Credit Cards

CIBC 0% balance transfer 6 month offer

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Deal Addict
Apr 13, 2015
1108 posts
214 upvotes
nmclean wrote: It can also make sense if the balance transfer is significantly smaller. Suppose the BT accounts for only 25% of the card's balance. 75% of the payment will go against purchases, leaving only 25% of your purchases to be charged interest while you're getting 5% back on 100% of them. But you'd have to make your payments quickly since there is no grace period. You could still be making a net 2-3% this way.
That's a very good point. Ok, that frees another $8000 that I can balance transfer off of two other cards. Wonder what intentionally creating $33,000 of credit card debt, and investing it, will do to my creditors' opinion of me? Will they get worried and start reducing my limits? That would cause me to have a 69% utility ratio.
Member
Apr 11, 2007
222 posts
11 upvotes
Richmond Hill
nmclean wrote: It can also make sense if the balance transfer is significantly smaller. But you'd have to make your payments quickly since there is no grace period. You could still be making a net 2-3% this way.
Here's the key piece of information. I use a CC to cushion the flow of money for day to day transactions. In my case I used it primarily for gas, which would be 2 -3 x per week. And then I can just pay off the balance monthly. What they "failed" to tell me (ie Misrepresentation) is that after you do a balance transfer, your CC purchases essentially become like cash advances that accrue interest (19.99%) once it it posted. Rep just kept saying that as long as you pay the minimum balance (in my case pay off all transactions) then I wouldn't be charged anything. Maybe scam is the wrong word, but this 0% interest vs regular interest manuevering built into these offers is deceiving. I think one of the poster said it best - use a credit card that you wont be using for regular purchases and leave it alone until the promo period (6 months) is up and just pay the balance.
Deal Addict
Apr 13, 2015
1108 posts
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dcor wrote: Here's the key piece of information. I use a CC to cushion the flow of money for day to day transactions. In my case I used it primarily for gas, which would be 2 -3 x per week. And then I can just pay off the balance monthly. What they "failed" to tell me (ie Misrepresentation) is that after you do a balance transfer, your CC purchases essentially become like cash advances that accrue interest (19.99%) once it it posted. Rep just kept saying that as long as you pay the minimum balance (in my case pay off all transactions) then I wouldn't be charged anything. Maybe scam is the wrong word, but this 0% interest vs regular interest manuevering built into these offers is deceiving. I think one of the poster said it best - use a credit card that you wont be using for regular purchases and leave it alone until the promo period (6 months) is up and just pay the balance.
19.99% is about 1.67%/month. Compared with your same monthly purchase earning 5%/MONTH - yes, month, this is cash back, remember. i.e. You spend $1000\month, and yes your paying 1.67% month ($16.70), but you're earning $50 in cash back. Net: $33.30. Admittedly these number are very rough. After making a payment,the ratio of new charges to balance transfer is increasing, slightly improving these numbers.

Cash back is very interesting in my case with a business that rotates the credit card limit twice per month. Their free loan becomes an investment for me earning better than 2%/month, with only 1% cash back. It also means I can carry a large balance free of charge. Wish that was compounding interest; I'd get rich fast.
Member
Apr 11, 2007
222 posts
11 upvotes
Richmond Hill
bruceh2015 wrote: 19.99% is about 1.67%/month. Compared with your same monthly purchase earning 5%/MONTH - yes, month, this is cash back, remember. i.e. You spend $1000\month, and yes your paying 1.67% month ($16.70), but you're earning $50 in cash back. Net: $33.30. Admittedly these number are very rough. After making a payment,the ratio of new charges to balance transfer is increasing, slightly improving these numbers.

Cash back is very interesting in my case with a business that rotates the credit card limit twice per month. Their free loan becomes an investment for me earning better than 2%/month, with only 1% cash back. It also means I can carry a large balance free of charge. Wish that was compounding interest; I'd get rich fast.
Can you tell me what card you are using that earns 5% per month on cash back? My CIBC CC doesn't have that, but i get gas points. My amex simplycard only gets 1% at best.
Deal Addict
Apr 13, 2015
1108 posts
214 upvotes
dcor wrote: Can you tell me what card you are using that earns 5% per month on cash back? My CIBC CC doesn't have that, but i get gas points. My amex simplycard only gets 1% at best.

