0% Balance Transfer Offer

Perhaps. I found out (after the fact) that, by writing the transfer check to my brokerage account, it qualified as a transfer for 0% rate for 6 months. Had I written it to 'cash' and deposited at the same broker, it would have been treated as a cash advance, not a transfer. So, my advice is to read the fine print, and call customer service since what you intend is legit, you have nothing to hide. Good luck with this. JOE

In the case of credit card balance transfers that I have seen in the past few years, they allow you to simply transfer to your checking account. From there, you can use the money for anything.

-john-

I've used the 0/low% teasers quite a bit in the past both to lower interest costs and simply to make free money by depositing the proceeds in a money market fund. The offer you refer to may suit your purpose, but read the details well. Lately, I've seen the interest rates go up, durations go down, transaction fee % increased and, in many cases, the cap on the transaction fee has been eliminated.

Thanks guys,I will read the account disclosure carefully.

~Marty~

Marty wrote on [Mon, 1 Oct 2007 17:49:57 -0500]:

Yep, Chase sends out a check with a card you can write to anyone aside from yourself or CASH, and it's 0%. Make sure you get a card without a high transfer fee. Citi allows you to request a check be sent to yourself. They also offer zero fee transfers with the right card.

Ditto here. If there is an uncapped 3% transaction fee on the 0% (or these days, 0.99%) offer, and it's only good for, say, six months, that's an effective annual rate of 6%, for which it's very hard to find a CD of a suitable term to match. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted...

-Mark Bole

It's still pretty easy to find 0% and capped transfer fees

I guess the key word here is "find". I don't actively seek out new credit cards, it used to be these offers came to me from my existing accounts. On the other hand, I believe I did sign up some time ago for the "do not solicit new credit accounts" list. Maybe that explains it.

-Mark Bole

The offers I get are mostly from banks with which I have an existing relationship, but I do get some from others. Those I see still reflect a general increase in rates and fees, and a decrease in duration. Gone are the no-fee 1.99% until paid no-brainers.

I'm interested if you can provide examples with a duration > 3 months or so.

Chris Cowles wrote on [Thu, 4 Oct 2007 04:07:02 -0500]:

Plenty listed here

I wasn't looking to pull the transfer and get interest stunt, I accepted an offer for a Barnes and Noble credit card offered by Barclays Bank. Free $25 gift card and 5% off books at BN. Why they gave me a $20K line, I don't know, but it was zero interest for 6 months and transfer fee capped at $50. So for $50, I'll get 6 month's interest or about $500. Took longer to write this post than to fill out the application and write the $20K check. Not that I'm seeking these out, but I'd not turn it down, either.

JOE

joetaxpayer wrote on [Thu, 4 Oct 2007 20:30:34 -0500]:

If you can find 12 and 16 month offers, why not do those?