Balance transfer deals?

[zzyss]

I've currently got around $7k+ on Westpac Altitude Platinum, accumulated during some "difficult circumstances". In theory, I should be able to pay this off in 6 - 12 months, so therefore I'd like to try and find a good deal on a balance transfer.

If it's any help, here are my current holdings:

- Westpac Altitude Platinum w/ 21K limit
- Citibank Gold free-for-life w/ 16K limit
- Wizard Clear Advantage w/ 1k limit (already moved 1k there @ 4.99%)

Any recommendations? Advice?

 

[ChrisFlyer]

The "HSBC Credit Card" has a 0% offer until April 1 next year - even if you only get 4 months out of it, it's better than nothing.

And if you sign up now, there's no annual fee for the life of the card

(I just had it "balance transfer" money from 2 cards that wasn't actually owing - then just moved this money into a high-interest online savings account (over 5% p.a)... so I'm only doing it to earn interest on HSBC's money, and will just pay it back in full before the interest kicks in.)

 

[zzyss]

The "HSBC Credit Card" has a 0% offer until April 1 next year - even if you only get 4 months out of it, it's better than nothing.

And if you sign up now, there's no annual fee for the life of the card

(I just had it "balance transfer" money from 2 cards that wasn't actually owing - then just moved this money into a high-interest online savings account (over 5% p.a)... so I'm only doing it to earn interest on HSBC's money, and will just pay it back in full before the interest kicks in.)

LOL that's hardcore.

Do you know if it will matter if I've signed up for a HSBC card before, and cancelled it? (Back when they were offering those cash-for-signup bonuses...)

Edit: regardless... application sent. Wish me luck!

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Good luck

Btw, if you do get approved, their paperwork is a bit confusing...

On the web it says "no annual fee for the life of the card", on one piece of paper it says "no annual fee in the first year", and on another it says "$49 annual fee in the first and subsequent years"... It also lists a 2.5% balance transfer fee in the table that it doesn't mention online...

After calling them and speaking to a supervisor, I can confirm that there is actually no annual fee or balance transfer fee (and not just because I called). Apparently they charged both fees for this card until very recently, so their website is correct, but some of their paperwork is yet to be updated to reflect the new fees.

(I was ready to cancel the card if they were going to try and charge hidden fees like that, so I made sure it was clarified - and neither fee appeared on the statement) Also, they pay the money off your accounts by BPAY, so depending on when this happens, you may not have to make any repayment off your Westpac/other account until the next statement period, as you would have already made the minimum monthly repayment with the HSBC BPAY transfer.

Also, something funny: during the application it asks how much you have owing on other cards, and how much you would like to transfer and from which card (max of 2 cards for the 0% deal). Their system didn't pick up that I was asking to transfer over 4 times what was actually owing across all of my other credit lines... So I'm making some great interest on their money haha

And one last note - any amount not cleared off the HSBC card by April 1 2010 will be charged the cash advance interest rate (currently 19.99%) from April 1 onwards - so be careful