just got a credit card

geeza · 26 Apr 2006 at 14:20

With Nationwide. I have banked online with them for about 3 years now and thought it be a good time to start building up a credit rating. The limit is £1500

Im not too sure how they work. If I buy some goods for £100 at the end of the month do I just need to transfer £100 from a fleaccount to the credit card account. My boss said its no point 'loading' a credit card say with £500 because they are getting free money.

Then theres setting up minimum payments from direct debit and all that

Someone please explain more. I also took some sort of insurance but she said I might aswell have it if im paying back money straight away

:confused:

vanandjuanunited · 26 Apr 2006 at 14:21

Wait till your bill before paying in full before the due date.

Visage · 26 Apr 2006 at 14:25

geeza said:
With Nationwide. I have banked online with them for about 3 years now and thought it be a good time to start building up a credit rating. The limit is £1500

Im not too sure how they work. If I buy some goods for £100 at the end of the month do I just need to transfer £100 from a fleaccount to the credit card account. My boss said its no point 'loading' a credit card say with £500 because they are getting free money.

Then theres setting up minimum payments from direct debit and all that

Someone please explain more. I also took some sort of insurance but she said I might aswell have it if im paying back money straight away

Every month you'll get a statement listing your transactions that month, plus any interest accrued. It will also have a minimum payment (normally a few % of the outstanding balance, or £5, whatever's greater).

Simply send a cheque off, or pay online (most CC's allow you to do this).

For extra piece of mind, set up a direct debit to pay off the minimum each month so you dont get stung by late payment charges.

geeza · 26 Apr 2006 at 14:27

Visage said:
For extra piece of mind, set up a direct debit to pay off the minimum each month so you dont get stung by late payment charges.

Cant I just pay it all in full when the bill comes through?

Yas786 · 26 Apr 2006 at 14:28

Right quickly

With Credit cards you usually have a max balance...might be £200 or might be a couple of grand etc.
Anyways you wait till you get your bill at the end of the month and on there it will give u options on how to pay. You can either pay it fully by the due date and have no interest charged to you. Or you can play the min amount but that will incur interest charges and it does add up, the way i see it is that by doing that...paying the min amount your just paying the interest and it will take u a lot longer to pay off the full balance etc.
Anyways most cc companies now allow you to pay the min amount or full amount by Direct Debit, which means it comes out of your account automatically so you dont have to worry about paying it yourself.

One thing i must stress abotu credit cards, they are nice to have but they can get u into a lot of debt due to the obscene interest charges some companies charge you. My advice is that if you can pay for things by debit card or cash then do so, use the credit card in severe emergencies etc or use it to buy stuff that dont allow u to pay by debit card but thats very rare these days.

Tru · 26 Apr 2006 at 14:29

Why would you get a Visa card if you have no idea how they work? It's not rocket science ffs, all the info you need is provided with the card.

Visage · 26 Apr 2006 at 14:29

geeza said:
Cant I just pay it all in full when the bill comes through?

Yup, but its amazing how easy it is to get a bill and forget.

Sods law states that you'll always remember the day after payment is due.

There's nothing to stop you paying straight away as well as having a DD just in case.

geeza · 26 Apr 2006 at 14:57

Tru said:
Why would you get a Visa card if you have no idea how they work? It's not rocket science ffs, all the info you need is provided with the card.

Ive already got a visa card, visa debit though. I havent got a credit card

...ffs

Tru · 26 Apr 2006 at 14:59

OK I used Visa instead of credit, my point stands.

VeNT · 26 Apr 2006 at 15:00

tbh, setup a DD for the min payment, then pay off any extra above that as and when you have it.

Bes · 26 Apr 2006 at 15:00

Simple.

You get a statement each month.

You can make a minimum payment and the outstanding balance will accrue interest.

You can pay off the full balance, in which case it will have cost you nothing extra.

You can set up a direct debit for either of the above.

Sone · 26 Apr 2006 at 15:37

i don't agree with not using a credit card or using it only for emegencies, i put everything on mine for the extra protection it gives over a debit card. HAve a DD to pay off the full balance every month and never got into any trouble.

geeza · 26 Apr 2006 at 15:51

^ are right bez, so a credit card is not like another debit card. Its just a card that you buy stuff with and (if you want) link it to a debit card. I think ill just link it to my debit card to pay it off in full at the end of the month.
Is this the same as loading it with money from my debit card at the end of the month?

Visage · 26 Apr 2006 at 15:53

geeza said:
^ are right bez, so a credit card is not like another debit card. Its just a card that you buy stuff with and (if you want) link it to a debit card. I think ill just link it to my debit card to pay it off in full at the end of the month.
Is this the same as loading it with money from my debit card at the end of the month?

Be careful with this. Its easy to say 'Hmm, i wont pay it all off this month, i'll pay most of it off and treat myself'.....you need to be quite disciplined....

Bes · 26 Apr 2006 at 15:54

geeza said:
^ are right bez,

It's Bes but thanks anyway

geeza said:
Is this the same as loading it with money from my debit card at the end of the month?

Yes

stoofa · 26 Apr 2006 at 16:00

As others have said.
It is all well and good using the credit card and then paying it off every month.
Or using it because you've got a level of insurance with purchases etc.
However it is then just so easy to say "Ah well, think I'll leave it a month as the interest won't be that much".
Do that for a couple of months and then you'll regret ever having got a card in the first place.

Setting up a Direct Debit so that the minimum amount is taken each month is so important - it is the first thing I always do with a new credit card.
It means you won't be back here in three months time posting a thread:

"Winge, winge, moan, moan, cry, cry - my bank have charged me £25 for a late payment on my credit card"

VeNT · 26 Apr 2006 at 16:49

stoofa said:
It means you won't be back here in three months time posting a thread:

"Winge, winge, moan, moan, cry, cry - my bank have charged me £25 for a late payment on my credit card"

]mainly because they won't be able to charge you £25 for it much longer

Visage · 26 Apr 2006 at 16:56

VeNT said:
]mainly because they won't be able to charge you £25 for it much longer

Im not quite sure you got his point there.....

Snow-Munki · 26 Apr 2006 at 16:57

yeah, i've forgotten once before, was quite a bit aswell like £300.

but i quickly email my bank explaining that i was just busy and forgot and if they could let me off the late payment fee and interest

got a reply the next day saying it was fine, phew !

VeNT · 26 Apr 2006 at 17:06

Visage said:
Im not quite sure you got his point there.....

oh I do, I'm just pointing out that the banks have been warned about the excessive charges they make for this sort of thing, as it costs em about £1.50