I'm thinking of giving AOR a try, but want to minimize the hassle of getting the BT money into my savings/checking account.

I have an 804 on Experian, so I should be able to qualify for a nice chunk of BT cards.

I also own > 50% of my house, so I was thinking of getting a HELOC to use as the BT target, and from there transfer it into my high interest checking/savings.

Can someone reccomend a HELOC that has both a CC and ACH so I can BT to the CC, then ACH to my savings? Ideally it would be nice to find some CU that lets me open a HELOC that also has a high interest savings, that way I can immediatly transfer the HELOC CC to the savings.

I'm a total noob at this, so please tell me if what I'm planning raises any red flags. I plan on writing my strategy into a document and letting the FW community have a whack at it before I go live.

sweetwild said:Anyone knows if I can directly BT to a student loan account? Thanks in advance.Don't ask us, ask your credit card company. Call the toll free number on the back. In my experience, I have done this with a Discover card.

I'll just copy/paste my question from the other thread even though the BT thing I asked at the end about which card to pay attention to got answered...

"Okay I am a complete an utter freshman when it comes to Balance Transfers and the like and how to utilize them most effectively.

Balance Transfers are only between credit cards for the most part, yeah? As in, can you do a BT from a credit card to a checking account, for example? I know it depends on the card/account, but is there any 'norm'?

If I can't BT into my checking account, for whatever reason, would it be possible to do a Cash Advance on one of my cards and then use that money to put into my checking account, or into some other sort of investment? Could I then BT to that same card from another card and Cash Advance the money that was BT'd? I'm asking because if a card has no Cash Advance fee and other cards have no BT fee, but I can't BT into my checking, could I just BT over the period of a few days/weeks or something to my one card that has no CA fee, then take the actual cash and put it into my checking?

Hopefully I am making a little bit of sense...let me know if it's a stupid idea or if it is even possible.

Also, one last thing. When looking at BT fees, should I be paying attention to the BT% fee for the card I am transferring TO or FROM?

Okay that's enough of me being an idiot."

Kempman said:Piedone said:Just called ING regarding BT transfers to their Electric Orange debit Master Card and was told ING doesn't support BT since it's not a credit card. ...just in case someone is wondering about it too.
Does anyone have any hard evidence (i.e. actual experience instead of a statement from a CSR) with respect to doing a BT to an ING debit card?

I'd like to know the answer to this as well - any evidence on this?

I seem to remember someone saying on this forum that citi offers direct transfer(ACH) to checking/saving account option for BT money. I can input the checking account number on the BT screen but there is no place to put routing code and when I click on Find Creditor, the system says they can't find the creditor and invites me to put a mailing address. I am very uncomfortable having the check mailed to my checking account because I have no experience with that process.

I have spent some time on their site and a lot more on the forums here searching for this info but have been unsuccessful. Could anyone with a pointer chime in? Please tell me if this option even exists and if it does how does it work?

TIA

Thanks lhendricks92 I am indeed aware of the mailed check to self option and from my previous experience it takes 7 business days to arrive. Then BOA likes to put a 20 day hold on it (about 90K). And there is a 5.36% locked for 90 days at Amtrust on the clock ticking away. I am thinking a faster move from citi would be just perfect.

I guess I could call and ask but has anyone been able to ask the CSRs to ACH BT to checking?

TIA

Hi,
Is it possible to do a BT to a $0 balance credit card and then use a cash advance to bring the balance back down to zero?

I cashed in reward dollars from a USAA cc that had a $0 balance. I called the csr to have the positive balance transferred to my checking acct. No problem, but she suggested in the future i could just initiate a cash advance online. This must be a stupid question but...I the cash advance brings my cc account balance to $0 then there is nothing to charge interest on, right?

Sorry for my ignorance and thanks for your help.

Thank you very much WalStMonky.

kittenmittens said:lhendricks92 said:For those of you with a Fidelity Account, I successfully did a 30K BT to my Fidelity AMEX gold card. The card is linked to my Fidelity cash account (similar to a debit card). The 30K swept to my Fidelity cash account at the close of the AMEX statement. I had called AMEX to request a check for the credit balance, as the CSR told me that the funds would not automatically sweep. But, three days later, my Fidelity account was 30K richer. Maybe they'll send me a check, too! I did a BT to my Fidelity Am3x debit card in Nov. 07 and it showed up automatically as well. It can take a while depending on your Am3x cycle.Anybody tried this with the standard Fidelity debit card (i.e. the mySmart Cash Visa)

alchemize said:kittenmittens said:lhendricks92 said:For those of you with a Fidelity Account, I successfully did a 30K BT to my Fidelity AMEX gold card. The card is linked to my Fidelity cash account (similar to a debit card). The 30K swept to my Fidelity cash account at the close of the AMEX statement. I had called AMEX to request a check for the credit balance, as the CSR told me that the funds would not automatically sweep. But, three days later, my Fidelity account was 30K richer. Maybe they'll send me a check, too! I did a BT to my Fidelity Am3x debit card in Nov. 07 and it showed up automatically as well. It can take a while depending on your Am3x cycle.Anybody tried this with the standard Fidelity debit card (i.e. the mySmart Cash Visa)
Lhendricks92, is your "Fidelity AM.EX gold card" a debit card?
Kittenmittens, are you sure your Fidelity AM.EX is a debit card? (I've never seen an AM.EX branded debit card)
If I put together what the two of you report it seems that the key thing is that the card is AMEX branded .. how do I get one?