Balance Transfers, Part 2 – Requesting the Transfer

So, as I mentioned in Balance Transfers, Part 1 that I had applied for 4 new credit cards, each offering 0% on Balance Transfers for at least a year. I also received an offer from Capital One which I already had the card. So, once you have the card, how do you get your money?

Well, the easiest was MBNA. When I called to activate my card, they had an option to do a Balance Transfer or deposit money directly into a personal account. I decided to check that out, so I talked with a Customer Service Representative (CSR). I made sure that having it direct deposited into my checking account wouldn’t be considered a Cash Advance and thus not qualified for the 0%. He said it was considered a Balance Transfer so I went ahead with it. It took about 2 or 3 days for them to process and it to appear in my account. I then transferred it to my HSBC account, which is currently offering a 5.05% interest rate. (More about HSBC and Emigrant Direct in an upcoming post.)

The second easiest was my Citi Platinum card (the AT&T & Citi Professional cards are both Citi cards too but I haven’t received those yet). Once you have your card, sign into your account online (you can choose to set it up during your application). Once you’re in your account, select “Manage My Account”, then select “Balance Transfers”, and then “Request Transfer”. This will bring up a screen with different offers you have available. Select the 0% offer. Then type in the amount you want to transfer on the next screen and then they will mail a check to you at home for the requested amount. I received my check within a week and deposited it into my checking account. The funds were available the next day and I moved it to my HSBC account.

The standard, and more difficult option, is to transfer the money to another card with a $0 or low balance. Then you call the receiving card and request a refund for the overpayment. They will then mail a check to you. The problem with this is that it takes at least a few days for the funds to transfer and then you have to wait for the company to process and mail the refund. And in my case, Discover puts a 10 day hold on refunding the money. These are days that you are losing out on interest. [Luckily the one I'm doing this with, while not the biggest balance, is for 18 months, so I have more time.]