A search on Google News returned nothing. I also looked in google's regular search and found nothing in the first couple of pages.
Search terms: "bank of america" "balance transfer" "bank of america" "balance transfer" fee "bank of america" "balance transfer" cap "bank of america" BT fee BOA BT fee BOA BT cap
The only thing related to this that i found was this thread. Wheres the info?
I got a letter changing terms of my BOA/FIA cards as well, with effective date sometime in 2008...not sure if this means all BOA non-capped deals will be history then, but I wouldn't be surprised....
LustfortheMoment
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Sep. 3, 2007 @ 11:40p
babalouie, I STRONGLY doubt it. BofA has several offerings with NO BT fee in an attempt to stay competitive with other issuers. I doubt that the $0 BT fees will vanish unless all banks jettison them in unison.......
LustfortheMoment said: babalouie, I STRONGLY doubt it. BofA has several offerings with NO BT fee in an attempt to stay competitive with other issuers. I doubt that the $0 BT fees will vanish unless all banks jettison them in unison.......Just wait until the credit crunch hits CC issuers. There are definitely consumers overextended with housing payments and living large who will be tempted to extend the party by using credit card debt. When they start defaulting on their credit card debt, the credit card issuers will have to tighten up their lending dramatically to maintain high credit ratings on their debt.
ScootyPuffSr
Senior Member - 2K
posted: Sep. 4, 2007 @ 12:55a
theman2 said: LustfortheMoment said: babalouie, I STRONGLY doubt it. BofA has several offerings with NO BT fee in an attempt to stay competitive with other issuers. I doubt that the $0 BT fees will vanish unless all banks jettison them in unison.......Just wait until the credit crunch hits CC issuers. There are definitely consumers overextended with housing payments and living large who will be tempted to extend the party by using credit card debt. When they start defaulting on their credit card debt, the credit card issuers will have to tighten up their lending dramatically to maintain high credit ratings on their debt.
Credit card issuers don't roll up the debt (owed money to them) in a pretty, pretty bow and ship it off for some dupes, I mean "investors", to buy it from them. At least not nearly as much as the mortgage industry.
There is not much evidence that during the "easy money" era of mortgages that credit card issuers let loose the flood gates on all their algorithms and increased their risk tolerance. FICO score was still FICO score.
Even if a big percentage of subprime mortgage holders also default on their credit cards, that likely isn't a very big pie for the CC companies. After all, why do you think they were all "no doc"? Because their credit was so bad they couldn't even get large credit card lines. Yet they got those jumbo loans no problem.
ScootyPuffSr
Senior Member - 2K
posted: Sep. 4, 2007 @ 12:57a
There was a "big scare" that you'd never get a Citi BT for less than $250 in fees ever again.
There are still crap tons of new offers and logging into my Citi account, I currently have 3 offers (1 for each card) ALL with no BT fees.
Besides that, with all the bill-pay lovin' going on, I never have any credit line left to BT anyway.
ScootyPuffSr said: Credit card issuers don't roll up the debt (owed money to them) in a pretty, pretty bow and ship it off for some dupes, I mean "investors", to buy it from them. At least not nearly as much as the mortgage industry.This doesn't prevent them from being vulnerable to market shocks. With the CC debt reflected on their balance sheet as assets, they will have a big problem getting loans if they have large writedowns. There is not much evidence that during the "easy money" era of mortgages that credit card issuers let loose the flood gates on all their algorithms and increased their risk tolerance. FICO score was still FICO score.It would be great if you are correct on this issue. My experience with credit is very limited so I can definitely be wrong. My first credit card was opened in October of 2004. With the help of FWF, I have achieved credit limits from 3 of the major issuers in the $20-40k range in less than 3 years from getting my first card! How long has credit been so easily available? Even if a big percentage of subprime mortgage holders also default on their credit cards, that likely isn't a very big pie for the CC companies. After all, why do you think they were all "no doc"? Because their credit was so bad they couldn't even get large credit card lines. Yet they got those jumbo loans no problem. I think the mortgage problems extend past what is called 'subprime' lending. There is no question that the world of jumbo loans was crazy. I just think that credit card issuers may be caught up in the same problem for the same reasons (ie: excess liquidity in the market provided by the Fed). Only time will tell.
ScootyPuffSr
Senior Member - 2K
posted: Sep. 4, 2007 @ 1:31a
It would be great if you are correct on this issue. My experience with credit is very limited so I can definitely be wrong. My first credit card was opened...
