credit card help

discolexy · #1 08-16-2006, 07:22 AM

hi there,

i was hoping someone with a better knowledge of finances could give me some advice on this situation:

i have a credit card from my bank (ABSA), and i'm paying it off and everything's fine with that (i'm paying more than my minimum amount), but i think i'm probably paying loads in interest. and i want this paid off asap,

now, virginmoney credit cards have just been launched in south africa, and the interest rates look really good. would it be worth it to get a virgin card, use it to pay off my ABSA credit card? these are the interest rates on a virgin money card:
What are Virgin Money's Interest Rates?

Quote:

Every time you swipe your Virgin Money Credit Card, in the first 3 months, it’s 0% interest.

And we don’t stop there. After the introductory offer is up, you still have a further 25 days at the end of every month to settle your full outstanding balance of swipe purchases. After this you will be charged a mere 15.75%.

Unfortunately our lawyers tell us that this cannot apply to Car Card™ transactions, balance transfers or cash drawn at an ATM - here 15.75% interest is charged from the date of the transaction until the date your payment is received. From day one!

If your account has a credit balance (that’s when you have money to save), we will pay you 5% interest from the day you deposited the amount in your account.

i like the no interest in the first three months thing, because i basically want it paid off by then. i can't seem to get hold of the rates i'm paying now, i think it's a lot. i can't seem to make a dent into my outstanding amount.

are there any hidden costs involved with changing credit cards?
the virgin one looks sweet, but obviously they're trying to sell me something... i'm not sure.

http://www.virginmoney.co.za/vmsa/in...003511060aRCRD
that's the virgin money site

http://www.absa.co.za/absacoza/content.jsp?VGN_C_ID=e5035ab48afb9010VgnVCM1000003 511060aRCRD&VGN_CI_ID=5ff8590d529f9010VgnVCM100000 3511060aRCRD]
that's the card i have now

i'd appreciate it if anybody could give me any advice?

i don't trust either company to give me the full story if i ask them.

debaser · #2 08-16-2006, 07:50 AM

i would not use another card to pay off another. make more than the min payments and get rid of the card. then you can get a new one with the better rate.

discolexy · #3 08-16-2006, 09:07 AM

okay. i am making more than the minimum payments, and trying to get rid of the card.

#4 08-16-2006, 10:19 AM

If the intreset rate is significanly better than on the card you currently have it's worth doing a balance transfer - but then cancel the original card!
Something to be careful with though, is a lot of people say 0% interest for the first however many months on balance transfers, but really, once those months are up if you don't have it paid off, they go back and add the interest.

discolexy · #5 08-16-2006, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrs.molko

If the intreset rate is significanly better than on the card you currently have it's worth doing a balance transfer - but then cancel the original card!

that's what i would have thought.

Quote:

Something to be careful with though, is a lot of people say 0% interest for the first however many months on balance transfers, but really, once those months are up if you don't have it paid off, they go back and add the interest.

i'd like to have my credit card paid up by that time.
i'm going overseas so i need to have it sorted out.

thanks, i'm going to look into this, speak to a consultant about balance transfers and interest rates.