(Possibly naive) Halifax Clarity Card enquiry

rorylando45

Hi everyone,

I just got my first credit card a couple of months ago for the purpose of using abroad. I got the Halifax Clarity Credit Card which, from what I read on here, I understand is the best option for spending money abroad. Anyway I just used it for the first time this weekend when abroad in Hamburg, and I was planning on paying it off as soon as I got home to minimise any interest charges. However, when I logged in on the online banking and tried to make the payment for however much I'd spent this weekend (a little under 170 pounds), it said my balance is zero and I cannot make a payment. Do I need to wait until my monthly bill arrives until I can make a payment? If so then that is fine as I understand they only charge around 1% for cash withdrawals per month so I'd be looking at an extra 1.70 pounds. I guess this is how they make their money?

If anyone could assist I'd be very grateful!

lisyloo

Are you able to make a BACS payment from your on-line banking?

So basically you need to avoid using the Halifax interface and find another way to pay.
I simlpy made a payment from my on-line banking.

I guess this is how they make their money?

I doubt it, it's miniscule, but easily avoided.
You simlpy need to avoid the restrictions of the Halifax interface.

chattychappy

Or wait a couple of days! No doubt it will appear soon. On £170 the interest is pretty minuscule.

I wonder if you could "do us a favour"? Could you post the Euro amount you paid, £ you were charged, and the date of the transaction? Even better if you can post the transaction + settlement date (some statements show both).

It would be useful to have a bit of raw data to check...

Thanks in advance.

lisyloo

BTW - you need to estimate your interest and try to overpay a little.
Otherwise you'll get interest on your interest.
Once you have a credit balance you can cler it by buyging a sandwich (or whatever).

13/11 9.27 EGP
14/11 9.27 EGP
15/11 9.25 EGP
21/11 9.18 EGP

chattychappy

Personally I'd underpay a bit. Just to avoid the risk of triggering anti-fraud systems. Agreed this would be very unlikely for a small balance, but it is a technical breach.

Eg if the OP underpaid by £5 and paid the shortfall a month later - the extra interest would be 5p. Interest on interest would be very small - eg £170 for 3 days would be 17p. £5 for a month - 5p. Total 22p. A month's interest on 22p would round to nothing.

Unless of course they have some scheme where they round interest up to £1 (perhaps they do) - which could blow away some of the Clarity advantage more generally. Seen something like this on MBNA, but not the other cards I have.

lisyloo

Personally I'd underpay a bit. Just to avoid the risk of triggering anti-fraud systems. Agreed this would be very unlikely for a small balance, but it is a technical breach.

Eg if the OP underpaid by £5 and paid the shortfall a month later - the extra interest would be 5p. Interest on interest would be very small - eg £170 for 3 days would be 17p. £5 for a month - 5p. Total 22p. A month's interest on 22p would round to nothing.

The problem is theorectically that you are always paying interest on your interest.
This is because the statement only shows interest up to a certain point and there is interest on the time period between statement and payment clearance date that isn't shown (cos it's in the future and they don't know how long it will be).
If they do indeed round down to zero at some point, then I agree the problem will dissapear.
I am not familiar with how credit card companies do rounding in general or Halifax in particular.
I overpaid mine by a couple of quid and didn't get any nasty letters.

ironlady2022

Your statement is ia zero because it takes a couple of days to hit the halifax system. Check it everyday for the next couple of days so you can make an immediate payment.

lisyloo

Your statement is ia zero because it takes a couple of days to hit the halifax system. Check it everyday for the next couple of days so you can make an immediate payment.

I think you've mis-understood.
On many credit card companies interfaces, you cannot make a payment until it is due.
No payment is due until the monthly statement it created.
It's also common not to be able to put your account in credit via a lenders own interface.

You can get round this by not using their interface and using BACS (or paying over the counter in a bank etc.)
It's technically a breach to go into credit, but I've had occassions when I've wanted to make a payment before the item has actually hit my monthly statement e.g. business expenses.

ironlady2022

lisyloo wrote: »

I think you've mis-understood.
On many credit card companies interfaces, you cannot make a payment until it is due.
No payment is due until the monthly statement it created.
It's also common not to be able to put your account in credit via a lenders own interface.

You can get round this by not using their interface and using BACS (or paying over the counter in a bank etc.)
It's technically a breach to go into credit, but I've had occassions when I've wanted to make a payment before the item has actually hit my monthly statement e.g. business expenses.

I fully understand. What OP is trying to do is not wait for the monthly statement in order to pay it hence I suggested checking his Halifax account online for the next couple of days so he can make a payment asap so he is charged minimal interest. I understand you can make a payment using a different interface and I'm not telling him to make a payment before it hits v

ironlady2022

Also the Halifax system does allow for a payment before statement is generated as I do it all the time.

lisyloo

Ok, sorry Im misunderstood then.
I thought it was not accepting payment due to the lack of a statement, rather than due to the lack of a posted transaction.