Credit card question

Jokester · 16 Feb 2014 at 20:33

Yeah these deals are all very nice, but essentially they're designed to encourage you into more debt than you might be able to manage, so that 18months later they've got a nice source of cash for themselves.

Energize · 16 Feb 2014 at 20:37

Jokester said:
What's happened to Visa these days? Rarely see their cards offered by anyone now a days.

I was wondering the same thing, virtually every credit card being offered by companies is a mastercard.

norm · 16 Feb 2014 at 21:58

Energize said:
I was wondering the same thing, virtually every credit card being offered by companies is a mastercard.

What about AmEx ....

Jokester · 16 Feb 2014 at 22:00

norm said:
What about AmEx ....

Not many of them either. but then there never was.

Mr Badger · 16 Feb 2014 at 22:08

From what I've seen you can get offers for 0% on purchases for a period but you normally still have to make the minimum payment each month to avoid charges.

pepp77 · 16 Feb 2014 at 22:10

Energize said:
I was wondering the same thing, virtually every credit card being offered by companies is a mastercard.

http://www.money.co.uk/credit-cards/visa-credit-cards.htm

Martytoon · 16 Feb 2014 at 22:27

Just another thing to bear in mind - never miss the payment due date, even by just a day, as you will lose the interest free purchase rate and it will revert to standard rate. Consider setting up a direct debit to cover the minimum payment and if you want to pay off extra just do that as and when funds allow.

Pawnless Endgame · 16 Feb 2014 at 23:15

No1newts said:
I get a £1 charge per day for being in my overdraft so stupidly a credit card is cheaper

Ahhh sorry, my bad. Didn't know about associated charges.

A2Z · 17 Feb 2014 at 01:10

Martytoon said:
Just another thing to bear in mind - never miss the payment due date, even by just a day, as you will lose the interest free purchase rate and it will revert to standard rate. Consider setting up a direct debit to cover the minimum payment and if you want to pay off extra just do that as and when funds allow.

This this and this.

I made this mistake just over a year ago when I got my MBNA card with 0% on cash transfer for 16 months. I thought it had automatically set up direct debit for the minimum amount when I first signed up, but it didn't. After a month when the 1st payment was due I got an email telling me I missed a payment. I was in Malaysia at the time :eek:

and spent about £20 to call them up. They told me as I had missed the payment the 0% offer would cease....I got a bit panicky as it was £2200 that I had transferred to my account and no way could I afford to pay it back with a high interest. Luckily a few seconds later the guy on the phone said that as a goodwill gesture he would put it back on for me as he could see it was a simple mistake, damn was I relieved!

The_Abyss · 17 Feb 2014 at 04:35

No1newts said:
Saving up is a pain for me but alternatively I have no issue making monthly payments.

As others have said, just be absolutely sure that you can make the repayments, as there's a some conflict here already.

Seft · 17 Feb 2014 at 10:38

Jokester said:
The 56 day thing only kicks in after 18months.

The 56 days is fairly standard as you get a bill every month and have about a month to pay it, so if you buy something the day your statement is generated you get the full 56days, but further into the month you'll get less time interest free.

To be precise, the 56 day thing kicks in straight away - if you don't pay off in full the balance incurs interest. In this case, the interest rate for purchases is 0% in the first x months so there is no charge.