VISA Balance Transfer

[impreza]

Ok, all you smart financial reefers, I need your help! Well, not me, but a friend of mine. Here is the email she wrote to me:

"Ok, well I made a mistake while paying for something recently.

I had intended to use my VISA#2 to pay for an online purchase for paypal, but somehow, it ended up being billed onto VISA#1. This is not really an issue, but I wanted to use VISA#2 to collect points and so on. The problem is that suddenly, something pretty major came up, and long story short, I don't have enough funds to pay off my VISA#1 this month. I want to take advantage of using a balance transfer (@3.9%). The problem though, is that only VISA#1 is offering this balance transfer and I was already billed onto VISA#1.

Can I somehow transfer my balance onto VISA#2 and then re-transfer it back to VISA#1 to take advantage of this reduced rate? If so, how do I go about doing it?"


Please don't flame her about using a CC to pay for things she doesn't have money for. The truth is, this was an extreme circumstance that she didn't see coming. Sometimes, other things take priority I guess (read: family). I also think the balance is quite significant (~$4000).

[woodcarver]

In my experience , usually the best way is the most direct . Has she approached the bank and told them she made the wrong payment and ask them to reverse the transaction ? Institutions are usually helpful over this type of mistake ,especially if you are a customer of good standing with a reliable credit history.
In these days of internet banking and numerous accounts it is not uncommon to pay the wrong account
I have done this and had the bank correct the mistake without a problem .
Hope this helps ....................................Dave

[Chaloupa]

This is easy to do...make out the balance transfer cheque to her own bank account, deposit it and then make the payment on the correct visa from her account....some credit cards will also do a balance transfer direct deposit into your account to pay off many items directly from your personal bank account. One thing to note is that she can't use the balance transfer cheque to make the actual payment on the credit card as it is a visa too and they don't usually like to do that...unless it is from a different carrier (if paying off a Scotia Bank Visa with a Royal Bank Visa cheque) ......

[Ruth]

Sheesh - when I saw the title of this thread I got all excited thinking someone wanted me to transfer my Visa balances - which I am willing to do - to their card or at least to someone other than me.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

I second Ruth on that!

Sorry, I have nothing of worth to add. So to speak. I'm fiscally challenged.

[BMW Rider]

Originally Posted by woodcarver

In my experience , usually the best way is the most direct . Has she approached the bank and told them she made the wrong payment and ask them to reverse the transaction ? Institutions are usually helpful over this type of mistake ,especially if you are a customer of good standing with a reliable credit history.
In these days of internet banking and numerous accounts it is not uncommon to pay the wrong account
I have done this and had the bank correct the mistake without a problem .
Hope this helps ....................................Dave

I agree, make an appointment with her bank. They should be able to come up with a solution, possibly even something she is not aware of as an option. There are many ways they can handle situations like that. She might even consider ditching one (or both) of the Visa's in favour of a credit line. They will have a much more favourable interest rate all the time, not just as a short term offer such as on a balance transfer. Those low rates are typically only for the first few months, then the rate rockets up to the usual astronomical credit card percentages.

BTW, my wife is a banker so I have a great inside track on this sort of thing. Banks are very willing to help out, people just usually neglect to ask until its too late. Then the field of options is narrowed down significantly.