Balance Transfers at 0%

[kristo]

HSBC has sent me a form with an offer of transferring a balance of another banks card to my HSBC card at 0%.
This is FREE money!

Has anyone else had a similiar offer from another bank in the past?

Or has anyone got a CURRENT similiar offer from another bank?

 

[arun]

Kristo
That seems to be very generous. How long the 0% valid for? They generally waive the first year annual fee. Are they offering that too?
I just cancelled my HSBC Visa as the renewal came up. I got some Coes Myer vouchers out of reward points and cancelled the card.
Regards
Arun

 

[kristo]

HSBC 0% is for 6 months.

Any others?

 

[QF WP]

Most card issuers will hit you with their slick advertising saying 0% for 6 months. They assume that you are one of the majority of people who easily change when they "see" a good offer. If you then still haven't paid it off in the 6 month period, then they stitch you with a CC rate of 15%+ and you are back in the same pickle that yuo started.

Believe what you want with advertising...I take a lot with a chunk of rock salt.

 

[kristo]

It is definately 0% for 6 months , the balance transfer amount is "quaranteened" and is not charged interest for 6 months.
Any others?

 

[QF WP]

kristo, believe me, HSBC are simply "buying" market share for their CC's - tha's their slick advertising. Have you read what the interest rate is going up to after the 6 month honeymoon period.

The banks really only want those who can't pay off their bill by the end of the interest free period (if you are like the majority of CC holders). They only make real profit from those clients, as the miniscule fees they charge (account fees, interline rates) are only paying for the hefty infrastructure they have in place to manage the system. That is why ANZ is looking alarmingly at the "legacy" system it set in motion with co-branding the QF card. Now they have a burgeoning liability (paying QF for the increasing FF points it has to provide to those QANZ customers) and are worried as to how they can cap it (without overnight losing the market share they built up).

I only hope you "use" the card (for the FF points or interest free period to pay off your debt) and not have it "use" you.

 

[kristo]

Lindsay, you are right of course but I WILL pay off the debt the day before ANY interest is charged as I have allways done with my Credit Cards ever since I received my first one in about 1974 or 1975.
I allways pay the card ON the due date in FULL unless I have an interest free period as with this HSBC.
Anyone else heard of a 0% interest card lately?

 

[RateTart]

Hi kristo - this is my first posting. I came to this site by chance and just read your 0% question. I live in Sydney but am from the UK where I have had quite a large credit card debt for the last 3 years. As a "Rate Tart" I take advantage of the "0% for the first 6 months" offered by dozens of the hundreds of card providers in the UK. For 3 years I have paid 0% interest on thousands of pounds. Every 6 months I simply transfer the balance to a new card. The banks don't like rate tarts, of course, but they have to compete. So, if you're like me and are happy to spend a couple of hours twice a year changing cards, the benefits can be huge. "0% for 6 months" will no doubt become available in Australia as the market becomes more competitive. If you're interested to see the UK offers available, visit www.thisismoney.co.uk and follow credit cards link. Most Australians can't get UK cards but some can. This info might be of no interest - literally.

 

[kristo]

Thankyou Rate Tart for your info.

We are really in the colonial days out here compared to the UK. Imagine hundreds of cards offering 0 percent.
Thats a dream come true.

I cannot find ANY banks in Aus offering "0%" on balance transfers at the moment.

Do you know of any?

 

[RateTart]

No, sorry kristo, I can't help you there. The moment 0% becomes available in Australia, I'm sure we'll all know about it. It wouldn't surprise me to see Virgin offering 0%, just to stir things up a little. It would be a typical Richard Branson stunt and Virgin already offers 0% in the UK http://uk.virginmoney.com/credit-card-v3/. In Australia, I think Virgin offers 4.9% with no annual fee, which is a step in the right direction. Hopefully, it's only a matter of time. With regard to your other question about cash advance fees, I have an ANZ Visa Paycard (no longer offered to new customers) and if I paid $25k onto it I could draw $25k with $0 fee. Surely, there must be similar "debit cards" available from the other banks.

 

[kristo]

Yes, as far as cash advances go, Westpac Visa is best with a Max $50 admin fee for CA's.
Others go up to $675 maybe more for $25,000.

This is by far the cheapest way to access $25,000 with no warning.
And in any case probably the cheapest way to get your hands on $25,000 cash. This assumes you allready have the money and if you do one would
expect you had it earning at least 5.25% at call.

As for 0%, HSBC did it once last year, I tried to talk them into doing it again but they wouldnt be in it.
Citibank Platinum do it in the UK but are not interested in doing it over here. I asked them why but they did not know.
I suspect we still have a lot to learn from the Poms in this area.
Lets keep alert and in contact so if 0% comes back we know.

 

[aasz1978]

There is an article today that says GE Money will issue a MasterCard that will offer 0% for the first 6 months. I am no fan of GE so I'll be welcoming that when it arrives but with some caution.

 

[straitman]

There is an article today that says GE Money will issue a MasterCard that will offer 0% for the first 6 months. I am no fan of GE so I'll be welcoming that when it arrives but with some caution.

Did they specify the rate after the six months :?: :twisted:

 

[netaddict]

Noticed the GE Money in the media the last few days, looks like their web site has been updated.

http://www.gemoney.com.au/lowrate/index.html

 

[aasz1978]

Hey... doesn't sound too bad although the card may need some facelift.

That makes it the second card that offers low rate MasterCard after Virgin MasterCard.

I am tempted though....

 

[NM]

Yes, as far as cash advances go, Westpac Visa is best with a Max $50 admin fee for CA's.
Others go up to $675 maybe more for $25,000.

This is by far the cheapest way to access $25,000 with no warning.
And in any case probably the cheapest way to get your hands on $25,000 cash. This assumes you allready have the money and if you do one would
expect you had it earning at least 5.25% at call.

What about the Citibank ReadiCredit account? No fee for cash advances or ATM fees and limits available up to $25,000. They are offering low interest for an initial period. When I opened my account, it was 2.9% for 6 months. Now I think they are offering something like 6.9% for 9 months plus 4000 QF FF points for new accounts.

 

[johnsmith]

The UK is a credit card paradise, I have a War Chest of credit cards over there and I pay no annual fee ever, I can make enough money from investing the 0% interest deals to have a flight home every year. You can even get an AMEX Platinum Credit Card with no annual fee, It looks similar to the AMEX Charge Card but without the ludicrous fee.

 

[Rick93]

Currently, ANZ are offering their 'First' card for 0%pa for six months.

I've currently got four credit cards, and they gave me $15,000. (applied online - result in 24 hrs.)

Been with Citibank for five years.... applied for limit increase from $20,000. to $30,000

RESULT: "Sorry...."

(actually, I'm sorry too, I just had to throw that in for the CB 'lovers')

regards,