Halifax Clarity Card

SCO

Has anyone had any luck with applying for the clarity card with already holding HBOS credit cards?

scottishblondie

Yes. Also today on the phone I was told that you can now convert "older" Halifax cards to Clarity - the guy didn't say what counted as older, but my old card was taken out in 2003.

SCO

scottishblondie wrote: »

Yes. Also today on the phone I was told that you can now convert "older" Halifax cards to Clarity - the guy didn't say what counted as older, but my old card was taken out in 2003.

Phoned BOS since last post, applied anyway on the off chance but he said to me that you have to have the card for 6 years before they can convert it also dident know if he could convert BOS CC's as Clarity is a Halifax product (thought they were the same thing there you go!). I have two BOS CC's one over six years one under he said i would have to cancel the newest but that has the lowest APR of all my cards so dident want to risk it. Got the "we will be in contact with you within 10 days" message at the end of the app so fingers crossed!

SCO

Recieved credit card agreement today, send it off and see what happens.

hasdogs

scottishblondie wrote: »

Yes. Also today on the phone I was told that you can now convert "older" Halifax cards to Clarity - the guy didn't say what counted as older, but my old card was taken out in 2003.

Humph. I had a Halifax card I stopped using when they cut the cashback rate, the last transaction was in 2005. They wrote to me in January saying the card would shortly expire and due to lack of activity they would not issue a replacement and close the account unless I contacted them.

I called them and asked if the card could be changed to Clarity Reward (which I would have used a bit) and was told no I would have to apply again from scratch. So I let the card die and didn't bother with a Clarity Reward card until the Barclaycard buyout of egg meant I actually needed it. So I did apply again from scratch and got it a few days ago with an £8000 lower credit limit.

mlipman3

I applied for the Clarity Card based on the varied reviews. Firstly it really isn't clear as to when interest is applied. Turns out that purchases don't incur interest as long as you pay off in full each month. Cash withdrawals do incur interest even if you paid the amount back 5 minutes later. But the real 'kicker' comes when they tell you what interest rate you will be eligible for. This ranges from the much advertised rate of 12.9% to 17.9% or 21.9%. I have a crystal clear credit rating. Never been overdrawn or late paying my mortgage in over 30 years. I have other cards but there is nothing much on them. Surprise surprise they saw fit to give me a rate of 17.9% !! When I queried it they couldn't tell me how they had arrived at that rate even though they claim that 51% of people actually get the lower advertised one. That 51% rate must be based on 2 people !! Halifax need to stop using the headline rate in their ads and put the other rates as clearly as they do the 12.9% one. At 17.9% you pay £1.47 for every £100 that you withdraw. If you intend withdrawing a lot of cash abroad it might be cheaper to change your money up here or it could cost you dear.:mad:

rb10

mlipman3 wrote: »

I applied for the Clarity Card based on the varied reviews. Firstly it really isn't clear as to when interest is applied. Turns out that purchases don't incur interest as long as you pay off in full each month. Cash withdrawals do incur interest even if you paid the amount back 5 minutes later.

Personally I think that the summary box is quite clear - it says

You won't pay interest on new purchases if you pay your balance in full and on time. Otherwise, the period over which interest is charged is as follows:

Fairly clear? Pay in full and on time = no interest on purchases.

mlipman3 wrote: »

But the real 'kicker' comes when they tell you what interest rate you will be eligible for. This ranges from the much advertised rate of 12.9% to 17.9% or 21.9%. I have a crystal clear credit rating. Never been overdrawn or late paying my mortgage in over 30 years. I have other cards but there is nothing much on them. Surprise surprise they saw fit to give me a rate of 17.9% !! When I queried it they couldn't tell me how they had arrived at that rate even though they claim that 51% of people actually get the lower advertised one. That 51% rate must be based on 2 people !! Halifax need to stop using the headline rate in their ads and put the other rates as clearly as they do the 12.9% one.

The summary box is clear in the rates that are offered - see the section called 'Interest Rates'.

Like every other bank and credit card provider, Halifax have to advertise a 'typical' APR, which has to be provided to at least 51% of customers, just as they have told you. This is no different to any other credit card.

mlipman3 wrote: »

At 17.9% you pay £1.47 for every £100 that you withdraw. If you intend withdrawing a lot of cash abroad it might be cheaper to change your money up here or it could cost you dear.:mad:

No, interest on cash advances is calculated daily.

So if you withdraw £100 and pay it back in two weeks, you'll be charged about 65p. If it takes you a month to pay it back, then you'll be charged double this. So the sooner you pay it back, the less you're charged.

mlipman3

That's not what Halifax told me this morning. The interest is owed whether you pay it back in 5 mins or wait to the bill comes in. It is not calculated daily but monthly. The headlines make it appear that it is totally free to use. It's not !!

rb10

mlipman3 wrote: »

That's not what Halifax told me this morning. The interest is owed whether you pay it back in 5 mins or wait to the bill comes in. It is not calculated daily but monthly. The headlines make it appear that it is totally free to use. It's not !!

They were wrong to tell you that then.

See the T&Cs:

3.4 We calculate interest we charge on your average daily balance and charge it to your account on each statement date.

So pay it off in five minutes and the interest should be zero.

mlipman3

The fee is for cash withdrawals not purchases. Are you talking from experience or just quoting the t+c. Would like to know experiences abroad which is why I need the card.

rb10

mlipman3 wrote: »

The fee is for cash withdrawals not purchases. Are you talking from experience or just quoting the t+c. Would like to know experiences abroad which is why I need the card.

Interest is applied in the same way to cash advances and to purchases, i.e. calculated daily and applied monthly.

It's just that if you pay off in full every month purchases will be at 0%.

This comes from experience, which is backed up by the T&Cs.

If you're using the card abroad, purchases will still be free, but you will be charged daily interest on withdrawals from ATMs.

To minimise the interest charges, pay off the cash advances asap. This can either be done online while you are abroad (if you have access to a secure computer), by setting up future-dated bill payments from your current account before you leave the UK (e.g. anticipate making a withdrawal on 10th Aug, so set up a bill payment for 12th Aug - just make sure that it won't bring your account into credit if you don't make the withdrawal) or simply by paying off the cash advances asap when you get back to the UK.

Remember that anything you pay off the card goes off cash advances (on which interest is charged) before purchases (where interest may not be charged).