real mieaning of 0% on purchase

zakony

This question may be stupid for you but I rather ask smthg stupid than doing smthg stupid :
Got a barclaycard, saying 0% on BT and Purchase for 12 months : I do not understant the exact meaning of the statement (this is my first credit card, I went through the T&C but it did not answer my question)
- so if I buy smthg with the card, I'm not charged interest for 12 month is that it? if I pay in full by let's say 9th month, the total repayable will be the exact price of the item?
is there any catch somewhere?
thank you for your help.

Rafter

Spot on!

As long as you have cleared the balance in full within the 12 months you pay no interest at all.

So if you buy an item for £1200 on day 1 of your deal and pay £100 per month for 12 months you pay no interest at all.

Just make sure you pay your bill on time and don't end up paying any fees. If you pay late more than once they may start charging standard interest too.

Good luck.

R.

zakony

thank you for this.
it is always a pain for me going through these terms and conditions as I understand nothing most all the time.
here i got the answer in plain english. ;D

weatherwax_2

Just make sure you pay your bill on time and don't end up paying any fees. If you pay late more than once they may start charging standard interest too.

Presumably one could pay nothing for, say, eleven months then clear the bill in one go? Not that that's a sensible thing to do, just curious.

ashcarrot

Yeah you can do that though note you'll have to pay your minimum charge thingy a month. What i don't know is that if you go over the 12 months will they try to sting for 12months interest or just from the end of the deal

td_007

Presumably one could pay nothing for, say, eleven months then clear the bill in one go? Not that that's a sensible thing to do, just curious.

NO

For 0% cards, if you make purchases on the card, you will get a bill every month or thereabouts and it will detail the minimum amount (usually 2-4% of the total amount spent) you have to pay by a given date. If you pay off this amount then there is no interest charged on the remainder. For eg, you spend in Month 1 - £1000, if the minimum payment is 2% then you will have to pay £20 by the given date. £980 remains interest free, till the next billing date and if you have no made any further purchase, then a minimum payment of £19.6 will be required and so on till end of the 0% period.

To keep the interest free rate you must not default on the minimum payment or go above your credit limit.

Rafter

ashcarrot,

Unlike some store credit deals they do not charge interest regardless of whether you have paid the balance off in full.

If you have only paid part of it off, the balance will start to earn interest and this is how the card company will try to claw back the losses it has made on the initial offer.

This is why the APR on cards with offers is higher than for cards with lower offers. For example the Capital1 No hassle card has a typical apr of only 7% but no intro offer.

R

Robert_Sterling_3

Always make at least the minimum payment each month.
If possible do it by using a Direct Debit

weatherwax_2

Thanks to all. Curiosity satisfied. ;D