"5% per month" is a dangerous choice of words ( my fault). I simply mean that in any given billing period you are earning 5% of your purchases in cash back. Both the AMEX Simply Cash and the MBNA Smart Cash are doing this, but they have strict spending limits.
Member
Apr 11, 2007
222 posts
11 upvotes
Richmond Hill
bruceh2015 wrote: "5% per month" is a dangerous choice of words ( my fault). I simply mean that in any given billing period you are earning 5% of your purchases in cash back. Both the AMEX Simply Cash and the MBNA Smart Cash are doing this, but they have strict spending limits.
Maybe I'm slow to pick up or I didn't quite understand how or where to compute the 5% rate... If I spend $1000 in a month, I will get 1% cashback (ie $10), while my credit card will charge me 1.67% interest ($16.70)... Wait, now I get it, you are referring to a 6 month promo rate of 5% for Amex..afterwhich you are back to the regular 1.25% rate.
Deal Addict
Apr 13, 2015
1108 posts
214 upvotes
dcor wrote: Maybe I'm slow to pick up or I didn't quite understand how or where to compute the 5% rate... If I spend $1000 in a month, I will get 1% cashback (ie $10), while my credit card will charge me 1.67% interest ($16.70)... Wait, now I get it, you are referring to a 6 month promo rate of 5% for Amex..afterwhich you are back to the regular 1.25% rate.
Yes, somehow this thread evolved into the the Amex Simply Cash card. It offers 5% for 6 months. If you can clear your balance transfer in 6 months, you can arguably still benefit from a combination of monthly purchases and balance transfer. I'll let you do the math to find the optimal balance of purchases and balance transfer.
Deal Addict
May 15, 2013
2048 posts
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Alberta
I asked about that because as I said I was planning to apply for the Amex Simply Cash doing a balance transfer. I'm a lot confused by all the maths have been done in different posts .... I don't understand why people compare 5% cash back with 1.67% interests ... the idea of the first 6 months is to take advantage as more as possible of the 5% (btw, is 5% in grocery and other stuff but not in all) ... so paying 1.67% at the same time doesn't make any sense.
It would be better to apply for this CIBC CC just for the balance transfer, after 6 months I pay off my debt and then I apply for the Amex Simply Cash to take full advantage of the 5% for the first 6 months ...... at least I guess... :facepalm:
Deal Addict
Jan 24, 2015
1021 posts
310 upvotes
Canadian in USA
dcor wrote: so is this the case for all 0% balance transfer promotions? This was my first attempt to use it, and unfortunately, the rep who i first spoke with did not advise me. Otherwise, i wouldn't have used it on a cc that i use on a regular basis.
GOTCHA!

Fooling people like this is how they make their money.
Deal Addict
Apr 13, 2015
1108 posts
214 upvotes
iamthebest wrote: I asked about that because as I said I was planning to apply for the Amex Simply Cash doing a balance transfer. I'm a lot confused by all the maths have been done in different posts .... I don't understand why people compare 5% cash back with 1.67% interests ... the idea of the first 6 months is to take advantage as more as possible of the 5% (btw, is 5% in grocery and other stuff but not in all) ... so paying 1.67% at the same time doesn't make any sense.
It would be better to apply for this CIBC CC just for the balance transfer, after 6 months I pay off my debt and then I apply for the Amex Simply Cash to take full advantage of the 5% for the first 6 months ...... at least I guess... :facepalm:
Yes, and no. When you get cash back as high as 5%, if you play your cards right, you can enjoy a free loan, and still enjoy 3% cash back on your purchases. However, you only benefit in a meaningful way if you can not only pay for your purchases, but also clear your debt in 6 months.

You run into the same issue with the CIBC card. You can't make purchases with it. Instead of earning 1% in cash back, you're paying 1% in balance transfer fee.
Deal Fanatic
Oct 1, 2004
6651 posts
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GTA
What kind of job need to put $6000/week on a credit card?

