Halifax Clarity - Cash and credit Mix

Ilan

If I use my card abroad for cash withdrawals and store purchases...
In order to avoid interest, can I just pay off the cash purchases while I am away, and wait for the direct debit to pay off the balance at end of month?
thanks

opinions4u

Yes. Although you might get a small amount of interest for the period between cash withdrawal and payment receipt.

luci

No. You have to pay off everything on the card, including the purchases right up to date, before you would avoid paying interest.

I don't agree with it as you should have up to 56 days interest free on purchases, but unfortunately that is how Clarity do it.

grumbler

Ilan wrote: »

If I use my card abroad for cash withdrawals and store purchases...
In order to avoid interest, can I just pay off the cash purchases while I am away, and wait for the direct debit to pay off the balance at end of month?

luci wrote: »

No. You have to pay off everything on the card, including the purchases right up to date, before you would avoid paying interest.

I don't agree with it as you should have up to 56 days interest free on purchases, but unfortunately that is how Clarity do it.

I think you are wrong.
http://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/low-rate-no-fee/clarity-card/

...If the payment is not enough to pay off all Transactions... we will pay off Transactions ... in the following order: Cash Withdrawals, Purchases, ...

luci

I am talking from experience.

I paid off the purchases which had been statemented, then made a cash withdrawal, then made new purchases. I paid the equivalent of the cash withdrawal and was still charged a whole month's interest instead of a day or two.

When I called I was told that everything on the account had to be paid, including purchases not yet statemented, to avoid / reduce paying interest on the cash withdrawal.

I agree with what you are saying as I argued that the new purchases were still entitled to up to 56 days interest fee, but it fell on deaf ears.

I did get the interest refunded and couldn't be bothered to take it further, but that is their stance on it. It has happened to me more than once.

guesswho2000

Hmm, they would suggest that if your balance is zero, or your payment clears your previous statement and you pay more before your next statement, then higher interest balances will clear first. However, the Clarity card has the same interest rate for all transactions! So a bit of a grey area.

However, I personally don't mind, the interest I pay on advances when abroad on this card would be dwarfed by the losses made through forex before I go, or by using a standard debit card (none of my current accounts are of that rare breed such as Santander zero, N&P or Metro bank).

When I'm abroad, the bulk of my spend is cash (from the Clarity), unlike in the uk, therefore my balance is kept clear (mostly) by mid term repayments anyway.

luci

I have since spoken to Clarity to clarify this.

I was charged interest for the whole month despite thinking I had paid off the cash advance. However as the interest rate is the same for purchases and cash withdrawal, any payment made goes towards whichever was on the account first, be it purchases or cash, as neither of them have a higher rate of interest than the other.

In my case the payment went against the purchases which were made before the cash withdrawal leaving the cash to incur interest.

HTH

grumbler

luci wrote: »

... as the interest rate is the same for purchases and cash withdrawal, any payment made goes towards whichever was on the account first, be it purchases or cash, as neither of them have a higher rate of interest than the other...

This clearly contradicts what I quoted above.

luci

Sorry, I missed your quote and clicked on the link instead.

You are correct. Will be saving that for future use next time it happens.