Optional interest free days on certain balances

Milarky

I have to repay my HSBC card at the begining of November. Actual dates for end of 0% period are: Purchases (about 10% of balance) 8th, Balance Transfer (other 90%) 11th November.

Anyway I wanted to flag up that HSBC (and First Direct - its cousin) are slightly different on the normal 'interest free' period - and also differ from most other cards in not simply being restricted to 'purchases'

HSBC:

Interest-free period Up to 56 days on Purchases and Cash Advances if you pay your whole balance, including any introductory rate Balance Transfers, in full and on time.
Interest charging information Interest is charged from the date transactions are applied to your account until payment is received (unless the interest free period applies). For Balance Transfers, any interest charge for the period from the previous statement to the date of full repayment will be debited the following month.

First Direct:

Interest free period Up to 56 days if you pay your balance in full and on time.
Interest charging information Interest is charged from the date transactions are applied to your account until payment is received (unless the interest free period applies).

I had hoped that HSBC might have treated all transactions in the same way - but clearly they do not. To avoid being charged interest on the balance transfer beyond the end of the 0% period is impossible.

With First Direct however it is possible to carry a balance (of any kind - including a balance transfer) for up to 25 days beyond a statement date simply by repaying the balance in full. This could be useful with - for instance - the 2.9% six months fee free BT currently being offered: By doing a transfer on the statement date (say) you could get 6 months at 2.9% and the last 25 days (from the date of the statement six months later) at 0% provided the balance was fully repaid by direct debit on the due date.

(At the time I got 0% for six months with FD I do remember some postings to the effect that an additional month was interest free but I don't think this was mentioned)

Anyone currently with First Direct's offer, this is worth bearing in mind

Milarky

..any card used for 'slow stoozing' (purchases only) as distinct from balance transfers might also benefit from this approach. Most cards only look at the most recent statement, not the one before. Those cards which do (and we need a list really) like RBS stable require two consecutive months of cleared balances are still (thankfully) in the minority.


On second thoughts, I've since found that the T&CS can also mention interest free periods and in the case of FD, for instance, it would not work (since the T&C s spell out that the special rate transfer would not be treated as other transfers); it would not work with HBOS cards (quite a few there) either because they have the dreaded 'two consecutive months' rule that RBS has (although not pointed out in the Summary box, of course) nor M&S. Only Nationwide Classic so far (through sheer ommision of the 'interest free period' in the T&C document ) seems to fit into the category. There will be others, of course...

(Hmmm! Looks like I've wasted people's time here!)