Anyone recently got a balance transfer offer?
Deal Addict
Nov 25, 2014
1739 posts
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Newton Brook, ON
iamthebest wrote: I asked about that because as I said I was planning to apply for the Amex Simply Cash doing a balance transfer. I'm a lot confused by all the maths have been done in different posts .... I don't understand why people compare 5% cash back with 1.67% interests ... the idea of the first 6 months is to take advantage as more as possible of the 5% (btw, is 5% in grocery and other stuff but not in all) ... so paying 1.67% at the same time doesn't make any sense.
It would be better to apply for this CIBC CC just for the balance transfer, after 6 months I pay off my debt and then I apply for the Amex Simply Cash to take full advantage of the 5% for the first 6 months ...... at least I guess... :facepalm:
Yes, if you had the offer from CIBC or someone else, with a credit limit high enough to transfer the full amount you need to borrow, it would probably make no sense to take Amex's balance transfer offer as opposed to using the full 5%. But if there are no other cards available to you, you could use both 6 month offers from Amex simultaneously. I was just pointing out that 20% interest doesn't necessarily defeat 5% cashback. Even when you have a balance transfer, some of your payment is still applied to purchases, so you're still decreasing the amount that 20% is charged on, but the 5% amount is never decreased.
Deal Addict
May 15, 2013
2048 posts
636 upvotes
Alberta
bruceh2015 wrote: Yes, and no. When you get cash back as high as 5%, if you play your cards right, you can enjoy a free loan, and still enjoy 3% cash back on your purchases. However, you only benefit in a meaningful way if you can not only pay for your purchases, but also clear your debt in 6 months.

You run into the same issue with the CIBC card. You can't make purchases with it. Instead of earning 1% in cash back, you're paying 1% in balance transfer fee.
Well, the idea was to just get the CIBC card for the transfer. For purchases I can use any other CC, even Amazon gives me already the 1%.
Deal Addict
May 15, 2013
2048 posts
636 upvotes
Alberta
nmclean wrote: Yes, if you had the offer from CIBC or someone else, with a credit limit high enough to transfer the full amount you need to borrow, it would probably make no sense to take Amex's balance transfer offer as opposed to using the full 5%. But if there are no other cards available to you, you could use both 6 month offers from Amex simultaneously. I was just pointing out that 20% interest doesn't necessarily defeat 5% cashback. Even when you have a balance transfer, some of your payment is still applied to purchases, so you're still decreasing the amount that 20% is charged on, but the 5% amount is never decreased.

Yeah, if it would be my first CC I get it what you mean. But as I can use any other of my 3 CC's I have right now, I'd just use them and use CIBC only for the transfer. And then apply for the Amex Simply Cash.
Deal Addict
Apr 13, 2015
1108 posts
214 upvotes
iamthebest wrote: Well, the idea was to just get the CIBC card for the transfer. For purchases I can use any other CC, even Amazon gives me already the 1%.
Of course, I simply made the point earlier that you can't use both transfer and purchases and benefit. Somebody corrected me and pointed out that you can still benefit. However, it's obviously better to use two different cards : one for balance transfer, another for purchases.
Deal Expert
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Apr 21, 2004
58648 posts
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My mom and I received different offers by email last week with the title and I know these are legit emails because we happen to have received these last December.
Save on high interest balances, here's how!

When I logged into my account around that time, I saw the balance transfer message a few times and clicked on Tell Me Later. Suddenly, the offer doesn't come out anymore. Anyway to get these offers to come out again upon sign in? :) Of course, we can call CIBC to avail of the BT offer but doing it online is so much more convenient.
Deal Addict
Apr 13, 2015
1108 posts
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alanbrenton wrote: My mom and I received different offers by email last week with the title and I know these are legit emails because we happen to have received these last December.
Save on high interest balances, here's how!

When I logged into my account around that time, I saw the balance transfer message a few times and clicked on Tell Me Later. Suddenly, the offer doesn't come out anymore. Anyway to get these offers to come out again upon sign in? :) Of course, we can call CIBC to avail of the BT offer but doing it online is so much more convenient.

Yes, this has happened to me many times. Eventually they stop popping up on your online banking. Just pick up the phone and call them. They probably have several offers for you. Its best if you can remember the offer code number, and I find the one that arrives in the snail mail are the best offers.

By the way: DO NOT NOT NOT NOT attempt a balance transfer to you Scotia AMEX card. You can't. But, they will still try. The money will disappear, and not reappear on your credit card for about three weeks. :D
Deal Expert
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Apr 21, 2004
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Seems the offer is random. My wife has not had the offer on her two Select Visa's for more than two years now but today she got an offer in the mail for one of her Dividend Platinum Visa card (both upgraded from the Select Visa's).
Newbie
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May 7, 2003
45 posts
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Can anyone post the 6 digit code for 0% interest? Talked to the dude who said that is all they need to give you the rate.
Deal Fanatic
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Jan 6, 2011
6190 posts
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GTA
Just signed onto web banking and saw 1% fee for 10 month ~ 1.2% annualized.

MBNA 1% Valid until November 01, 2017. Are there even better deal?

First time seeing this from CIBC, as a 15+yr customer.

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