Viewpoints
Patricia tells us that she applied for a 4.9% balance transfer for life and wasn’t given it even though she met the required qualifications. Her view was that it is easier for the credit provider to offer a loan, and get a bigger profit, than approving applications for balance transfer cards. She even questions whether they have the funding to support their offer, and considered the whole process a joke at her expense.
Kim advises that her application for a balance for life at 7.9% was declined with no reason given. No employment or salary check was made to confirm her income. Her viewpoint was that the whole exercise was a waste of time, she waited days for a response and the only service contact was an overseas number. She was disappointed that there was no opportunity to talk to an Australian representative, and came away thinking she should have remembered, if it looks too good to be true it generally is. So what are the long term balance transfer approval requirements?
Why are applicants being refused?
Credit card lenders who are offering these life balance transfers would ultimately be looking for customers that would potentially return them most revenue. Consequently they would be looking for potential customers with the following criteria:
- High earning Australian citizens
- Regular debt repayment history
- Large debt balance to transfer
An assumption would be that someone with a high debt will make ongoing purchases, therefore prolonging the payments of the life of balance account.
What are my alternatives when trying to get a long term balance transfer and I don’t meet the above conditions?
Although not quite the same solution as a life balance transfer, there are a number of 12 month balance transfer offers at 2.9% in Australia. Most of these can be applied for online, and it is also worth shopping around and comparing the offers. Many of the offers have low annual fees compared to life balance transfer cards and are far easier to get approved.
At the end of the day the choice is yours as to whether you want to beat your head against a wall trying to meet long term balance transfer approval requirements, or start controlling your interest with a 2.9 % balance transfer for 12 months.
This post was written by...
Timothy – who has written 8 posts on FY Money Box.
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