Playing The Balance Transfer Game

Mary Hunt of Everyday Cheapskate writes about her colleague's strategy to accept zero interest balance transfer offers from card issuers, write himself a convenience check that's included with the offer, deposit it into his bank account, wait for it to clear, transfer it to his high yield Emigrant Direct savings account - and proceed to earn high interest on the proceeds while making minimum payments at zero interest for a year. He says this strategy yields him about $430 in interest income over the course of a year on about $15,000. She says he's a financial daredevil for playing this game.