Payment terms - are all cards highest rate first now?

gglaze

Hi, I'm sure this question has been answered before, but not sure how to search for it..

Am I right in assuming all cards nowadays (in the UK and US at least) should be applying payments in the order that helps the consumer now, i.e. paying off higher rates first? I noticed this change when it first started taking effect I suppose last year or the year before. I assume it is by law now and not just the card companies choosing to be helpful? And are there are any cards that might not be following this rule? Or do I need to go find and check all the terms and conditions for all my cards to be sure?

Specifically the one I have in mind right now is my Tesco MasterCard. I have been using this exclusively for BTs for a few years now, but I suppose I should really start using this again for my Tesco purchases at least, since you get an additional points/cashback type of bonus for Tesco purchases, right? And presumably as long as I pay back the amounts I spend right away, the high-rate purchase balance will be paid off, and the card will only have interest on the lower rate BT balance - is that right? I guess, technically, the purchase rate balance starts accruing interest immediately since I already have an existing balance on the card, and so therefore I really need to pay it off the same day I use it, rather than waiting until the end of the billing cycle, if I want to really minimise additional interest on the card?

Or would I be better off sticking to the old rule of using BT cards exclusively for BT, and purchase cards for purchases?

CLAPTON

the paying the higher rate rule now pplies to all UK cards; no idea about US ones

and it seems a lot easier to keep purchases separately from BTs; why not?

gglaze

Well as I said, just because lately my BT options have been limited so I've had to stick with BTs on cards like my Tesco one, but then I'm missing out on the possible points/cashback/rewards or whatever - and particularly with Tesco I think you get 1.5x extra rewards if you use the card for your purchases? I shop at Tesco frequently as it's the closest to my home and just most convenient for me - so I suspect I'm missing out. Currently I do all my spending on my Barclaycard cashback - which I suppose gives me something back, but not as much on the Tesco purchases specifically?

gglaze

oops - mistake post in wrong forum!