Thinking of Changing Credit Card...

222ridepegasus

Hi there,

I'm looking for advice on switching a credit card...

I currently have a Standard Lloyds "Classic Credit" Mastercard, with and outstanding balance of £550 at an APR of 16.6%

I applied for Halifax's Clarity to take advantages of additional benefits that my current card does not have, these include:

• 2% Balance transfer (so I think that £10?)
• £5 Cashback a month (if I spend over £300 on the card)
• No charge on Foreign Transactions (I make 2 or 3 of these a month, costing me £1.50 a time)
• easy for me to manage as I use Halifax online banking everyday

The only catch is the APR is 17.9% - is this much of a difference than 16.6%?

I plan on clearing the debt next month, and really just wanted to keep the card handy for foreign transactions and if I'm abroad... I realise there's probably better interest free cards out there,but I wasnt really interested in Stoozing, I just want a simple card to manage, for ocassional use...

Any help greatly appreciated....

Kie

fleitner

After you cleared the debt, if you repay in full every month you don't pay any interests - so the APR does not matter. It takes a bit of discipline though.

If you keep a (small) balance, the difference in interest will be less than the money you will save on foreign transaction. But better to pay in full each month and never pay interests anymore. I'm sure you'll prefer the money is in your wallet than in the profits of the bank

222ridepegasus

Cheers, so basically - If I'm sensible (which I'm planning, hopefully) it's probably worth it, if just for use abroad....

thanks! that's great help....

fleitner

The £5 reward is not bad either
I have a Clarity card for the very same reason - free foreign transaction and £5 per month. I don't even know what my interest rate is on it (nor on my other credit card), as I pay in full I simply don't care about APR.