I'm not having this conversation if you are basing a billion/trillion dollar industry on how easy/hard it was for you to get credit cards starting in 2004.
theman2 said: ScootyPuffSr said: There is not much evidence that during the "easy money" era of mortgages that credit card issuers let loose the flood gates on all their algorithms and increased their risk tolerance. FICO score was still FICO score.It would be great if you are correct on this issue. My experience with credit is very limited so I can definitely be wrong. My first credit card was opened in October of 2004. With the help of FWF, I have achieved credit limits from 3 of the major issuers in the $20-40k range in less than 3 years from getting my first card! How long has credit been so easily available?First of all, taking advantage of various tricks and little-known opportunities doesnt mean the credit market has been easily accessible to all, and it doesnt mean the CC issuers have significantly increased their risk profile. "With the help of FWF" you've gamed the system to get these $40k limits. An overwelming majority of America has not done this - mention the term reallocation, and 19 out of 20 people wont have a clue how it applies to credit cards let alone how to use it to their advantage.
Secondly, if you had any piece of data indicating a potential inabilility to pay - like a late payment - you wouldnt have had nearly the success in getting and keeping such high limits. You got those limits due to responsible use, not loose lending practices (and are you sure you didnt have an authorized user account or two showing on your report to help out a bit?.....).
So what's the outlook of the AOR "industry" anyway, if the Fed rate is likely to be lowered, and the arbitrage margin will be reduced to almost nothing, compared to current 5%-6% APY HYS heaven? (HELOC-based strategies may still work, but not all of the practitioners will qualify anymore)
toycats
Member
posted: Sep. 4, 2007 @ 2:02a
Use the "FORCE" as the star wars cards are still capped at 75 bucks..I would doubt that all the cards issued would be uncapped. Using our FW knowledge, we can move credit lines and find the right cards for our purposes. Yoda would tell you to "Heed the words of our our fathers, know what is best for our future."
ifyouhavetoask
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Sep. 4, 2007 @ 5:28a
Glitch99 said: You got those limits due to responsible use, not loose lending practices (and are you sure you didnt have an authorized user account or two showing on your report to help out a bit?.....).If you are unaware of the extremely loose lending standards in the consumer credit markets, I'm afraid you're going to be in for a rude awakening in the near future.
Yes, consumer lending HAS been very loose over the past few years...not just for mortgages, but across the spectrum. Car loans, credit cards, furniture, appliances, everything.
Notice how lenders keep pushing the envelope? Seven year car loans. No payments for 20 months at Rooms-to-Go. Five digit credit card limits for people with $30,000 incomes. These are all signs of a tapped-out consumer, and of lenders desperate to grow earnings.The mortgage markets have shown us what happens when lenders throw common sense out the window and make bad loans, just to keep growing. Same outcome will occur for credit cards and car loans.
If you were old enough to have been through a couple of credit cycles, you'd see the warning signs.
The 0% offers will go away. The $100-250 sign up bonuses will be gone, too. Banks will also jack up the rates on everyone who carries a balance.
Of course, this won't affect anyone at FW, right? Everyone here is a six-figure income earner with no debt. They just play the AOR game for fun
ScootyPuffSr said: theman2 said: LustfortheMoment said: babalouie, I STRONGLY doubt it. BofA has several offerings with NO BT fee in an attempt to stay competitive with other issuers. I doubt that the $0 BT fees will vanish unless all banks jettison them in unison.......Just wait until the credit crunch hits CC issuers. There are definitely consumers overextended with housing payments and living large who will be tempted to extend the party by using credit card debt. When they start defaulting on their credit card debt, the credit card issuers will have to tighten up their lending dramatically to maintain high credit ratings on their debt.
Credit card issuers don't roll up the debt (owed money to them) in a pretty, pretty bow and ship it off for some dupes, I mean "investors", to buy it from them. At least not nearly as much as the mortgage industry.
There is not much evidence that during the "easy money" era of mortgages that credit card issuers let loose the flood gates on all their algorithms and increased their risk tolerance. FICO score was still FICO score.
Even if a big percentage of subprime mortgage holders also default on their credit cards, that likely isn't a very big pie for the CC companies. After all, why do you think they were all "no doc"? Because their credit was so bad they couldn't even get large credit card lines. Yet they got those jumbo loans no problem. Scooty, credit card securitization is indeed quite huge, and involves the packaging up of debt to sell to investors. No reason at all to think it is done any less so by the credit card arms than it is by the mortgage arms of lending institutions.
Scooty, credit card securitization is indeed quite huge, and involves the packaging up of debt to sell to investors. No reason at all to think it is done any less so by the credit card arms than it is by the mortgage arms of lending institutions. I didn't realize my cute little plastic card is collateral !?!!
toycats said: Use the "FORCE" as the star wars cards are still capped at 75 bucks..I would doubt that all the cards issued would be uncapped. Using our FW knowledge, we can move credit lines and find the right cards for our purposes. Yoda would tell you to "Heed the words of our our fathers, know what is best for our future."
