Sainsburys 0% for 12 months purchases

Mercuryrising

Anyone know if this is a good card to apply for?

Seems to good to be true. I am in a lot of debt and moving my credit cards to 5.9% life of balance ones but will not be able to use any for purchases. I can use this for an emergency if I run out of money at the end of the month.

Any catches to this one? Is it difficult to get? I have a crappy Halifax one - does that affect it because I'm from the same bank.

The_Boss

It probably will affect it - I have found Halifax to be terrible with their credit limits, so cant see them wanting to give much more credit.

Can you close the Halifax and then wait a month or two before applying for the Sainsburys card? Or how about applying for a Nationwide card (0% for 9 months on purchases) instead?

Mercuryrising

Thanks The Boss for your advice. Very helpful.

Well, the Halifax account is one of the ones I want to transfer from to a Morgan Stanley 5.9% l.o.b.. I've got £1400 at 6.9% on it which isn't too bad but I stupidly had about £150 (included in the £1400) of a cash advance on it when I did the transfer which attracts a 22.9% or something silly interest rate which will get paid off last ( I pay over a £1 month interest for that small amount of cash at the monment). If I transfer it I can close it. Then reapply for Sainsburys.

Nationwide would be a good idea too in case Sainsburys doesn't accept but the 3 extra months would be nice.

The_Boss

Yes, the extra 3 months would be ideal. But to warn you - sometimes cards show up the following month as settled on your credit report, but more often than not it takes longer. So you could be waiting a few months. Until the card shows up as settled, it will be held against you (since its extra available credit).

You wouldnt necessarily have the same problems with Nationwide (i.e. not the same group) so its all about when you want the card.

By the way, Halifax do not offer anything worthwhile as a sweetener to get you to keep the card instead of closing it.

Mercuryrising

Thanks for the tip - they are forever sending out 6.9% life of balance cheques but they attract a 2% handling fee. There is far better out on the market if you look around.

Mercuryrising

Sorry can I ask another question TheBoss (or anyone else) thank?

Does the Mint card hold any sweetners? The best I have got is 5.9% balance cheques for 6 months without a fee. That would be a good one to close as that's another balance I'm going to transfer to Morgan Stanley.
I also hold a Natwest card which has run out of use for its 0% 9 months which has expired. They are both from the same group I've heard. If they don't offer any then I will definitely close both.

I've got a HSBC card but that seems to be good as they have offered as low as 1.9% balance transfer for six months without a fee so I might keep that.

The_Boss

I cant help you on any of those, but would be interested to hear what NatWest have to say since my 0% deal expires in a few months.

regularsaver1

Halifax and Sainsbury's bank - although they are both part of HBOS - they are totally different as are Intelligent Finance

bristol_pilot

The Sainsbury's Card 0% for 12 months is a good deal for purchases, I have had one for a year just paid it off in fact shortly before the end of the promotion period. The date the promotion period ends is clearly printed on the front of each statement which will help you not to forget to pay it off or transfer the balance before the end of the period, I especially liked that feature.

I have had a Halifax card for many years - dormant with an unused £11k limit, it didn't seem to prevent me getting the Sainsbury's card with a £7k limit.

The two cards appear to be run from the same office in Dunfermline.

Ali-OK

I've had good experiences with both Halifax and Sainsburys.

Halifax offered me a 4.95% LOB when I went to close it (last Dec) and it's got a £14,700 limit on it. Sainsburys I've had for 4 years and went to close that in March - they offered me 12 months purchases at 0%. Got a £7,7K limit with them.

Raju

Can anyone tell me what is the main difference between the 2 cards Sainsbury has put on offer.

- standard credit card with 0% for 12 months on purchases & 15.9 APR
- standard platinum card with 0% for 12 months on purchases & 15.9 APR

The only difference I see is the minimum credit limit on platinum is £3500 and on standard it is £500.

But assuming I apply for platinum, do I as consumer get any benifit over standard card