Is There A Limit To How Much I Can Transfer To A 0% Balance Transfer Card?
Posted November 14th, 2009 and last modified November 21st, 2011
Featured Balance Transfer Card
The Citibank Clear Platinum Visa is currently offering an interest free balance transfer offer for the first 6 months. This is the ideal card to pay off any credit card debt you have. You can also enjoy a low annual fee
- $99 annual fee
- 11.99% p.a. on purchases
- 2.9% p.a. for 12 months on balance transfers
- Cash Advance Rate of 21.74% p.a.
- 55 days interest free
- Minimum Income Requirement of $35,000 p.a.
- Minimum income requirement of $50,000 p.a
This is dictated by several factors, some of which are set in stone, and others that will come down to personal circumstances.
Those set in stone are put there by the credit card provider. The first limit is the credit limit you are allowed on your new credit card. Although you can always take steps to improve this over time, at the moment you make your application this is outside your control. It has to do with your credit rating and the state of your current finances and employment. The worse your credit rating, the smaller credit limit you will get. In fact, it won’t take too much of a fall from credit grace to rule out applying for a balance transfer credit card.
If you are approved and you are offered $10,000, then, normally, you will be allowed to transfer up to 95% of that amount; that’s $9,500. This restriction is imposed to prevent the very first purchase you make on the card from busting your limit (although you shouldn’t be making any purchases at all on a balance transfer credit card within the offer period). Exceeding your credit limit will usually trigger a charge on your account, and may even invalidate your 0% offer.
It’s possible there could also be a cap on how much you can transfer, regardless of your credit limit. Once you know how much leeway you have, you can go ahead and organise which credit card account(s) you want the debt(s) to be transferred from. You can make transfers from more than one credit card, and from store cards, provided that the total amount remains no more than 95% of your credit limit. Don’t be too disheartened if your credit limit does not allow for the size of transfer you envisaged making. Even with the annual fee taken into account, you should still be far better off transferring a lesser amount. You must be careful, though, not to rush in without doing your sums. A minimum balance transfer is always specified – usually $500 – and an annual fee of $60 on that is quite a price to pay for six months at zero percent, considering a 20% rate of interest on this amount over six months would actually cost just $50 in interest.
The second limit on your balance transfer amount is your personal situation. If the size of your debt is such that it cannot be paid off in six months, then you may have to self-limit the amount you transfer, or plump for a longer term at a slightly higher rate of interest. Therefore you should weigh up carefully if 0% is the best option for you, however attractive it looks.
Balance Transfer Credit Card Comparison:
Check out today's featured offers:
| Westpac Low Rate | Citibank Clear Platinum | Qantas AMEX Discovery | ANZ Platinum |
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0% p.a. for 6 months on purchases & balance transfers |
2.9% p.a. for 12 months |
$0 annual fee Up to 10,000 Bonus QFF Points |
0% p.a. for 6 months on purchases & balance transfers |
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