Credit Card Freebies Article Discussion Area

stphnstevey

malc_b wrote: »

Most credit cards work the same way these days. In the past it was simple. Pay on full no interest. Pay say all but £10 and then see 2% of £10 interest on next month's statement (taking monthly interest rate as 2%). But that was too simple and didn't make enough money. The new rules are typically:

1. Cash advances, gambling sites, etc. interested charged from day 1 or a fixed fee of 2-3% (do any do both?).

2. Purchases interest charged from day 1, BUT, pay off the statement in full and the interest is waived.

So if you can't pay off in full pay as early as possible to reduce the interest total.

Sorry, don't follow.

Why is there only 2% interest charged? Thought credit card charged around 10% APR?

CannyJock

stphnstevey wrote: »

Why is there only 2% interest charged? Thought credit card charged around 10% APR?

A cash advance will cost you a lot more than 10% APR

MBNA cards have a "money transfer" option where they'll charge you a 4% fee. Other SBT cards listed with their % fees here http://www.stoozing.com/sbt.php

stphnstevey

Thanks - didn't know the SBT fee was different to the BT fee

Think the 2% reffered to below might be a monthly interest rate (ie 24% APR/12 = 2%)???

What caught my eye was the 2% - thought this was a low charge I hadn't heard of that might be able to exploit

jamesd

That's 2% charged the moment you ask for the cash as a cash advance, instead of daily interest until the due date of payment for the next statement. In addition there would be the normal cash advance interest rate after that. It's not a BT or SBT fee but a cash advance fee.

screation

The banks want to know that you are a good risk; you have to prove to them you deserve it. The easiest and most obvious first step is to abide by terms and conditions set by your bank.

malc_b

stphnstevey wrote: »

Sorry, don't follow.

Why is there only 2% interest charged? Thought credit card charged around 10% APR?

If you read it I said "(taking monthly interest rate as 2%)" If you like, read 2% as Monthly_Interest_Rate%. I was just using 2% as a round figure. And 2% would not be APR/12. It's more complex that that as it is compounded. 2% would be 1.02^11 (APR 24.3%) in the past before they started removing the interest free period if you didn't pay in full. Now it would be 1.02^12 (APR 26.8%). Roughly of course as you have to make minimum payments so I suspect the credit card companies include that to make the APR look less.

studentsavysaver_2

Don't know if this has been pointed out before... but LTSB duo card with airmiles.. means you can free holidays... which is obviously good.. and they give you both an american express (where you earn more points/£) as well as a mastercard incase the amex isn't accepted..

However, only after I signed up to this directly through lloyds did I realise that if you apply for the credit card (same T&Cs) but through the airmiles website and you're approved, they'll credit your account with 1500 airmiles which is enough for 2 ppl to have return flights to paris/amsterdam or 1 person slightly further afield!! (have to spend £10 by the end of june to get the 1500 free airmiles)

In addition to this, if your recommended to get an lloyds duo card by someone already on airmiles you not only get 1500 airmiles free.. but the person who recommends you gets 200 airmiles too... (so if anyone wants recommending just send me your name and email and i'll get you the email sent!)

APR is typically 15.9%
0% interest on balance transfers for 6 months (and you get airmiles on balance transfers too but have to spend £100 in the first 3 months)

just look it up on the airmiles site for more details!

Katy_W

HI

Does anyone have any advice fot the best credit card to use in America where they don't charge commission.

Thanks

davidmccambley

Re: Martin's article on free extended warranties from credit card companies moneysavingexpert.com/cards/credit-card-tips#warranties I tried taking a warranty out with Nationwide's warranty underwriter only to find out that they won't cover any product with a hard drive in it - so PVRs, hdd camcorders, laptops etc are all excluded - something to bear in mind when shopping because you won't find this out until after you've bought it and you could have got a better cashback rate with another card.
D.

Buyabilitycouk

I've got an Abbey Zero card. I used it recently in New York for no commission purchases.