I keep a card around like this. I use it once a year so they don't close it for inactivity, but it's a non-reward card so I don't use it day to day. It has a 8.50% APR from two decades ago, so I keep it around just in case. I can't really see where I'd actually need it, but it costs me nothing to keep it around.
There was a period during the late 2000s when credit card companies were offering 0% interest on balance transfers with no balance transfer fees, AND bonuses based on minimum card spend over a certain period after account opening. FatWallet (RIP) was full of people talking about how to use these offers to make loads of money in combination with rebates, eBay, bank account deposit bonus offers, and a lot more. Wild times. Long since over though.
Many years ago this "0% transfer" stuff was relatively new in the UK and a new outfit wanted to break into the market, they had two ideas which I guess they had costed as marketing ploys. First, the cards were a weird shape, this means there are a few applications where your card doesn't work, which is slightly annoying, but it's balanced by the brand recognition. Nobody cares which brand of rectangular plastic card you... oh, that's a weird shape.
But the Second was the easiest possible 0% transfer. To effect the transfer they write you a cheque for however much they'd agreed (let's say £1000) and you use that cheque to pay off a card or other line of credit. They charge 0% on this for 12 months.
What I, and lots of poor but money-savvy people did was sign up for the card. Deposit the cheque in an interet-bearing savings account, and set an alarm to pay the card off before that 0% expired.
So twelve months later you've made say £30 interest and you cut the card up. I don't know how many people did this, versus how many engaged with their product as they'd imagined. I know only two things:
1. I had about 50p outstanding balance to pay on my 12 month card, I figured they'd tell me I need to pay 50p within 30 days or whatever and if not they'd charge me extra - nope, they wrote saying "Your balance is negligible, we write off this tiny balance and don't expect to ever hear from you again".
2. This offer was never repeated. They did other 0% transfer offers but the "It's just a cheque" idea was never attempted again.
Comments
It's never 0% though. You pay a transfer fee (e.g. 5%). The 0% promo period is also limited.
The consumer is screwed either way, whether they try to "transfer" balances or not.
I actually have a no-rewards credit union credit card that has no balance transfer fees and the lowest APR I’ve ever seen on a credit card.
It has bailed me out of paying high interest rates and fees during hard times before.
I keep a card around like this. I use it once a year so they don't close it for inactivity, but it's a non-reward card so I don't use it day to day. It has a 8.50% APR from two decades ago, so I keep it around just in case. I can't really see where I'd actually need it, but it costs me nothing to keep it around.
There was a period during the late 2000s when credit card companies were offering 0% interest on balance transfers with no balance transfer fees, AND bonuses based on minimum card spend over a certain period after account opening. FatWallet (RIP) was full of people talking about how to use these offers to make loads of money in combination with rebates, eBay, bank account deposit bonus offers, and a lot more. Wild times. Long since over though.
That very much depends.
Many years ago this "0% transfer" stuff was relatively new in the UK and a new outfit wanted to break into the market, they had two ideas which I guess they had costed as marketing ploys. First, the cards were a weird shape, this means there are a few applications where your card doesn't work, which is slightly annoying, but it's balanced by the brand recognition. Nobody cares which brand of rectangular plastic card you... oh, that's a weird shape.
But the Second was the easiest possible 0% transfer. To effect the transfer they write you a cheque for however much they'd agreed (let's say £1000) and you use that cheque to pay off a card or other line of credit. They charge 0% on this for 12 months.
What I, and lots of poor but money-savvy people did was sign up for the card. Deposit the cheque in an interet-bearing savings account, and set an alarm to pay the card off before that 0% expired.
So twelve months later you've made say £30 interest and you cut the card up. I don't know how many people did this, versus how many engaged with their product as they'd imagined. I know only two things:
1. I had about 50p outstanding balance to pay on my 12 month card, I figured they'd tell me I need to pay 50p within 30 days or whatever and if not they'd charge me extra - nope, they wrote saying "Your balance is negligible, we write off this tiny balance and don't expect to ever hear from you again".
2. This offer was never repeated. They did other 0% transfer offers but the "It's just a cheque" idea was never attempted again.