Halifax Credit Card - £5 Cashback

qazam

Hi everyone,

Just need some advice, so after browisng the site for quite a long time, i'm going to ask and hope to get some answers.

What counts as spending on a credit card? Withdrawing cash from an ATM I would assume doesn't count. But does cashback at Co-op count?

How about transferring money to another bank account from your credit card or is that just me wishing it was that easy.

Can I somehow pay my rent from my credit card every month to count that as spending?

I ask because I'm looking at the Halifax Clarity Credit Card that pays you £5 every month you spend £300 on it. I spend more than £300 a month in outgoings so if I can somehow spend it via that card then its worth me getting.

Tixy

Withdrawing cash at an ATM would mean you were liable to pay interest from the date of the transaction (you don't get the 54odd days interest free even if you pay in full each month) and no it wouldn't count as 'purchases'.

Its not possible to get cashback on a credit card in a supermarket. Only on debit cards.

Halifax cards do not allow you to transfer money to a current account - and even the cards that do count this as a money balance transfer and not a purchase (and charge a fee).

To get the halifax reward you need to spend £300 on purchases within a month, so not cash withdrawals and not balance transfers.

dazza.mk

As above only purchases would count, similarly to the above you can't use gambling sites to withdraw money, as this is classed as a cash advance (the one loophole that closed some time ago).

in terms of rents..... depends if your landlord can/will accept a CC payment (probably unlikely)

ironlady2022

Withdrawing cash, transfer to another bank account, paying rent will all incurr charges first and foremost and would wipe out the £5 you would get back. You need to PURELY spend £300 in the form of purchases within your billing month. This can vary from person to person, so kee a track online or by writing it down.

R34GTT

To help reach £300 monthly spend ask if your council tax can be paid by installments using a credit card.

I asked mine and they arranged it so that I can pay the usual 10 monthly installments using my Halifax Credit Card.

I now just log on to my council's website and pay online each month. I'm not sure if all councils offer this method of payment but it's worth checking as in my case it contributes to nearly half the £300 threshold for cashback!

ironlady2022

R34GTT wrote: »

To help reach £300 monthly spend ask if your council tax can be paid by installments using a credit card.

I asked mine and they arranged it so that I can pay the usual 10 monthly installments using my Halifax Credit Card.

I now just log on to my council's website and pay online each month. I'm not sure if all councils offer this method of payment but it's worth checking as in my case it contributes to nearly half the £300 threshold for cashback!

Does the card not charge you anything extra to pay council tax? If not then yes it would be a great way to reach the £300.

qazam

Thank you for the replies. My query has been answered very well between all the posts. Shame about the cashback withdrawls. That would have been really good.

R34GTT

mayling03 wrote: »

Does the card not charge you anything extra to pay council tax? If not then yes it would be a great way to reach the £300.

No, it just shows on the statement like a normal purchase. The council tax person I spoke to was more than happy for me to pay by credit card either online or over the phone. Perhaps not all councils are so accomodating but it's worth a try if you have a cashback card.

rb10

mayling03 wrote: »

Does the card not charge you anything extra to pay council tax? If not then yes it would be a great way to reach the £300.

The card wouldn't, but your local council may charge you more for paying by credit card.

j2011

but your local council may charge you more for paying by credit card

Mine doesn't charge anything and I pay online as well so a free £18.90 on my Capital One card every year.

hasdogs

j2011 wrote: »

Mine doesn't charge anything and I pay online as well so a free £18.90 on my Capital One card every year.

Your council seems to be the exception rather than rule. I looked at at least a dozen council web sites and while a couple didn't specifically say anything either way all the rest had a surcharge of between 1.5 and 2%.

Typical statements I found :-

"A bank charge of 1.6% will be added to Council Tax and Business Rates payments made by credit card"

"a transaction fee of 2% will be added to your payment if you choose to pay by credit card"

"Please note that there is a 1.8% charge on all credit card payment"

"Payments made by credit card will be subject to an additional charge, which equates to the card transaction charge levied on the Council by the operating banks"