Cash withdrawal in India with Halifax Clarity

londoner1998

Hello
I know this has been talked about before, but I can't find the thread. I will be in India for a month and I am planning to use my Clarity CC to take advantage of the no fees facility. I will be by myself so I don't fancy taking large sums of money with me. If I withdraw money off a cashpoint, when do I need to transfer money to myself to avoid paying (hefty) interest on it?

I have never withdrawn money from a CC so I don't want to get burned.

Thanks.

Ax

opinions4u

As soon as possible after the withdrawal. Interest accrues from the day you take the money out. If you make a purchase on the card, rather than accessing cash, interest will only accrue if you don't clear the statement balance in full by the due date (assuming you start from a position of nil balance).

1) Make sure you tell Halifax you will be using the card in India.

2) Have a contingency just in case your card fails. It probably won't, but just in case ...

londoner1998

Thanks Opinions

Halifax already know I will be there- went I was in Spain last month, I put every transaction on the CC and it does make a difference not having an fees applied, it is just great. I'll take the Natwest card just in case as well... off to the phoen to tell them!

Thanks

baby_frogmella

A few weeks ago i withdrew 1200 dirhams (around 200 quid) from a Dubai ATM using my clarity card, 1 hr later in my hotel i made a faster payment to my halifax account (credit limit minus available balance). Just had my latest statement issued and was charged ZERO interest for this withdrawal:p

So if you pay off the withdrawal the same day, chances are you'll pay very little (if any) interest...though i know its not always practical to do so.

zagfles

How long are you going for? What's your APR? The interest is unlikely to be "hefty", probably far far less than using most other methods of getting currency.

If you're going for 3 weeks or less it's probably not worth worrying about - just pay it all off as soon as you get back and you'll likely pay less than 1% interest.

YorkshireBoy

baby_frogmella wrote: »

So if you pay off the withdrawal the same day, chances are you'll pay very little (if any) interest...

But, since purchase/ATM transactions are often delayed for 2-3 days before being posted to your account, you also run the risk of breaching condition 11.7 which prohibits positive balances...and may cause your account to be blocked?

baby_frogmella

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

But, since purchase/ATM transactions are often delayed for 2-3 days before being posted to your account, you also run the risk of breaching condition 11.7 which prohibits positive balances...and may cause your account to be blocked?

I'm pretty sure you would not be in any breach of terms for keeping your available balance the same as your credit limit; because with the Halifax, as soon the withdrawal as made, the available balance drops (ie withdrawal has already been authorised) so if you make a faster payment to your account the same day after the withdrawal, you are just paying off the withdrawal albeit super early

hunsbury0

Firstly, I would set up a direct debit manadte for Clarity to obtain the full statement amount from your current a/c.
If you have a safe internet connection & your own netbook etc, then check on line & as soon as you see any debits on the a/c, then manually pay that amount on line.

londoner1998

Thank you all- I have a DD set up to pay it in full each month. I am going for just over a month and taking currency with me, so it might be a couple of weeks before I get to use the card. I am planning to pay for my accommodation in the hotel with the Clarity, but also any shopping I might do in some place where credit cards are not accepted. I have the money saved in a Santander instant access savings account, so it is not a huge problem, it would be a matter of just transferring online. Which I will do just before I leave.

I think I will probably have a look at the accounts half way through and make sure there is enough money to pay for it. It is the first time I am away for such a long time and I want to make sure I don't make any silly mistakes...

londoner1998

APR is 24.99 %...doesn't matter as I always pay it off each month, hence my question...

jennifernil

That would work out at around £2 for every £100 you withdrew, depending on when in your statement cycle you withdrew it, and as long as you repay in full.

IMHO, it's not really worth the hassle trying to pay it off immediately.

We go away for 3-4 months in Europe, use the card for all spending and cash withdrawals, just taking out 50 or 100 euros as we need them (to avoid carrying large sums). This year I think it cost us about £8 in total in interest (our rate is 12.99%). In the overall cost of travelling it was very little, easily saved by foregoing a meal out or a bottle of wine if necessary.