Sign on bonus and zero % BT?

[GCC]

Looking to apply for a 0% BT card, effectively to use as a line of credit. Just wondering if anyone knows of any cards that have QFF sign on points and an active 0% BT offer?

 

[Scr77]

There are quite a few St George/bank of Melb etc, cards that should do.

 

[Demonoid]

Looking to apply for a 0% BT card, effectively to use as a line of credit. Just wondering if anyone knows of any cards that have QFF sign on points and an active 0% BT offer?

I would personally never use a Balance Transfer card for point earning purposes, given you usually loose the interest free days (therefore paying interest from day one) for any purchases - which you will have to make as I am not aware of any sign on bonus which does not require minimum spend.

If you need to transfer a balance, get a card with a 0% interest rate, but that card should immediately go in your drawer never to be charged.

 

[Scr77]

I would personally never use a Balance Transfer card for point earning purposes, given you usually loose the interest free days (therefore paying interest from day one) for any purchases - which you will have to make as I am not aware of any sign on bonus which does not require minimum spend.

I have done this before. The trick is to make your purchase and pay payment for the same amount on the same day. It’s means you need to ring for the bpay details before you start using the card. It is painful, but can be done.

 

[GCC]

I had thought the approach would be to spend whatever was needed on the card to qualify for points, then pay off in full. Then put card away in drawer, and then transfer balances to pay down at 0%. Are we saying that making a purchase would remove the 0% offer?

 

[Scr77]

..... Are we saying that making a purchase would remove the 0% offer?

No, but BT offers usually have no interest free days.

 

[hossein_au]

I had thought the approach would be to spend whatever was needed on the card to qualify for points, then pay off in full. Then put card away in drawer, and then transfer balances to pay down at 0%. Are we saying that making a purchase would remove the 0% offer?

BT usually needs to be requested at the time of applying for the card, which means the will have a balance as soon as it is activated. Having a balance means there will be no interest free days on new purchases.

 

[nickfromeastryde]

Have always kept them separate but suppose a purchase and paying that purchase off same day might work but would depend on how the Bank prioritises your repayments. If you had already setup the balance transfer then I suppose it could be possible that the payment might be applied against that part of the balance leaving the purchase outstanding and accruing interest from day 1. I'm not sure it is possible to complete the purchase before the BT, usually you have to apply for that as part of the application process

Seems a bit risky to me so interested to see if there are ways to make it work

 

[Scr77]

Have always kept them separate but suppose a purchase and paying that purchase off same day might work but would depend on how the Bank prioritises your repayments. If you had already setup the balance transfer then I suppose it could be possible that the payment might be applied against that part of the balance leaving the purchase outstanding and accruing interest from day 1. I'm not sure it is possible to complete the purchase before the BT, usually you have to apply for that as part of the application process

Seems a bit risky to me so interested to see if there are ways to make it work

It was my understanding that payments had to be applied to the highest interest component first. In this case, it would be the purchase not the balance transfer.

 

[Isochronous]

It was my understanding that payments had to be applied to the highest interest component first. In this case, it would be the purchase not the balance transfer.

That's right it is all set out in the NCCPA.

 

[mokuni]

I got the ANZ black card which netted me 100000 QFF @0 few months back. When I called to close the card I got offered 18 months 0% BT, so I took it. Hope that helps you.

 

[GCC]

Very interesting. I had an ANZ platinum card for several years, and there were basically ongoing 0 % BT offers over that time. You didn’t have to do the transfer on card activation - I transferred multiple balances which were each given their own 18 month interest free period.

Thanks for the info here, I’ll need to look closely at the T&C’s for different cards. Ideally needs sign on points, and a 0% BT offer that can be utilised by transferring a balance (s) to the card at any time

 

[JohnK]

Are we saying that making a purchase would remove the 0% offer?

Make note there may not be any 0% balance transfer offers available. Most charge a 2% or 3% balance transfer fee.

With any new credit card payments are usually applied to the transactions with highest interest first. So if you have a balance transfer activated and you need to spend say $3,000 for the bonus points then make the spend and as soon as possible and as soon as the spend hits the credit card pay the amount spent off in full. You may incur 1-2 days interest if things don't line up.

 

[mokuni]

Couldnt you apply one of the Citibank cards e.g. Qantas Premier. Yields 70K QFF and 0% BT, if you play your cards right.

 

[zan5hin]

I applied for CUA Brisbane Heat Platinum Credit Card to do my BT and seperate it from points cards as I don't want to lose interest free days.

Get 25,000 points (about $100 of gift cards) if you spend $1500 in first 3 months.
$0 annual fee for life
0% BT

They do take 5-7 days to process your application and 20 minutes on hold when I called to check on my approval status.

 

[casanovawa]

Make note there may not be any 0% balance transfer offers available. Most charge a 2% or 3% balance transfer fee.

Yes I have considered writing to the ACCC or finding out exactly which govt body regulates false advertising because advertising a 0% balance transfer and then some fine print stating a 1% or 2% "balance transfer fee" sounds like a straight out fraud to me seeing we know in the electronic age there is near enough zero work in setting up this balance transfer, so in reality its a 1% or 2% balance transfer offer...

 

[JohnK]

....so in reality its a 1% or 2% balance transfer offer...

It is a 1% or 2% balance transfer offer but they want to charge the fee up front. And that's OK if the balance transfer is 12-24 months but some are only 6 months but you're still paying the full fee up front.

 

[andye]

I have found the BTs usually happen automatically. The way I have worked this is to make the qualifying spend transaction 2 working days before the first statement date. Then repay the qualifying spend transaction on the statement date.
Agree not too many true 0% BTs around these days