The Star Wars card was one of the ones I got the letter on, so I think it will be an uncapped fee starting sometime in early 2008.
btuttle
Senior Member
posted: Sep. 4, 2007 @ 9:27a
My Citibank cards went first to $250 cap, then to no cap. My Chase cards first went to $99, and then to $199, maybe no cap is next. My Discover cards have gone to $99 cap. Finally yes, my BoA cards have have gone to no cap starting 03/08.
So the card issuers are in the process of raising/eliminating the caps. However, this is for "existing" cards. After Citibank removed the cap my existing cards, I was still able to get a new Citibank card with "NO" fee. After Chase raised the raised the cap to $199, I was still able to get a new Chase card with "NO" fee.
While the number of no fee offers have declined, I wouldn't worry about them going away entirely for new cards. Yes the days of ping-ponging balances back and forth between existing cards for no fee or just a $75 fee are going away. Heck last summer BoA of all people sent me checks I could cash with no fee and 0% for 12 months. I don't think I will be seing that again soon.
So if you want a no fee balance transfer, just get a new card. There are plenty of offers still available.
WalStMonky
Happy Member
posted: Sep. 4, 2007 @ 3:05p
Same old song, it's been playing for years.
gpagerry
Thrifty Member
posted: Sep. 4, 2007 @ 5:34p
I got the same mailing, it states that on 3/10/08...assess a transaction fee equla to 3% of the us dollar amount of each balance transfer, cash advance min of $10. But you can just wait and see what the promotional offers are going to be, maybe the fee will be waived. No caps to the fees will kill any benefit of the cash advance, no tax benefit for the interest charge and getting taxed on the interest from the float. The difference is glaring, for a $50K advance, previously it was capped at $75, now it would be $1500.
WalStMonky
Happy Member
posted: Sep. 4, 2007 @ 10:25p
Why wouldn't you deduct an expense incurred with the intent of making a taxable profit?
LustfortheMoment
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Sep. 4, 2007 @ 10:34p
WalStMonky said: Why wouldn't you deduct an expense incurred with the intent of making a taxable profit?
You clearly can deduct investment expenses, but the Government is only going to pick up 1/4 to 1/3 depending upon your tax bracket........
gpagerry
Thrifty Member
posted: Sep. 4, 2007 @ 10:36p
Even so, the uncapped fee negates any meaningful upside compared to the $75 cap.
probably do the 50/50 split trick. we'll have to wait and see
WalStMonky
Happy Member
posted: Sep. 7, 2007 @ 10:51p
We got the T&C change notice today. It seems that BofA is going to quit classifying direct deposits to checking as BTs and will instead treat them as cash advances.
dodgeman007
Senior Member
posted: Sep. 8, 2007 @ 12:38p
LustfortheMoment said: babalouie, I STRONGLY doubt it. BofA has several offerings with NO BT fee in an attempt to stay competitive with other issuers. I doubt that the $0 BT fees will vanish unless all banks jettison them in unison.......
where have you been thats what is happening right now, most banks have already raised caps that used to be 50 or 75 up toward the 200 limit in prep to remove them, chase and citi are both doing it.
WalStMonky
Happy Member
posted: Sep. 8, 2007 @ 1:01p
^^^I just did an AOR in August and had no problem finding zero or capped fee BTs. They were quite easy to find. I believe you are suffering from confirmation bias, or just don't know where to look.
leonardo1
Senior Member
posted: Sep. 11, 2007 @ 10:45a
WalStMonky said: ^^^I just did an AOR in August and had no problem finding zero or capped fee BTs. They were quite easy to find. I believe you are suffering from confirmation bias, or just don't know where to look.
can you link me to any BOA cards with capped 0% offers besides https://offers.bankofamerica.com/ConsumerCard/OTS5Offer.aspx
would be much appreciated!
retihsuhnt
Member
posted: Sep. 11, 2007 @ 10:48a
I received notice yesterday for my BOA Signature Visa regarding the pending changes. Changes are similar to those already mentioned.
retihsuhnt said: I received notice yesterday for my BOA Signature Visa regarding the pending changes. Changes are similar to those already mentioned.
i got one today ... 24.99% APR on cash equivalents (effective 20Jan2008), 3% transaction fee (min $10, no max). i fully expect there will continue to be 0% promos with no fee--this is going to affect those folks who want cash when they don't have one of those offers active at the time they need $$ ...
here's the odd part: "we increased your APR due to the balances and APRs on this account." the purchase APR (which is not changing) is 5.99% fixed (!) .. and i haven't had a balance on this card in years ...
another oddity: i can, apparently, reject the cash equivalent apr increase by writing to a specific address and declining the change (in which case any cash equivalent taken from the card will earn the bank "a higher corresponding APR of 19.99%" i'm assuming that rejecting the 24.99% rate will signal FIA to screw me in other respects in the not-too-distant future ... no?!?
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