Saga or Halifax Clarity?

analyst_2

I want a new credit card specifically for travel use. I am a little confused by the choice of: Saga and the Halifax Clarity. Both are 0% spending regardless, and I would always repay in full, but:

Saga - £2 (2%) withdrawal fee but no interest (if paid off, obviously)
as against
Halifax Clarity - £0 withdrawal fee, but interest of 12.9% even if repaid in full.

So which is regarded as the preferred option?

NiftyDigits

You call yourself an analyst?? Considered paying off the Clarity immediately? 12.9% of nothing is.....?

Apart from that...why would you use a CC for ATM withdrawals anyway?

lisyloo

but interest of 12.9% even if repaid in full.

As alreay stated it's 12.9% for a whole year, if you pay off in zero days then the interest is small.
You need to work out how quickly you can make the repayments e.g. are you sat by a safe computer or are you up a mountain without internet access?

why would you use a CC for ATM withdrawals anyway?

It a very cheap and safe way to get money when travelling.
Apart from that the only reason would be a very short term (and quite expensive) loan.

analyst_2

NiftyDigits wrote: »

Considered paying off the Clarity immediately? 12.9% of nothing is.....?

But it says, quite clearly . . . "interest of 12.9% even if repaid in full".
So, that tells me that even if I repay in full, they will go ahead and charge me 12.9% on the withdrawal I made.

Apart from that...why would you use a CC for ATM withdrawals anyway?

Because, Nationwide stopped giving free ATM withdrawals on their FlexAccount when used abroad. So I want to get foreign cash for as near to now't in fees as I can get it.

Oh BTW, nobody said every analyst had to be a financial analyst.

opinions4u

If you're going to clear the account immediately after a cash withdrawal (e.g. online Faster Payment), Halifax Clarity wins.

analyst_2

I can't be sure to be able to get access to the internet at any given time in my travels to do that.
Besides, the missus gets inflamed if I spend time on t'internet at home, I shudder to think of the repercussions of doing it on holiday.

lisyloo

So, that tells me that even if I repay in full, they will go ahead and charge me 12.9% on the withdrawal I made.

Yes they will with the formula (approx)

capital * days/365

If days is zero then what do you think the interest is?

I can't be sure to be able to get access to the internet at any given time

Ok fair enough (and I have a lot of sympathy for your missus views)
Then work out what the interest will cost for 2 weeks (or whatever your expected payback period is) and then compare with the SAGA charges.
That should be easily done shouldn't it?

Sounds like you want someone else to do the maths for but we don't know how long you are going to be away so can't do the comparison.

Off the top of my head if SAGA is only £2 (sounds too good to be true) then that sounds better that incurring the interest for a few weeks, but do check out those charges.

analyst_2

Yes they will with the formula (approx) capital * days/365. If days is zero then what do you think the interest is?

There was no mention of any formula, and no, I do not need anyone to do the maths for me, I am quite capable of that.

However, when I read this (and only this)

interest of 12.9% even if repaid in full

to me, it looks like even if I repaid it in full, the split-second after withdrawing, they would go ahead and charge interest for the intervening period till the next invoice date as a 'quasi-penalty'. Such is my experience of the way banks and other service providers work these days.
e.g. cancel your phone and even though you incur no further costs to them, you will still be charged the going rate for the rest of the period.

When it comes to bankers, the words morals and scruples are thrown right out of the window. These parasitic, leeching, scum will try any twist and cheat to get their multi-million pound bonuses topped up.

zagfles

analyst wrote: »

There was no mention of any formula, and no, I do not need anyone to do the maths for me, I am quite capable of that.

However, when I read this (and only this) to me, it looks like even if I repaid it in full, the split-second after withdrawing, they would go ahead and charge interest for the intervening period till the next invoice date as a 'quasi-penalty'. Such is my experience of the way banks and other service providers work these days.
e.g. cancel your phone and even though you incur no further costs to them, you will still be charged the going rate for the rest of the period.

When it comes to bankers, the words morals and scruples are thrown right out of the window. These parasitic, leeching, scum will try any twist and cheat to get their multi-million pound bonuses topped up.

It's 12.9% APR, ie Annual interest. So that's about 1% per month, or 0.0334% per day. So if you make a £300 withdrawal it'll cost 10p per day till you pay it off.

For a normal length holiday, just pay it off as soon as you get back (don't wait for the statement) and the interest will be trivial. Far less than the 2% Saga charge.

YorkshireBoy

analyst wrote: »

interest of 12.9% even if repaid in full

Where are you reading that? The Halifax product's T&Cs or their website, or here on MSE?

Do you see the letters APR after the 12.9%?

What do you think the A stands for?


EDIT: Beaten to it by zagfles

analyst_2

I saw it on MSE. Like this:

Halifax ClarityWorldwide 0% load & no cash withdrawal fee

• Loading (exchange rate fee). Europe: 0% | Worldwide: 0%
• Cash withdrawals. Fee: FREE | Interest: Yes even if repaid in full

But my point was that I was seeing it as a form of 'withdrawal penalty' to be imposed regardless of any other calculation/consideration.