New 0% "spending" credit card - Confused

Julia2012_2

Hi everyone,

I am quite confused about the credit card I have just been accepted for. It's the 16 months 0% purchases Tesco credit card on MSE's best buy page, which I cannot link to as I'm a newbie.

I am looking to buy an item worth £600 and pay for it over 12 months. If I purchase it with the Tesco card, can I just pay £50 by direct debit every month - on time of course - without incurring any other cost? Or is there some kind of trick I am missing?

Sorry if my question is silly. I just want to make sure I understand how such cards work before I go ahead.

Thanks!

CLAPTON

no trick, you much pay at least the minimum monthly payment and then no interest or charges; you can pay more if you wish

Julia2012_2

Great thanks a lot. Sounds almost too good to be true, but I suppose they make their money on people missing payments...

bengal-stripe

You don't have to pay any more then the minimum (which won't be more than 10 quid or so.) Make sure that you pay without fail and in time (otherwise the card is likely cancel the 0% deal). You might consider to set-up a Direct Debit for the minimum, so you don't have to remember every month to make the payment.

Then you can put the remaining £40 into a (regular) savings account, which will give you (a few pence) interest. Just before the 0% promotional deal expires, you pay the full whack

Not only did you have the item interest-free, you even made a little bit of interest.

Julia2012_2

Thanks bengal-stripe for the tip - very good to know