Query re O% Balance Transfer with Tesco

JBEAN

Hi all - firstly apologies if I do/say anything wrong here...my first post - but I would be grateful for some advice!

I am really upset and confused by the situation I realise I am in with my Tesco credit card. I arranged a BT at 0% for 6 months on my tesco card a couple of months ago. In addition to the £800 transfer I have a few smallish purchases on the card

I have just paid £200 off - and thought that i had MORE THAN cleared the "smallish balance" and would now only have the £800 debit on my card (interest free for 6 months!)

However....my statement clearly shows that the £200 has been credited to the 0% bit!! ...meaning that i am still being charged interest on my purchases...and will continue to be charged UNTIL i clear the entire balance!

I have checked this with Tesco and asked if there is any way i can clear the "purchase" - but apparently I cant - its all in the term and conditions - the BT MUST be cleared first!

has anyone else experienced this???

thoughts much appreciated

k

latecomer

Its fairly common I'm afraid. Its called negative payment hierarchy which means they use your payments to pay off the 0% debt first and hence your account continues to accrue interest on the non-0% debt.

Edit: Read the bottom section of this guide for more detailed info:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/balance-transfer-credit-cards

MABLE

katrinadare wrote: »

Hi all - firstly apologies if I do/say anything wrong here...my first post - but I would be grateful for some advice!

I am really upset and confused by the situation I realise I am in with my Tesco credit card. I arranged a BT at 0% for 6 months on my tesco card a couple of months ago. In addition to the £800 transfer I have a few smallish purchases on the card

I have just paid £200 off - and thought that i had MORE THAN cleared the "smallish balance" and would now only have the £800 debit on my card (interest free for 6 months!)

However....my statement clearly shows that the £200 has been credited to the 0% bit!! ...meaning that i am still being charged interest on my purchases...and will continue to be charged UNTIL i clear the entire balance!

I have checked this with Tesco and asked if there is any way i can clear the "purchase" - but apparently I cant - its all in the term and conditions - the BT MUST be cleared first!

has anyone else experienced this???

thoughts much appreciated

k

Martin goes to great lengths to advise whenever you do a BT never spend on the card.

NickX

This does come up regularly and is certainly not unique to Tesco.

The allocation of payments is detailed in the Terms and Condition and nearly always falls in favour of the Credit Card Company (possible exception being Nationwide).

It is a sneaky trick and is designed so that the interest incurring portion of your debt gets trapped accruing interest whilst your payments go towards the low rate promotional balance.

However it is well documented on this site. The rule is "Never Ever mix Balance Transfers and Purchases on a single card, with one exception which is when the Balance Transfer and Purchases promotions are for identicial periods at identical rates"

JBEAN

Thanks for the responses. At least my suspicions that I cant do anything about it in this case have been confirmed. I have certainly learnt a lesson. I have doen BT before - but as you say - only in isolation. The mistake I made was to continue using the card! Thanks again for taking the trouble to reply :-)

latecomer

If you have a reasonable credit rating then perhaps its worth applying for another card and transferring the balance over. Worth considering anyway.

mcrustk2

Hi.

I have just acquired a Tesco Club card MasterCard with

0% Balance 6 Months
0% Purchases 12 Months

The allocation of payments states:

Balance transfers then purchases, however a clause at the end says lowest interest first. As both are in a special offer period, which will get payed off first (just got the card this week) so if I make a payment next month will it go towards BTs or Purchases (again they are both 0%).

Let me explain further:

I have just made a BT transfer of 1900 but also wish to make some purchases for Christmas. I was planning on making payments so that at least the 1900 T will be clear within 6 months so I don't accrue any interest from the BT. I was going to hang my purchases out over 12 months. So if I start paying back immediately, payments will it go towards the BT?

Thanks.

James.


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