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MBNA is part of the Lloyds Banking Group. It doesn’t have any branches, and is probably best known for its 0% credit cards (though it has branched out into loans, insurance and savings).
Current MBNA 0% balance transfer deals
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Read the full methodologyHow do MBNA balance transfers work?
With MBNA, everything’s online – including the first step: checking whether you’re eligible for an MBNA offer.
Like pretty much every UK credit card provider, MBNA lets you check your eligibility without any impact on your credit score (it uses a “soft search” of your credit file, which it calls “Clever Check”). This takes less that 5 minutes and it’s a straightforward form with questions about your income and outgoings.
As well as showing you whether or not you’d be likely to get approved for a credit card, MBNA will also estimate your credit limit. Not all card issuers do that, and if you’re thinking about a balance transfer it’s actually really important to know!
Bear in mind that you can’t use of of that credit limit on your balance transfer. MBNA typically caps balance transfers at 93% of your credit limit. So if you get a £10,000 credit limit, you could balance transfer up to £9,300. With a £5,000 limit you could transfer up to £4,650, etc.
Provided it’s good news, you’re happy with the estimated credit limit and you want to apply, you can go ahead and do so at this point. You won’t have to put all your details in again (thank goodness) but you will have to agree to a “heard search” of your credit file at this point. That’s standard stuff – all credit card issuers will want to run a full search before officially offering you credit. It means a small (and usually shortlived) hit to your credit score.
As part of the application process, you can request the balance transfer. If you opt to do it later, then bear in mind that to get that 0% deal, MBNA normally insists that transfers must made in the first 60 days.
What’s good and bad about MBNA balance transfers?
Pros
- MBNA’s super-competitive on 0% balance transfers. If it doesn’t have the very longest deal on the market at any given time, it’ll usually be within 2 or 3 months of it.
- MBNA estimates what credit limit you’d get based on a soft search of your file. Not all card issuers do this, and yet it’s absolutely key.
- MBNA balance transfer cards don’t charge an annual fee (balance transfer cards generally don’t).
- You can get a near-instant decision online, without paperwork, without visiting a branch, and you don’t even need to wait for your card to arrive for the balance transfer to go ahead.
Cons
- There’s generally a painful transfer fee of around 3% to pay.
- You have a limited window (generally 60 days) to transfer funds and qualify for that 0% period.
- You can’t use your whole credit limit for a balance transfer – it’s usually capped at 93%.
- After the 0% period has expired, MBNA cards usually revert to a very standard interest rate (“standard” credit card rates are actually pretty horrible, and should be avoided at all costs!)
- MBNA is part of Lloyds, along with Halifax and Bank of Scotland, so if you’re transferring from a Lloyds, Halifax or Bank of Scotland card (or an MBNA card, for that matter) you’ll have to go elsewhere.
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