Credit Card Transfers

How do credit card transfers work? A credit card transfer is pretty simple to understand once you understand how credit cards work. We will look in depth at transfers on credit cards to help you understand them and decide if they are the right thing for you.

First with transfers a company will charge between 2.5 and 3 percent for the balance transfer. Some cards will have a cut off amount for the charge. For example if the 3 percent is more than 99 pounds you may be charged only 99 pounds. Not all credit cards have this option though. Some just charge the 3 percent and that’s it. A very few amount of credit cards will waive this fee. Generally these options must be asked for. The mailings you receive or advertisements online don’t tell you about other offers where you might not have to pay the fee. So explain to the company what you are looking for and if they have an offer like that. If they do they have to mention it to you if you qualify. Most of the time the fee is waived for introductory offers, rather than on a card you have had for a few years.

You have two options with transfers. You can do a transfer from a card to a card you already have. The second option is credit card transfers from a card you have to a new card. The new card probably has a lower rate or an introductory rate hence the reason for the transfer.

With a transfer you have to be sure what amount will be allowed to go. Some credit cards will not accept a transfer that has been transferred twice. In other words you start with an American Express card and then transfer the balance to a Barclay card, now you want to transfer that amount to a MBNA card. Depending on the bank that third transfer may not be an option. You can transfer any balance that has been a purchase though.

Many of the credit cards allow for the full amount to be transferred as long as you have the credit limit. If the credit limit is under the balance then you can still transfer enough to use up the limit. In some cases you can ask the credit card company to extend the limit to transfer all the balances to one card.

Now that you know how the transfer works you have three options for making it happen. You can call the company to ask for the transfer, you can do the transfer online, or you can use the balance transfer checks that come in the mail with the card statement. In any of the three methods the transaction fee will apply, so don’t think you can save it by going online with an electronic transfer.

Once you complete the transfer the bank will send a check to the other bank to pay off the amount and assume the balance. It does take a few weeks to process.