Helping my sister...

HopeAndDriftWood

My sister needed £5,500 (I don't know why, but she said it was urgent) and so she got a capital one credit card, wrote them a letter asking for the limit and was given it, but at 64.39% APR. :eek:

She's shown me the paperwork today, and the interest is extortionate.

She's 20, and working in admin, getting £15,000. She has a barclays account, a HSBC account and a Vanquis credit card which all show as satisfactory on her credit report. She's registered on the electoral register and has 2 searches...She's also got an Orange contract but it doesn't seem to show on her credit report.

Would she be likely to get a credit card to transfer this too? I don't know what to suggest to her, as I'm not good with finance, but I'd like to help if I could, because she's getting ripped off!

Any idea who might accept her?

stephane_2

She will probably struggle finding a CC that will give her a credit limit over £5000 with a mainstream CC. Best to start with her own bank maybe

HopeAndDriftWood

stephane wrote: »

She will probably struggle finding a CC that will give her a credit limit over £5000 with a mainstream CC. Best to start with her own bank maybe

She said she spoke to HSBC and Barclays, but her accounts are only a few months old.

Can you think of anywhere that might give her £5000? If she could transfer any she'd save a fortune...

Thanks for your response

stephane_2

She could try applying maybe for a card like Tesco or Egg, both are offering 0% on balance transfer. I would not try applying for Virgin/MBNA, can be hard to obtain especially if she has not been with her bank for long. She may not get the full £5000, but if she is successful then she could transfer as much as possible on new card. Try applying for a couple of cards, if both application unsuccessful then wait a couple of months before applying for another one as too many application could damage her credit file

HopeAndDriftWood

Thank you, I'll phone her and advise her now

stephane_2

Before applying for CC she may want to check her credit report (Free trials on offer I believe on Experian/Equifax), just to make sure that everything is in order (accounts, addresses, electoral roll etc...).

stephane_2

Going back to your first post, has she been completely honest with you? Why did she need over £5000 suddenly? it is a substantial amount....

CannyJock

Looking at the terms and conditions for their classic card shows:

3% fee for cash withdrawals, so on £5500 that's £165 right away, and at 64.39% APR the interest will fluctuate between £236 and £243 a month depending on whether it's a 30 or 31 day month!

So realistically she has to be able to pay £250 a month?

If you plug the £5665, 64.39% APR and £250 min payment into Martin's calculator. You'll see it'll take 6 years and 5 months to repay, and cost her £13,512 in interest! :eek::eek:

Seriously scary numbers.

I'd also check if the 64.39% APR is for purchases or if her cash withdrawal rate is even higher.

If you ask me, she's making a huge mistake even thinking about this. There's no way she can afford it on a £15k salary (£1022.86 per month after tax and NIC).

HopeAndDriftWood

CannyJock wrote: »

Looking at the terms and conditions for their classic card shows:

3% fee for cash withdrawals, so on £5500 that's £165 right away, and at 64.39% APR the interest will fluctuate between £236 and £243 a month depending on whether it's a 30 or 31 day month!

So realistically she has to be able to pay £250 a month?

If you plug the £5665, 64.39% APR and £250 min payment into Martin's calculator. You'll see it'll take 6 years and 5 months to repay, and cost her £13,512 in interest! :eek::eek:

Seriously scary numbers.

I'd also check if the 64.39% APR is for purchases or if her cash withdrawal rate is even higher.

If you ask me, she's making a huge mistake even thinking about this. There's no way she can afford it on a £15k salary (£1022.86 per month after tax and NIC).

I thought about the figures last night, but it looks even scarier written down!! She has never been good with money, but I didn't think she was this stupid. Her credit report looks okay, from what I can see, maybe a little empty but thats it, so hopefully she'll get something from somewhere.

Thanks everyone....sisters! :rolleyes:

ElkyElky

This could potentially get your sister into a lot of trouble. Couldn't she get a bank loan instead? I'm feeling woozy just looking at those numbers CannyJock posted.

Mrs_Ryan

Hang on a minute, alarm bells is ringing here. (ex Cap 1 staff)

THe biggest limit you can get on Classic cards is £3000, and the top APR is something like 34%.

The only time you would get a 5000 limit is possibly on a Premier or Platinum and there's no way the APR would be that high. Something is extremely fishy here. I would be asking for clarification as this sounds very, very wrong to me.