Saga or Halifax Clarity?

YorkshireBoy

analyst wrote: »

I saw it on MSE.

I thought as much!

You need to get your information directly from the horses mouth, ie the Halifax website, and specifically the card's T&Cs.

zerog

analyst wrote: »

I saw it on MSE. Like this:



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

Do you understand the difference between interest and a fee? Both can be expressed in terms of percentages, but one is charged once, and one is charged on a daily basis.

YorkshireBoy

But if you must get your information, in an abridged form, from MSE, then at least read the full text, ie just a little bit further down the page you were reading is this...

This works out around £1/month per £100 withdrawn

...which, upon reading, would have made your question irrelevant because, as you say, you can do the maths yourself.

grumbler

opinions4u wrote: »

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

It wins even if you make a withdrawal on the statement day and pay the balance in full by a DD:
1.129^(56/365)-1=1.88%

unimaginative_user_name

Bear in mind though that you won't necessarily get the 12.9%. I was given 21%.

izools

I don't understand the protracted conversation going on here,

analyst - if you don't like the Halifax card, don't use it. It's very simple.

It's still the cheapest way of withdrawing cash abroad, but whatever. In regards to payments, I can pay my CC by faster payments from my phone and it takes barely any longer than actually using the thing in a chip and pin machine, and whatever I transfer using my Building Society's mobile banking app appears as available credit on my third-party credit card within minutes.

My credit card, incidentally, is an Aqua card, which uses Halifax' systems, so the same would count true for your card - in so much as they accept faster payments and make any transfers almost immediately available.

And just to pre-empt what we all know you're going to say - nearly all mobile operators provide enough daily usage free abroad these days for you to use your mobile banking app, not to mention you're bound to find wireless access points around wherever you're going now and again.

It's all far simpler than you make it out to be.

EDIT: This is all completely pointless to discuss anyway, as Saga's 0% introductory offers don't apply to CASH ADVANCES, and even if you clear the bill in full, you'll still pay interest on the cash withdrawal from the date you make it to the date it's paid.

So Clarity remains the best option.

jennifernil

We have been using the Clarity card since it first came out and use it to draw cash abroad.

We have the 12.9% rate, we have a DD to take the full amount every month, we don't bother making early payments.

I can confirm that for each £100 withdrawn the interest is about £1 per month.

SammenForLivet2

You could get a N&P current account) Light account requires 5 transactions p/m and gold requires £500 to go in each month account or a Metro Bank Current account and they all offer free withdrawals abroad and at shops .

YorkshireBoy

izools wrote: »

EDIT: This is all completely pointless to discuss anyway, as Saga's 0% introductory offers don't apply to CASH ADVANCES, and even if you clear the bill in full, you'll still pay interest on the cash withdrawal from the date you make it to the date it's paid.

That's incorrect.

0% interest on cash withdrawals**

From time to time we all need to cover some unforeseen expenses or experience some cash flow shortages. This can often result in some additional worry and concern but with Saga Platinum credit card this need not be the case. With Saga Platinum you will enjoy up to 55 days of interest free cash withdrawals allowing you to spread your repayments over a couple of months.

**If the balance is always settled in full by the payment due date. After that, interest will be charged from the date the transaction is debited to your account. There is a 2% Fee (minimum £2) for each Cash Advance, whether it is made abroad or in the UK.

http://www.saga.co.uk/money/saga-credit-card.aspx?tab=exploreDetails&subtab=spending+with+saga+platinum

Buzby

Yep, I can confirm Saga don't charge - although you have to be over 50 and have a good credit profile. It is run from Dublin by AIB (who use a Belfast mail forwarding address) but the card is denominated in Sterling.