minimum payments

adelemol

im very very confused, but its easily done...

i have an abbey card with a balance of £3500, its 0% interest and my minimum payment is approx £15-20 a month.

i did have a virgin card with a £4000 balance that was 0% interest and my minimum payment as about £37 a month..the interest free period had run out and this month i would have been paying something like 28%

so...i transferrred the balance of the virgin card to a new 13 month 0% interest card with HSBC.....and my first minimum payment is £99.

im really confused about the discrepecny?

i realise that £99 is 2.5% of 4000 and that is how my minimum payment is calculated according to my HSBC statement.

but what about the abbey? why is it so low? i would ask them but so far one number i have phoned wont let me past the automated voice because i dont know my 16 digit card number and the second number i called cut me off

i would appreciate any advice.

NickX

Most cards work out Minimum Payments as a percentage of the Balance Outstanding (usually 2-3%) as HSBC have done.

However, MBNA run cards and Abbey (which until recently wa administered by MBNA) have a different system which means that during a promotional period you just have to pay a fixed relatively low amount (somewhere between £5 and £25). These do tend to be the exception to the rule though.

adelemol

thanks so much for that nick, that explains it...the virgin card was an MBNA one too. maybe i should have done more research and got another MBNA card instead? i just assumed any 0% interest card would be a good option

i will have to just buckle down and pay them but it is getting increasingly difficult to do so and i dont feel like im making any dent in the overall debt at all

thanks for your help.

CLAPTON

adelemol wrote: »

thanks so much for that nick, that explains it...the virgin card was an MBNA one too. maybe i should have done more research and got another MBNA card instead? i just assumed any 0% interest card would be a good option

i will have to just buckle down and pay them but it is getting increasingly difficult to do so and i dont feel like im making any dent in the overall debt at all

thanks for your help.

I think you are well out of the MBNA stable of CC... paying 20 off a debt of 3500 means it will take you 14 years to repay the debt.... which is of course why they do it because they hope that when the 0% deals run out you will start paying them large sums of interest.
Better to address the reasons for the debt now and start making serious attempt to repay in full.

adelemol

CLAPTON wrote: »

Better to address the reasons for the debt now and start making serious attempt to repay in full.

absolutely! thanks for taking the time to respond.

DestroyingAngel_2

Adelemol, take advantage of the very fact that Abbey cards used to be run by MBNA. This means you should be able to call up MBNA on 0800 062 062, then ask to be transferred to Abbey's APPLICATIONS line. Tell MBNA you've just applied for an Abbey card, NOT that you already have one. That way you'll be transferred to the Applications line and speak to an actual person, and not the automated line where you have to key in your 16-digit card number. Better still, before MBNA transfers your call through, ask to take down the Abbey applications number for your own future reference.