M&S card new offer

*zippy*

Can't help on this preppy, i'm sure others with more experience can advise.

Why not start a new thread to make sure your question is seen.

niceshoes_2

niceshoes wrote:

I applied on thursday at 6.30pm but have not received an email at all - so either they are really busy or my "computer says no" letter is heading this way in the post.

Or am I being impatient?

Rang them today as I still hadn't heard anything. The CS lady found my application and said it must have slipped through the net as they are experiencing high levels of applications. Anyway, the application has been processed and email received to confirm I've been accepted! Paperwork is in the post.

skybluesaver

The only card i'm aware of thats does "super balance transfers" is the Virgin card.

teb_2

'nother daft question coming up....i just got an email saying i got the card, so can i spend on it until January so i get 0% then transfer the balance onto another card and then straight back on to M&S to then have what's left at 3.9%? I can do both right? as long as its not at the same time and once i bt then no more spending on it? think thats ok but i need someone else to say it is too.

Frogling

teb wrote:

'nother daft question coming up....i just got an email saying i got the card, so can i spend on it until January so i get 0% then transfer the balance onto another card and then straight back on to M&S to then have what's left at 3.9%? I can do both right? as long as its not at the same time and once i bt then no more spending on it? think thats ok but i need someone else to say it is too.

Hi teb - what you are wanting to do sounds perfectly feasible to me. After all, it says 3.9% on any balance transfers made within the first six months, and you wouldn't be doing anything wrong by spending on the card, transferring it away and then putting it back again. In fact, it sounds like a very good idea to me (although someone might prove me wrong lol!).

thunderbird

I've read through this thread and am still confused!

The same point seems to have been raised a few times, i.e. why are we advised not to use this card for purchases (when also transferring balances onto it)?

The M&S website states that payments are allocated as follows -

We will apply payments we receive to your account in the following order:

1.Interest, Insurance premiums, fees and charges
2.Balance Transfers
3.Purchases (other than Qualifying Furniture purchases) and purchases of travellers cheques or foreign currency from Marks and Spencer plc
4.Cash Advances (other than purchases of travellers cheques or foreign currency from Marks and Spencer plc)
5.Qualifying Furniture Purchases[HTML][/HTML]


Can someone please explain what the problem is with using the card for purchases?

MascaraMinx

Because the low balance transfer rate is for the life of the balance but the purchase rate is only for 12 months. So say you transfer £2000 over then spend £300. The order your payments will be applied means that the £2000 will be paid first.This means your £300 will be trapped until the other is paid, which will probably be longer than the 12 month 0% period - after that the higher rate of interest will be applied to the £300.

This is true of all cards, so you should have a separate one for purchases to avoid the trap.

thunderbird

I've only got a fairly small balance to transfer over which should be paid off in 6 months at the most.
I would just use the 0% on purchases to give myself a bit of extra time to pay for stuff, but would have everything paid by the end of 12 months.

So as far as I can see this card would be a good one for me?

MascaraMinx

The aim of the game is not to have hige rates of interest applied. So if you can get your BT paid off quickly and then pay off your spending before the higher rate kicks in then I think you'd be fine.

Alternatively, depending on you credit history, why not apply for the Post Office card too which also has a 0% for purchases period (apply via Quidco for £15.60 cashback) and keep one card for spending and one for BT's?