using halifax clarity card abroad

peter_beaver

I am going on holiday and have ordered a halifax clarity card. If I withdraw cash on it whilst abroad, I have to pay interest till i get home and pay the bill. Can I overpay my bill befored i go on holiday so i dont have to pay interest on this card for withdrawing cash

Inactive

peter_beaver wrote: »

I am going on holiday and have ordered a halifax clarity card. If I withdraw cash on it whilst abroad, I have to pay interest till i get home and pay the bill. Can I overpay my bill befored i go on holiday so i dont have to pay interest on this card for withdrawing cash

No, pre-loading a it is against the T&C's, it is only a very small amount of interest anyway.

Voyager2002

However, if you have on-line banking you can make a payment to the card account shortly after using it, thus minimising interest charges. However, the cost of using a cyber cafe could well be more than the interest you would save.

NFH

peter_beaver wrote: »

I am going on holiday and have ordered a halifax clarity card. If I withdraw cash on it whilst abroad, I have to pay interest till i get home and pay the bill.

Why wait until you get home? Pay it on the day that you withdraw the cash.

Alternatively, assuming you're using the card for purchases as well, set up a future-dated payment from your bank account to your card that will cover a little more than your expected cash withdrawal. With purchases also on the card, you won't break the T&Cs by putting your account in credit but the payment will count towards the cash withdrawal first, thereby preventing any interest.

nialliam

I had a conversation with the Halifax regarding pre loading my credit card before going to America two days ago. They were very helpful and advised me that if I did preload it with a large amount of money it could be viewed as suspicious activity (money laundering for example). They advised me to tell them when I'm going to the USA so that any transactions I make would not be a surprise to them and that I can pay off purchase transactions and money withdrawals as I go along if it helps.

With regard to withdrawing money from American ATMS using this card, do the american ATMS charge a fee for using them? I can't remember.

doublekite

I activated my new Clarity card yesterday. I specifically asked if I could pre load it with credit before my holiday to Hong Kong & Bali and then make fee free cash withdrawals whilst in the Far East. If I use my Santander debit card there is always a fee.

The answer was not that the T&C don't allow it. I was told that some customers do it without problems, but there is a chance that the card will not work if there is more credit available than the credit limit.

I assume that the interest payable for cash withdrawals is less than the fees normally payable on my debit card?

Inactive

From Halifax Clarity Card web page;

"Can I put money on my card to increase my available credit whilst on holiday?

Credit cards are not designed to be used this way. Using the card in this way breaches the product's Terms & Conditions "

NFH

doublekite wrote: »

I assume that the interest payable for cash withdrawals is less than the fees normally payable on my debit card?

As it's interest, it depends on how long you take to pay off the cash withdrawal. Pay it off on the date of withdrawal by FPS and you won't pay a penny in interest.

miller

According to the Halifax website the card does not support FPS. Its a 3-day wonder. Either way though, good advice. As it has a positive order of payments you should only need to cover the cash withdrawals.

What I would like to know is if this affects the Direct Debit payment if done after the statement date (e.g. not taken at all, payment reduced by the amount "overpaid" etc.). There is nothing in the T&C's to suggest this, but Egg play around with it if you do it >10days before payment.

NFH

miller wrote: »

According to the Halifax website the card does not support FPS. Its a 3-day wonder. Either way though, good advice. As it has a positive order of payments you should only need to cover the cash withdrawals.

You're right, and my above advice to use FPS was wrong. My own bank and card statements prove this. For this reason, I'll be using my Santander Zero card for cash withdrawals and my Halifax Clarity for purchases.

One alternative is to predict how much you'll withdraw and purchase. If for example you expect on day one of your holiday to withdraw £50 in cash and spend £30 on purchases, then set up a BACS payment to pay £40 to your card account to arrive on the first day of your holiday. This won't put you in credit.

miller

If you dont make additional payments and only pay off in full will there be an interest "overhang" on subsequent statements?

e.g. for the period between the statement date (when the interest is calculated) and the payment date. Then a small amount of compounded interest on subsequent statement(s).