Halifax Clarity Cash Withdrawls - impact on credit record?

liviboy

Hi Guys,

Have returned a few weeks ago from a holiday abroad where I used by Halifax Clarity card for cash withdrawls.

I'm amazed by the lack of interest charges and fees for the withdrawls, certainly a LOT cheaper than had I used my Nationwide FlexAccount.

However, I noticed today on my Credit Expert file that it shows 4x cash advances (1 on last statement and 3 on current statement).

Now, somebody once told me that you should NEVER withdraw cash on a credit card as it impacts on your credit file...however this is what Martin is reccomending we use for Foreign cash...so is it really **that** bad on the credit file?

Thanks for your help :-)

liviboy

Shameless bump haha...Lots of folk reading but no other opinions (or even agreements...). I think this is quite an important point when choosing "best overseas plastic"...but maybe that's just me....;)

OllyM

In reality I doubt it matters hugely, as long as it isn't huge amounts of cash being withdrawn every month. At the end of the day the CC companies make money from cash advances!

chanz4

Apart from the card companys, I dont think martin really can prove that it does we just ashume.

Venusflytrap

I think that even if one is making large withdrawals, provided that debt stress is not evident elsewhere - other CCs/ODs close to/maxed out, missed payments, etc - I think that this would only be a factor in the overall picture. I have used my Clarity for cash advances this year and last and recently got approved for a NW CC with a very good APR of 9.9%.

baby_frogmella

I've done loads of cash withdrawals on my clarity card and its never affected my credit rating.

liviboy wrote: »

I'm amazed by the lack of interest charges

You do have to pay interest on cash withdrawals until paid off in full....its clearly in their t&c's.

liviboy

baby_frogmella wrote: »

I've done loads of cash withdrawals on my clarity card and its never affected my credit rating.



You do have to pay interest on cash withdrawals until paid off in full....its clearly in their t&c's.

Of course I pay interest, I meant the interest charged on my Clarity is MUCH less than the apparently 'leading' (their words not mine) charges levied by Nationwide.

Maybe I should have been clearer in my first post!

Hazzinho

It'll only affect your credit file if you continuously take out cash advances as it is seen by some lenders that you don't have cash in your bank account to get by. This is why cash advances are logged.

jennifernil

Yep, we used ours when abroad for 2 months this year, the charges were pretty small, we have DD to repay in full each month, so we were well pleased.

We could have repaid sooner, but decided not to bother as it was a bit of a hassle to arrange from abroad.

opinions4u

When I was an underwriter, I was very cautious with anybody who regularly used cash advances. Often a sign of poor financial management.

But they were usually combined with rising card balances. Not balances fully cleared by the next due date.

simax

I've noticed that entries for Creation-issued cards have no provision in the credit agency entry for cash advances. Merely states credit limit, balance and payment history, whereas my NW card states the above, plus cash limit, number of cash withdrawals, and amount of them.

Creations policy? They keep shoving cash advance flyers in the post every week. Bin fodder I call it