Halifax Clarity Card

tenth_man

Dear Moneysavers,

I am going to Australia over the summer and as per the advice on the site have taken out the Halifax Clarity credit card to get a very good exchange rate on purchases abroad without paying any fees.

I'm also keen to get this very good rate on cash at the cashpoint. However, I know that although I'll get a great rate if I take money out in Australia at a cashpoint using this card, I'll be charged interest on it until the end of the month.

My question is this: if I were to take Australian dollars out as described, could I then immediately log into my Internet banking and make a "mid-cycle payment" to cover the balance of the card, and would this prevent me from being charged any interest on the cash withdrawal?

Any advice appreciate!

Many thanks

Consumerist

tenth_man wrote: »

My question is this: if I were to take Australian dollars out as described, could I then immediately log into my Internet banking and make a "mid-cycle payment" to cover the balance of the card, and would this prevent me from being charged any interest on the cash withdrawal?

Hi tenth_man and welcome to the forum.

In short, probably yes.

Interest is calculated on a daily basis so if you make the payment from a UK account before the faster-payments cut-off time then you should pay no interest at all. In practice, however, the card company may charge one day's interest because they often charge interest on both the transaction date and the repayment date.

There is a danger, too, that your payment may reach the card account before the transaction has been recorded. Beware if there are penalties for a credit balance on your statement date.

eschaton

Just beware of the rate you may be offered with Halifax Clarity.

I applied two weeks ago expecting 12.9%. Got accepted with a credit limit of over £5k. Stuff came through the post - 21.9% APR as it depends on blah blah blah.

21.9% from the same bank that a week earlier that had literally begged me not to close my credit card and offered me another 12 months purchases at 0%.

Suffice to say that I phoned them up and told them to cancel the application, don't think I have ever had a credit card at 21.9%.

OllyM

eschaton wrote: »

Suffice to say that I phoned them up and told them to cancel the application, don't think I have ever had a credit card at 21.9%.

Why? The credit search had been done so the "damage" to your credit file had already happened, and you've just turned down the best card for spending abroad!

If you intend to pay it off in full why does the interest rate matter? Even if you take cash out abroad and pay it back within a few weeks it'll be cheaper at 21.9% than paying your bank's charges.

Maestro.

OllyM wrote: »

Why? The credit search had been done so the "damage" to your credit file had already happened, and you've just turned down the best card for spending abroad!

If you intend to pay it off in full why does the interest rate matter? Even if you take cash out abroad and pay it back within a few weeks it'll be cheaper at 21.9% than paying your bank's charges.

Agree with this, cutting off your nose to spite your face springs to mind here.

eschaton

OllyM wrote: »

Why? The credit search had been done so the "damage" to your credit file had already happened, and you've just turned down the best card for spending abroad!

If you intend to pay it off in full why does the interest rate matter? Even if you take cash out abroad and pay it back within a few weeks it'll be cheaper at 21.9% than paying your bank's charges.

I'll make far more using the available credit on 0% cards than on that card.

It would have been ideal to have but no loss not to have at 21.9%.

No damage to my file, I don't do many searches and that one will drop off soon enough.

jakesuk

Consumerist wrote: »

Hi tenth_man and welcome to the forum.

In short, probably yes.

Interest is calculated on a daily basis so if you make the payment from a UK account before the faster-payments cut-off time then you should pay no interest at all.

Are you sure about this?

Aren't payments allocated to the last statement in priority to spending after the statement? Therefore you could be in a situation where you'd have to pay off your statement before being able to pay of the amount of the cash withdrawal....

I'm sure this has come up before on the board but it might depend on the lender.