Aqua Reward Credit Card - 3% cashback up to £100/year

isayhello

blitzboy wrote: »

You realise you wont make the maximum £100 cashback like that? If you made an extra payment when you are approaching your limit so that more is available to spend then you could spend a bit more on it, you'd only need around £30 a month extra to make the full cashback amount...

Just checking, so a spend of £280 (£250 + the £30 extra you mention) would lead to a cashback of £100 after a year?

isayhello

Blue_Max wrote: »

Direct Debits enables one to pay the 'closing balance' shown in the statement, automatically without fail. Because the interest rates are high, I set it up to pay the full amount.

I also use Faster Payment when I need to spend more than the credit limit. 'Available to spend' increase soon after making an FP. But make sure to check the web page before spending.

In practice, it is the 'Available to spend' figure that should not be exceeded.

Ok, I think I understand, so if you have a credit limit of £250 and your statement shows £240, then your direct debit will still pay £240 no matter what.

Now if you made a payment of £240 using FP, then that gives you £250 to spend again??

If you didn't use the card again that month, then when the direct debit is paid, your account would be £240 in credit? Is that right?

Blue_Max

isayhello wrote: »

Ok, I think I understand, so if you have a credit limit of £250 and your statement shows £240, then your direct debit will still pay £240 no matter what.

The amount shown as 'closing balance' in the printed statement will be taken as DD.
If you made an an FP few days before the statement date, 'closing balance' will take that into account.

isayhello wrote: »

Now if you made a payment of £240 using FP, then that gives you £250 to spend again??

That depends! 'available to spend' is £250 minus any transactions after the statement plus the £240 FP.
If you need to spend more than £250, increase your FP to suit.

isayhello wrote: »

If you didn't use the card again that month, then when the direct debit is paid, your account would be £240 in credit? Is that right?

If you paid in full, the 'available to spend' shown in the printed statement and has not spent anything since, your credit limit will be £250.

To avoid problems, keep an eye on 'available to spend' before spending.

Blue_Max

isayhello wrote: »

Just checking, so a spend of £280 (£250 + the £30 extra you mention) would lead to a cashback of £100 after a year?

For £100 cashback spend £3333.34p before the end of the 12 month period starting from the date you registered and used the card for the first time.

isayhello

Blue_Max wrote: »

The amount shown as 'closing balance' in the printed statement will be taken as DD.
If you made an an FP few days before the statement date, 'closing balance' will take that into account.

Great thanks, I thought the direct debit pays whatever the closing balance originally was and doesn't take other payments into account, which could lead to a credit balance on your account when the DD is paid.

What would happen if you just made a FP of £500 if you have a credit limit of £250, could you spend 750 and get 3% cashback on all of that?

psychic_teabag

isayhello wrote: »

Ok, I think I understand, so if you have a credit limit of £250 and your statement shows £240, then your direct debit will still pay £240 no matter what.

Now if you made a payment of £240 using FP, then that gives you £250 to spend again??

If you didn't use the card again that month, then when the direct debit is paid, your account would be £240 in credit? Is that right?

That sounds about right. I had got the impression ccard providers generally don't like accounts being in credit, though ..?

I try to check the balance a few days before the statement is due, and if it's on the high side, I send a FP to reduce the balance that will appear on the statement (and hence taken by DD). Just so that I can continue making extra payments without worrying about a large DD taking the account into credit.

grumbler

Is it not simpler just to set the DD for a minimum payment then?

Anthorn

gt94sss2 wrote: »

Not a good idea. Most credit cards charge you interest on all transactions from the date they first charge the amount to your account if you don't pay it off in full each month - not just the unpaid balance at the end of the month.

Regards
Sunil

I disagree: Credit Card lenders are more likely to view more favourably a balance which is cleared over the short term than a balance which is always nil. They're in the biz to make money from interest because the money they make from transactions is negligible (is it still 20p a time?). I keep a small rolling balance on Vanquis and I pay around £12 per year in interest.

The newer parameters in CRA credit card accounts provide info on everything that can be done with credit cards. If the credit card companies love balances which are always cleared why do they need all that info?

grumbler

£12/35%=~ £36
As you don't have any interest-free period on purchases it's a PITA to maintain the average balance below £40 on a card that you really use for purchases.
However, I agree that this can be easily done after you reach £3.3K limit and stop using it.

aleph_0

Anthorn wrote: »

I disagree: Credit Card lenders are more likely to view more favourably a balance which is cleared over the short term than a balance which is always nil. They're in the biz to make money from interest because the money they make from transactions is negligible (is it still 20p a time?). I keep a small rolling balance on Vanquis and I pay around £12 per year in interest.

The newer parameters in CRA credit card accounts provide info on everything that can be done with credit cards. If the credit card companies love balances which are always cleared why do they need all that info?

Can we not go in big circles guessing what card companies don't like? Various common-sense appeals can be made (I've spoke to someone in the industry who said they like customers who pay the balance in full perfectly fine, I've heard others suggest that not always paying in full is good. This is the problem with anecdotes)

Although I'd suggest if you want to not pay in full occasionally wouldn't the best plan be to make only one purchase that month near the statement date, then *almost* pay it off in full (say £1 under) a few days later. The data would record not paying in full, but you'd pay negligible interest.

Of course, you could then argue that the companies might spot this gaming behaviour. But then they might similarly spot your gaming behaviour. Or could score your carrying a small balance as a sign of lack of financial competence (the data shows you clearly can pay the statement off in full, but for some strange reason don't), and hence might be more of a risk in the future.

It's certainly not clear to me that it's a good idea to deliberately incur interest (at least in the way you're suggesting, maybe following my suggestion on a second credit card paying a few pence interest occasionally) in the hope that a card company might be attracted by higher profits.