thank you sis! 
ano pala yung balance transfer and credit-to-cash? pwede ba gamitin pang bayad ng utility bills ang credit card para lang magkaron siya ng silbi sakin? hahaha! hindi naman kasi ako magastos. yun lang naisip ko na okay pag gamitan ng CC aside from groceries & pambayad ng phone plan. yung grocery ko hindi naman lumalagpas ng 2k..
Depende sa bank sis. Pero on most cards, yes. Lahat ng utility bills ko (meralco, maynilad, skycable, pldt) naka register sa card ko. iba iba kasi due date at least tatawag lang ako to pay tapos isang due date na lang sila lahat. Meron naman cards na automatic credit na, meaning you don't have to call CS to pay. RCBC yung card ko for bills.
Balance Transfer is well, when you transfer your balance from other cards to a particular card. For example, may bill ka na 20,000 with RCBC. Eh emergency di mo sya kayang bayaran. Ngayon may BPI card ka, pwede mong i transfer yung 20,000 na bill mo sa BPI. BPI na magbabayad kay RCBC, tapos ikaw kay BPI ka na magbabayad nung 20k-on installment basis (3,6,9,12,24,or 36 months). May interest of course, pero minimal lang. So much better than hindi mo mabayaran yung 20k kay RCBC at mag interest ng mag interest. Mas mataas interest dun, and masisira pa credit record mo. Tapos may option ka pa to pay on installment. This is a great option, just be careful not to abuse it
And by the way, in order na maka balance transfer ka, you have to have enough credit limit dun sa card kung san mo i transfer. sa example ko, dapat may 20k available CL ka with BPI. kasi dun nya kukunin yung balance transfer mo.
Iba iba ang terms at interest rates per bank pero balance transfer usually ranges below 1% per month lang. So compare that with 3.25% interest when you fail to pay the full amount plus other charges pa. Plus accumulating pa every month. Plus bad record. Ang mga alam kong banks na me balance transfer is BPI, EW, Citibank ata? RCBC used to have this pero nawala.
Additionally, pwede rin mag pa staggered payment. Sa BPI, sa balance transfer pa rin ang tawag so same rate. With EW, higher ang pa staggered. Example ulit tayo, ginamit mo si BPI for 20,000 sa item na hindi pwedeng i installment with merchant example plane ticket. Pero di mo kayang bayaran ng buo. Pwede mo sya ipa staggered with BPI so you can pay for it on installment. Again, may interest pero very minimal. pero you have to have enough CL ulit. Halimbawa, 40k CL mo. 20k pambayad ng plane ticket. Since may tira ka pa na 20k, pwede mo pa yun gamitin para mapa staggered mo. Parang dumoble bawas sa CL diba, hihiramin lang yun. Technically, hihiramin ni BPI yung natitirang CL mo, tapos babayaran nila kinabukasan yung bill mo, so may payment na 20k, babalik din sa CL mo yun.
Na try ko balance transfer with EW and BPI. mas mabilis si BPI 1 banking day lang ang processing. EW takes 5-7 banking days pero with EW, pwede over the phone. with bpi, kelangan punta ka talaga sa bank kasi isswipe yung card mo.
One tip on converting your big purchase to staggered:
Example cut off date mo is 16. So April 16.
Purchase the item on april 17. Since hindi na pumasok sa cut off the 16, wala pa sya sa bill. Mabi-bill sya on May 16 na. Due on June 5. So bago mag due, ipapa staggered mo sya. halimbawa 10k yung item. since pina staggered mo, di mo na sya kelangan bayaran sa due date na June 5. Tapos yung transaction na yun, papasok sa June 16 na bill, so ang first amortization nya, sa July 5 pa. dun pa lang mag start yung installment. So nag purchase ka ng item April 17 pero July 5 pa first payment. hehe parang nag BNPL ka lang
Pero warning ko lang, don't do it often kasi baka ma abuse nyo at mag patong patong ang installment nyo.
masyado bang technical? sorry. I'm trying my best to make it simple. Favorite ko kasi ang feature na to ng card hahaha.
With credit to cash naman, BPI lang so far alam kong merong ganito. parang cash advance sya, only better kasi with cash advance diba you have to pay the whole amount agad on the next bill then may charge pa sya. With Credit to cash, pwede installment bayad. Me interest, but not as much as cash advance. Pero a little higher than balance transfer. Same concept with balance transfer, kelangan me available CL ka. So kung available CL mo is 50k you can have cash na 50k din. automatic approved yun basta kasya lang ang CL mo. Tapos choose ka na lang ng payment terms kung ilang months. (3,6,9,12,24,36 din). This is a much better option than personal loans. Kasi with personal loans, napaka laki ng interest, umaabot ng 3.50% per month. Sa credit to cash nasa .99% per month lang (depende sa terms). Kung me account ka sa BPI, kinabukasan ma c-credit na sa account mo yung cash. Kung wala naman, I think 10 days process pa and you have to get the check sa branches nila, parang 3 branches lang ata yung pede mong pagkuhanan ng check. so open ka na lang ng account.
pwede na ata ako maging sales person sa bpi. haha. sorry napahaba na carried away
