Good morning everyone! We had a couple of quick reader questions I wanted to share with you today.

One of our readers, Brian, sent us this question:

Can one person transfer a balance to another person’s card? Allow me to elaborate.

I have two cards in my name. One was obtained 6 months ago to use the 0% balance transfer feature. My fiance has no cards yet and would like to start building some credit as her score is not stellar. Would it be possible for her to get her own card with a balance transfer deal and transfer a balance from one of my cards? Or can someone transfer only between cards with one name on it?

Thanks for your advice on this topic.

Thanks for your question Brian!

The short answer is no, you cannot do a balance transfer from one person to another, just from one account to another account with the same person’s name on it. It is excellent that your fiancée wants to improve her credit. My recommendation to her is this:

Start with a couple of secured credit card accounts. I highly recommend the Orchard Bank Secured Credit Card. In my opinion, it is the best of the secured credit card accounts out there. You can find out more about secured credit cards by checking out our detailed page that discusses the rates and terms for the available secured credit card accounts.

Just in case you’re thinking “A secured credit card?? Why would she want to get one of those? You can read our recent article on the subject here. They really are the very best way to rebuild your credit.

Also, I would recommend that you add her as an authorized user on your credit card accounts. FICO has just released a statement saying that they will now factor “authorized user” accounts into your credit score.

Just be sure to keep your own balances under 30% of the total amount you can borrow, and make your payments on time. Otherwise you will not be doing her any favors. If you are carrying a zero balance on the card you just transferred the balance from, then it would be best to put her on that account and not charge anything on it.

Thanks again for your question, and good luck to you both as you build your future together!

A double feature!

We also had another reader, Sherri, who wondered:

Can you use a credit card to purchase a house?

I don’t see why not, if you had an available limit that high. That would be rare though, even if you were looking at purchasing a foreclosed home. Also, charging that much money to one account (or several) in a single month would lower your credit score because you would almost certainly be over the recommended 30% of your available balance. It would be a bear to try to pay off as well!
Interesting question! Thanks for taking the time to ask.

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This entry was posted on Friday, August 22nd, 2008 at 9:45 am and is filed under Credit Card Debt, Credit Reports and Scores. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.