Info on credit cards

chriz1

Hi at present i dont have any type of credit card and never have,but was wondering that sometimes it may be useful for some months where i require an extra £100 until payday comes,at most over a week.
i dont know how they work or chrges etc,i know that if you pay your outstanding balance off quick,over time it will give you a good personnal credit history which maybe useful for when i apply for loans in the future etc
how would the intrest on a credit card work in such cases?
do you pay a monthly charge even if you dont use it?
thanks

Tixy

Most credit cards - you don't pay interest providing yoy pay off the balance in full on time each month (that is after the statement has been produced and before the due date).

Most cards do not have any annual fee.

It only usually helps your credit history if you wait until the statement has been produced and then pay off, not if you pay off before the statement is produced.

If you've never had credit before then you coudl try your own bank, but if they wont' offer you a card then you'll probably need to look at subprime lenders.

chriz1

thanks for that,what kind of time scale between the statement and pay off date is there roughly? is it so close you can be caught out,is this where they make their money??

Tixy

Usually its around 3weeks between the dates, which in practice generally gives you a 2 week window, and you can always choose to set up a DD either for the minimum payment or for the full amount just to be on the safe side.

If you only pay the minimum payment (which is only a very low amount) then you do get charged interest.

chriz1

i see thanks i will look into what my bank halifax can offer me but thanks for explaing the basics