Halifax Clarity Card

Susan_Walsh · 22 November 2017 at 1:19PM

I have taken Martin's advice and now use this card instead of my prepaid Credit Card when abroad which I am a lot. I have recently started to use it for taking out cash . I have Halifax set up as a payee on my bank app and pay the amount taken out immediately. However I find I am still being charged interest.

Also instead of taking all the amount due on my monthly statement which is set up as a direct debit Halifax seem to be only taking a small amount. Again I check my account and make sure that full sum goes out. Why am I incurring interest?

[Deleted User] · 22 November 2017 at 1:22PM

You will be charged some interest, as you are taking out cash. Interest is charged from day one.

Check that your DD is set up for the full amount. It sounds as if you have set it up for the minimum payment, or at least less than the full amount.

Again, if you don't clear in full , you will be charged interest.

Ebe_Scrooge · 22 November 2017 at 1:55PM

Susan_Walsh wrote: »

I have Halifax set up as a payee on my bank app and pay the amount taken out immediately. However I find I am still being charged interest.

If for instance you withdraw £100, then immediately pay £100 back, it's quite possible that the withdrawal has not yet fully registered on your statemented amount. So your £100 goes towards paying off whatever was already there. Then the withdrawal gets processed, maybe a day or 2 afterwards, and begins to accrue interest.

As ZX81 says, withdrawals will accrue interest from day 1. But unless you're withdrawing £1000's then the amount of interest will be very small as long as you pay the next statement in full.

The only way to avoid interest altogether is to make the withdrawal, then constantly monitor your account - the moment the withdrawal clears in your account ( which could be a few hours or a day or 2 after the actual withdrawal ), you then pay off that amount. But really, as long as you're paying off each statement in full, and you're not withdrawing huge amounts, then the interest will be the equivalent of a pint of beer or 2.

lisyloo · 22 November 2017 at 2:01PM

There are 2 possibilities here.
It's possible that your drect debit is being reduced by the amount you've paid.
Another possibility is that your payments are being allocated to statemented (but not paid) purchases and not being allocated to your cash.

I don't have a DD with my Halifax CC. Is it now a requirement?
If it isn't then you could cancel the DD.
If it is then you'll need to montor DD payments getting adjusted.

The only way to avoid the second is make sure your statemented balance is already paid.

Susan_Walsh · 22 November 2017 at 4:22PM

I will check all those suggestions. The cash amout taken out appears straight away in pending transactions and I tend to coordinate the money out with immediate payment. I will also check on my DD with my bank which is not Halifax.

Ebe_Scrooge · 22 November 2017 at 5:37PM

Susan_Walsh wrote: »

The cash amout taken out appears straight away in pending transactions and I tend to coordinate the money out with immediate payment.

That's your answer then. Any payments you make to the card will go against "cleared" transactions ( and most cards will allocate payments to the debt with the highest APR first ). Your payment will NOT go towards any "pending" transactions ( as I alluded to in my previous reply ). I will admit I'm no expert on how it works internally, but I suspect the bank that operates the ATM will do a batch run every night. So when you withdraw the cash the transaction will be "pending", then when the overnight batch runs, all the various checks and verifications will take place, information is exchanged and agreed between the ATM owner and your card company, and it's at that point that the transaction is classed as "cleared".

To avoid interest you need to wait until the cash withdrawal has cleared, then you can make a payment. But like I say, that's a bit of a faff when you're on holiday, for the sake of a couple of quid of interest overall. And don't forget, you're still ( probably ) saving money compared to the standard charge for ATM withdrawals using your debit card. Though, this being MSE, I completely understand your reluctance to pay interest at all if possible :-)

As an aside, if you're logging onto your bank account when abroad, be sure you're using a secure connection, not just any old public wi-fi.

Fortyfoot · 3 December 2017 at 9:20AM

Load your card before you go, I always do.

I got €1.135 to the £ yesterday. Deducted from my credit.

Fortyfoot

Westie983 · 4 February 2018 at 5:38PM

Fortyfoot wrote: »

Load your card before you go, I always do.

I got €1.135 to the £ yesterday. Deducted from my credit.

Fortyfoot

This is breaching the T&C's of the card, and not something I would suggest anyone does, let alone share on a public forum for others to read and follow your lead.

Westie983

Dobbibill · 4 February 2018 at 5:57PM

You need to wait until the cash withdrawal is shown as a statemented transaction before making a payment to it if you have other transactions on the account.

Any additional payment you make will impact the DD if it's made more than 2 days before the DD is due to be collected explained here https://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/help-guidance/terms-and-conditions/clarity-card/

Your direct debit amount will automatically reduce to take account of any payments you make between your statement date and the date 2 clear working days before your direct debit payment is taken from your bank. This date will be shown on your statement.

Halifax Clarity Card

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