Offered a Barclycard Platinum..

Proppo

Hey people,

First off, I'm a total newcomer to these forums and any kind of Credit Card / Loan, I'm 25 and never had a need but I had to contact my bank today in regards to a bad transaction on my current account and they resolved that issue and offered me a Platinum card mentioning the "benefits"????

Now as I said, I've never had a credit card nor had to get a loan. I use my Visa Connect, I keep a minimal ammount of money in my current account and online-transfer the majority of it to my savings account.

So, I've been offered this card and they mentioned something about cash back, or points? I'm a self-employed tradesman, so am spending £200+ on fuel a month aswell as other things, so if I'm spending £400/month roughly on these type of things, are the point/cash back beneficial? I will basically be using it, like I use my current Visa Connect card, so I'll pay the balance in full on every pay day.

So, can anyone explain if there are any "benefits" to me getting a Credit Card? Is the term "cash back" real? Will I get points if so what do I do with them?

Sorry to hastle you all with these questions and any advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks
Shane.

PNPSUKNET

of self employed you may have to declair the extra to irev

[Deleted User]

Proppo wrote: »

So, can anyone explain if there are any "benefits" to me getting a Credit Card?

If you put purchases over £100 onto it, you'll get Section 75 protection, where if the retailer doesn't provide, you can claim from the card company as they're liable. Pay the card off in full every month and it won't cost you anything.

It's useful to use it when you go abroad, as unlike most debit cards, you won't pay a per-transaction fee to use a credit card abroad.

And cashback is usually a % of your spend (between 0.5% and 1% usually) back as a credit onto your account at the end of the month or year. Can be quite good if you put all your purchases on the card, so long as you pay it every month in full.

dtaylor84

PNPSUKNET wrote: »

of self employed you may have to declair the extra to irev

That seems unlikely. The closest I could find to a definitive answer was example 3 on this page: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/saimmanual/saim8050.htm

BigCraigJohn

Just be very carefull having any sort of credit with a company you bank with. Not saying that you will but if you were to run up a balance and get in some sort of situation where you were short of money and couldnt afford payment, they could help themselves to your bank account.
Personally i'd shop about and see what else you can get, you are pretty old but probably have little credit history so wont get a great deal but could be a good way to build some.
Just be sure that you need it.
Remember banks are a business so wont give you anything for your own good.

Proppo

I never spend what I don't have. I would rather go without than the alternative. Unlike people I know, who will put thing's in a well known !!!!!! brokers, only to pay like 50% interest on getting it back out, just because they want a night out or whatever.

I try to be very responsible, it would be paid off in full every month, if for some reason I didn't have the money the card would not be used, at all.

I'm not really sure if I do need it, I get by fine with my Visa Connect. But all the Credit History and Benefits would it be beneficial to me to do so? I will also be going abroad to Tenerife in August, so would it be better to use a Credit Card?

I just really don't understand all of the jargon .

But what I do think, is that if it's paid off in full, every month it could be a benefit?

CannyJock

dtaylor84 wrote: »

That seems unlikely. The closest I could find to a definitive answer was example 3 on this page: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/saimmanual/saim8050.htm

Interesting one this that comes up from time to time. General consensus is that cashback received on personal purchases with personal card is treated as a discount on the cost and not "income" for tax purposes. Same view taken of rewards like Tesco Clubcard Points, Nectar and Airmiles.

It only gets potentially messy if there are significant amounts of business purchases made on a personal card where you get personal benefit from it. Cashback or rewards might be treated as a benefit in kind - no definitive answer because you need to use some common sense - nobody in their right mind is interested in taxing £5 of cashback a year. The admin cost of processing the declaration would cost at least £50 to begin with

Full details of benefits in kind on HMRC website
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/taxable_benefits/intro-exben.pdf

Item on cashback, specific to mortgages where the amounts are more significant, but in principle same thinking applies
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/CG1manual/cg13027.htm

Note on Section 7 of Airmiles T&C's that they're not responsible for any tax liability arising from their rewards.
http://www.airmiles.co.uk/tertiary/tsandcs.do

For the sums the OP mentions, I wouldn't worry about it and just get the best cashback/rewards available without bothering to declare anything - even if you're spending around £500 per month, that'll work out about £5 cashback/rewards per month, so £60 a year .... not worth the paperwork

EDIT: Wouldn't go with the Barclaycard Platinum though - not a good reward scheme.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

Proppo wrote: »

!!!!!! brokers

Lovely pun. I must try to use that myself! :T