Can Credit Card Companies Randomly Create their Own Balance Transfer Requests?

Anyone ever hear of a situation like this?

I recieved an unsolicated balance transfer offer from HSBC ... 3% transfer fee up to a maximum fee of 75$.

This sounded good to me so I nibbled and requested a 5000$ transfer, which would have made the 75$ transfer fee equal to 1.5% ... tolerable for me.

BUT .... they approved the account and transfer and 2 weeks later filled the transfer only to 2500$, which gets them their 75$ fee at 3% and leaves me short of any chance to gain from the experience.

My point is, I didnt approve of this transfer and I tried disputing the charge to deaf and robotic ears.

Can they fill a balance transfer for any amount that they randomly choose or am I correct in assuming that they can only either approve or deny my request?

Can Credit Card Companies Randomly Create their Own Balance Transfer Requests?care credit

As soon as you see words like %26quot;up to%26quot;, you should assume there%26#039;s a catch. What most of these companies do is carefully use language like Up To $x or As Low As 0% for Up To 12 months. They tease, you %26quot;nibble%26quot; and they act at their discretion according to their Terms and Conditions document, i.e., the fine print. You%26#039;re dealing with HSBC, the #1 subprime lender in the US; you can be sure they have attorneys who keep them on the right side of the law, if barely.

They don%26#039;t use %26quot;any amount that they randomly choose%26quot;, rather, they have a computer program that chooses the amount according to your credit score and credit history. In the credit game, those who need credit the least get the best terms. In the future, your best defense is to phone the credit card company BEFORE you apply, and ask questions. If your gut says something isn%26#039;t right, get their offer in writing.

And some other things:

1. If the balance transfer got you a teaser interest rate, call HSBC and find out exactly when, in your case, that teaser rate ends. Mark your calendar, a month in advance. If you plan to keep any of the balance after the teaser rate ends, watch out for multi-tiered balances. New purchases may have a lower interest rate, and their written policy may be that they will apply your payments to the lowest interest rate balance first. Your (typically) higher interest rate transfer balance will have to sit around racking up higher interest until you pay the purchase balance off first. You can%26#039;t request a choice of which balance to pay off. Best defense: don%26#039;t make purchases on an account having a balance transfer until the transfer is paid off.

2. Balance transfers have their hidden costs: It costs you a few FICO credit score points per hard inquiry to check your credit. You get the points back within 2 years. Also, if you transfer an amount that%26#039;s close to the limit, the card looks maxed out and costs you FICO points for a high credit utilization rate. Get the balance below 30% of the limit. If your balance is extremely close to the limit, (97%+), call HSBC now and get an exact amount of how much in finance charges will be added to your balance. At statement closing, if they add the finance charges and your payment doesn%26#039;t cover them, you could get an over limit fee. Also, check the Terms and Conditions of your other accounts for the dreaded Universal Default clause. A balance transfer usually hurts your FICO scores at first. Other creditors reading your report may find that a BT drops your score enough to trip their Universal Default clause, and they%26#039;ll raise their interest rates.

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Can Credit Card Companies Randomly Create their Own Balance Transfer Requests?

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You might want to check the fine print to see if there was a transfer limit.