Latest responses to “How To Make Money From Balance Transfer Credit Cards” Copyright 2012, MoneyBlueBook.com 431670 2009-07-25T14:34:05-07:00 j About three years ago this was an easy "carry trade.". Simply take advantage of the 0% rate on a balance transfer and then earn 5% from emigrant direct's or ing's savings accounts. 431600 2009-07-21T15:36:51-07:00 Darron Raymond, Kyle's story about 19 years of arbitrage is inspiring. How many different accounts do you think he opened during that time? I assume that once the 0% introductory offer has expired and you've paid it off, that card is now useless in terms of arbitrage and you have to go open another account. My instinct tells me there must be some downside to opening account after account over the years and just letting them sit there. Any thoughts? I have excellent credit and I'm considering the arbitrage game, but would like some more information on how all these open accounts could negatively effect me. Thanks! 431610 2009-05-16T07:34:27-07:00 Kam I have two balance transfer offers from Citibank (existing card) and need to determine which will yield the greatest savings. Both offers impose the same transaction fee, but the rate they offer is so much lower than the Chase rate I'm paying now, that it completely outweighs the transfer fees. Balance to transfer from Chase to Citibank - 14K 1st offer - 0% until 3/2010, then it converts to my standard Citibank apr which is currently 5.99% 2nd offer - 2.99% until 9/2010, then it converts to my standard Citibank apr which is currently 5.99% My thought is that the first one is best because I'll be paying 2.99% less interest for the first 9-10 months (from now to 3/2010) when the balance is at it's highest. Then starting in 3/2010, I'd be paying 3.00% more interest for 6 months when the balance is lower. Of course, the latter statement assumes my standard rates stays at 5.99%. My plan is to pay $300-$400/month on the card. 431650 2009-04-14T02:19:45-07:00 Raymond Louis, In respond to your 0% balance transfer credit card question, it's hard to say. Most credit card companies look at your FICO credit score to determine how high of a credit limit to authorize you. If your credit rating is bad, you may be precluded from more lucrative limits. High credit score applicants generally get the best dibs when it comes to 0% APR offers. But when you apply for your balance transfer card, you may want to indicate your intent to transfer a larger balance than you actually plan to use. Perhaps you may get lucky and this may encourage the card company to grant you a higher limit. 431660 2009-04-13T19:12:41-07:00 louis Would like to know how to ensure that I keep my high credit limit when I do the transfer however - I want to lower my interest rate - but I still want the credit limit available for a major expense if necessary. How do I ensure this? Especially when I have a poor credit rating due to a recent job loss. 431620 2009-03-20T10:37:25-07:00 Diane If I do a balance tranfer to a Discover Card and do not make any new purchases are they somehow going to penalize me? I am afraid there is something in the fine print that I will miss. 431630 2009-03-08T12:45:49-07:00 Lori I owe $19,000.00 on credit cards and I have a large payment(6,000.00) to put towards my credit card debt, what is the best way to do that? Do I need to specify "toward principal only", or make a few large payments? 431640 2009-01-25T11:27:46-08:00 Tony Raymond, I've considered credit card arbitrage for a while but have gotten stuck at no way to get around the Universal Default Clause written into many credit card offers. UDC is a rule written into the terms and conditions of many CC offers which states that a default on ANY monthly payment with your name on it (i.e., utility bills, cable TV bill, mortgage) will trigger the default rate of 24%-29% (depending on the card) to be enacted on the card, so bye-bye 0% promotional rate. Do you know which credit card companies currently do NOT impose UDCs? I've searched on the Internet specifically for "no UDC" cards, but other than reading each individual terms and conditions, I have not been able to easily identify via a simple Yahoo/Google search regarding which credit card companies have or do not have UDCs... Also, another potential issue is whether your auto/homeowners insurance policy premiums will be adversely affected by short-term hit on your credit score. If your insurance company conducts an audit of your policy and compares your short-term damaged credit score (as a result of the arbitrage) with your higher original score that you applied with to obtain your insurance, wouldn't your insurance premiums rise to the extent that they could wipe out any potential gains from this venture? I think these two questions are critical to resolve before anyone gets started and would appreciate your comments to them. Thanks. 431510 2008-08-28T21:34:37-07:00 Julie I just got a new no-balance-transfer fee card from AmEx. I'm wondering what the process is for transferring my soon-to-be-charged balances to my high-yield checking account. Could you help me? 431540 2008-07-06T14:26:36-07:00 Raymond OMG...Kyle you are my hero.....balance transfer credit card arbitrage for 19 years....nineteen! Wow I wonder...how much did you borrow all in all? What was the total amount of 0% APR seed money that you borrowed via balance transfer cards throughout your App-O-Rama lifespan?