do that even though I already have an outstanding balance with them
I wasn't aware you had an existing balance with BC. It would be better if you could transfer that balance away first and then transfer back on any promotional rate they offer you or it could get complicated with two balances at different rates. When that happens, they will use your repayments against the lower rate balance first, leaving you with the higher rate balance for longer.