Halifax Clarity Card - Experiment

atlantis187

I am going abroad on monday 21st to Pakistan for 1 month. Will be taking my clarity card with me to withdraw money from the cash machine.

Just spoken to Halifax and they say the total balance on my account is £501 but the direct debit due to come out 28th feb is for £365.

I have told them I will be clearing the whole balance of £501 today through 'bill payment'. they said if I did this the direct debit of £365 will still me taken on the 28th so in affect this will put my clarity card in credit for £365. They said bcoz the credit card will have gone into credit "unknowingly" my card will not get blocked and I should be able to withdraw cash upto £365 from the cash machine in pakistan without being charged any interest.

What do u guys reckon are they telling me the truth?

Anyway will keep you guys posted how this turns out.

lisyloo

I don't think you can guarantee the call center person has given you the correct info.
I would expect your DD to be reduced but it depends on how they work.
Egg would reduce the DD by any payments made.

choc_mouse

Halifax don't reduce the DD amount to reflect any manual payments. I believe you can ask them to adjust the direct debit amount if you've made a manual payment.

izools

As long as you're aware this is purely an experiment and may go tits up, I think it's well worth testing out. Just make sure you have a back up funding source, that won't cost the world to use abroad, in case the worst happens

ironlady2022

I've heard that if the system recognises a positive balance that it will automatically be transferred back. And also you will still be charged even if you have a positive balance.

jimclark1967

Just to confirm my experience:

Used Halifax Clarity card in Italy for a week for purchases and cash withdrawals. Then paid off full balance manually on the day we returned to UK to minimise interest on the cash advances. This was still about 3 weeks before the DD date.

Halifax still took the full DD as normal, puting the card in to credit balance. Wasn't an issue as we use the card in the UK too so it didn't take long before the credit balance was cleared.

JC