Vanquis Card

Nottingham89

LemJell wrote: »

HAve you tried Capital One? I started with a high APR card from them and ater 12 months or so I got one of their low APR cards, I've never had a problem with them. I tend to use mine for emergencies like if the washing machine broke but also use it for cheap weekend aways.

Better than Vanquis?

intranicity

Just to give you some idea of the interest.

£300 balance at 40% interest alone would be £10 a month, but bare in mind that the rate could easily jump up to nearly 60%

From memory, the minimum monthly payment is 5%, so you'd need to pay a minimum of £15 a month (Only clearing £5 of your balance, so next month you'd still owe £295), if you only paid the minimum each month though, it would take you over 7 years to clear the bill, hence why EVERYONE will tell you to pay off this type of lending in full every month as it's not much different from the Pay Day types of loan.

Esoog

oops, totally wrong thread.

As mentioned before - do not ever leave money on a vanquis card!

Are capital one better than vanquis? Most likely, but only if you can get the credit. Vanquis I'm led to believe are more likely to accept "bad" people

pearls_of_wisdom

balmk wrote: »

A small affordable purchase would be sufficient - as long as you are able to clear the balance in full every month. £20 would be fine.

Just a note regarding interest - you will be charged interest on your purchases for the first month as it is only after you have paid 2 consecutive statements in a row that they do not charge interest (provided that you continue clearing the balance in full).

just activated card, vanquis told me no interest 1st month if pay in full and so on, and interest would only be charged or added later if i failed to pay 2 consecutive monthly payments but you're saying they charge you at month 1 regardless do you have experience of them crediting your account later on if you meet 2 monthly payments i also sought advice on this matter prior to activating card and your statement conflicts what i thought was true

DermotFlanigan

I was charged for 2 months interest and I setup the direct debit at the start. It was only on small amounts so I never pursued it as the cost of the call would probably be more.

Also, I was never reimbursed automatically for the interest either.

MichaelCR

Esoog wrote: »

oops, totally wrong thread.

As mentioned before - do not ever leave money on a vanquis card!

Are capital one better than vanquis? Most likely, but only if you can get the credit. Vanquis I'm led to believe are more likely to accept "bad" people

I was rejected both a capital one classic and vanquis card with a good credit history, Strange how they work there acceptance criteria out.

IceCreamDreams

If you are trying to build your credit rating and show the credit-world that you are a responsible borrower then I personally do suggest Vanquis...

YES the card is sub-prime
YES the APR is humongous
NO for the sake of your pocket and your sanity you can't max the card or hold a balance on it, so it is important that you can pay it off in full every month

BUT...I struggled to get a credit card anywhere before and obviously Vanquis is a company who are a little more relaxed () in their lending criteria. It's not about having the option to use the credit card, it's about building up that sparkly credit history so when you need to finance a bigger purchase (car/house etc) you won't get declined because of lack of previous credit usage - which is why avoiding a credit card completely and just saving up for your required purchases can defeat the object (well, it does in my case).

I have now had my Vanquis card for exactly a year, and haven't had any issues with them whatsoever so far (pleeeaassse let it stay this way!). I am using it as a stepping stone to a mainstream card and do all the recommended activities (i.e. Used it to buy the weekly shop then pay it off in full every month) to keep it ticking over. I started with a credit limit of £250, this was increased after 6 months to £1000 and I just got a letter saying they will be increasing again to £1750 - and whilst I have no intention of ever hitting this new limit, the increases make me feel like I am actually getting somewhere with this credit file improvement thing!

Patience and discipline are the key to a successful Vanquis relationship. Think of it as more of a debit card (pay now) rather than a credit card (pay later), and make sure that anything you purchase on it is paid for when the statement arrives in full - so you can take advantage of using the credit responsibly and avoid the sky high interest rates. Little by little, you will then see some development in terms of your ability to borrow - so when it comes to life's very big purchases, you're a little more likely to be successful.

:j

IceCreamDreams

LemJell wrote: »

HAve you tried Capital One? I started with a high APR card from them and ater 12 months or so I got one of their low APR cards, I've never had a problem with them. I tend to use mine for emergencies like if the washing machine broke but also use it for cheap weekend aways.

LemJell - Just out of interest, did you:

Cancel the original high APR card and then re-apply for the lower APR card, or do you still hold both cards?

Also, what kind of credit limit were you holding on the high APR card (ummm...sorry if that's a bit nosy, just trying to get an idea of how many limit increases I will need in order to do the same!)

Nottingham89

IceCreamDreams wrote: »

If you are trying to build your credit rating and show the credit-world that you are a responsible borrower then I personally do suggest Vanquis...

YES the card is sub-prime
YES the APR is humongous
NO for the sake of your pocket and your sanity you can't max the card or hold a balance on it, so it is important that you can pay it off in full every month

BUT...I struggled to get a credit card anywhere before and obviously Vanquis is a company who are a little more relaxed () in their lending criteria. It's not about having the option to use the credit card, it's about building up that sparkly credit history so when you need to finance a bigger purchase (car/house etc) you won't get declined because of lack of previous credit usage - which is why avoiding a credit card completely and just saving up for your required purchases can defeat the object (well, it does in my case).

I have now had my Vanquis card for exactly a year, and haven't had any issues with them whatsoever so far (pleeeaassse let it stay this way!). I am using it as a stepping stone to a mainstream card and do all the recommended activities (i.e. Used it to buy the weekly shop then pay it off in full every month) to keep it ticking over. I started with a credit limit of £250, this was increased after 6 months to £1000 and I just got a letter saying they will be increasing again to £1750 - and whilst I have no intention of ever hitting this new limit, the increases make me feel like I am actually getting somewhere with this credit file improvement thing!

Patience and discipline are the key to a successful Vanquis relationship. Think of it as more of a debit card (pay now) rather than a credit card (pay later), and make sure that anything you purchase on it is paid for when the statement arrives in full - so you can take advantage of using the credit responsibly and avoid the sky high interest rates. Little by little, you will then see some development in terms of your ability to borrow - so when it comes to life's very big purchases, you're a little more likely to be successful.

:j

Would using it for paying my heating be a good idea?

IceCreamDreams

Nottingham89 wrote: »

Would using it for paying my heating be a good idea?

I guess so - You have the money to pay for your heating anyway so you could put this back onto the card. I don't think the actual purchase makes a difference (i.e. whether you spend £64 a month via Tesco's or via the council shouldn't matter), it's the paying it back onto the Vanquis card to keep your balance in check that does matter!