A warning to the Debt Free community: Paying off your credit card balance can raise a red flag with the DHS.

http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=RAISEALARM-02-28-06

http://www.sploid.com/news/2006/03/homeland_securi_1.php

Basically a man paid off the balance on his credit card and the payment wasn't reflected until Homeland security cleared the red flag. Why? I have no idea.

I recently processed a $625 balance transfer from my Visa to my 0% APR Mastercard. While the payment had been accepted it took nearly 20 days for the transfer to complete. I'm not sure if that's normal... I can't imagine that amount would raise any flags since I always pay my balance in full, but still... It makes you wonder.