Tesco Bank Master Card Sting

Herbalus

As Stu said, 3/4 days interest loss at 3% is better than a months interest charged at 17%.

Just so you know how much you're winning by keeping the money an extra 4 days: £3000 in 2.5% will gain you 0.2 pence a day. Worth it?

How can you not have heard of a direct debit paying a credit card in full? You've owned a credit card for 13 years - how can you not understand the options for payment?!

I'll explain how it works. You tell Tesco to set up a direct debit with your bank to take the full amount. All you have to do is make sure there is enough money in your bank account to meet this need.

abandonded

StuC75 wrote: »

But 3/4 days lost on the interest of the money in your own bank is a lot less that the interest that you then pay by paying the bill at the last minute. ................I have always paid off the credit card on the last day of the month and until now, have never paid a penny of interest.

The due date, is exactly that, the latest date for the payment to be made and benefit from the interest free. Dont forget that the interest charge will also trail over to the next month since the full balance needs paying month after month to ensure its 'free'................I have always paid off the credit card on the last day of the month and until now, have never paid a penny of interest.

DD set for Full Balance is the clearest way to avoid this as they credit & request the funds at due date, but then takes days to filter through to the bank account. In the past I noticed this change gave me a 4 extra days from when I would have paid (to clear in time) through to clear in the time and the DD actually leaving my account. ...............Thank you for this - I honestly did not know that it was possible to pay off cards by DD

If you paid it becase if fell in line paydays at the end of the month .................I paid because that was when the due date fell.

StuC75 wrote: »

so unless you only ever use the card the day after the statement there is always some concession on "how many upto x interest free days" you are getting..

We use the card as and when we feel the need to but never, ever on day to day purchases. BTW, we have until very recently paid off the credit card via the debit one.

Buzby

abandonded wrote: »

Never ever thought that by paying on the due date or the day before was brinkmanship.

It is your definition of 'paying'. Most require cleared funds, allocated to your account. A debit card payment can be authorised on the 'due' day, but the funds not actually paid over for 2 or 3 days, especially if a weekend intervenes.

Any interest charges are automatically applied, so you then have to rally against the machine - and this is often futile. Why else do firms warn/recommend that payments take up to 3/4 days to clear into an account?

That's the brinkmanship - the due date is when the funds must be IN your account, not the day you pay it as you have no control over when this takes place.

abandonded

No longer with Tesco Bank so problem has been solved. Thank you to those who took the time to contribute o the discussion.

Archergirl

abandonded wrote: »

No longer with Tesco Bank so problem has been solved. Thank you to those who took the time to contribute o the discussion.

Silly you, I use my Tesco CC for all my day to day spending, pay IN FULL by DD each month and get Tesco points on ALL my spending, simples!!

redpete

abandonded wrote: »

... nowadays we transfer the money by e-mail. So it was that on Friday 31 May, my wife sent off the required balance and even added an extra £200.00 for spending made in May but not yet included in the bill.

Do you really mean that you send an email with some instruction to pay the amount, or are you actually paying it using on-line banking.

I don't understand how the former would work - there is no guarantee that the email will reach them by a particular date/time (or even reach them at all); it would be an unreliable method and one that I've never heard of.

aym280

Herbalus wrote: »

There are lots of people who have had that experience on here. Essentially, they all say the same thing: the payment didn't reach the account by the due date and therefore there was a charge. The poster always says they paid before the due date, and the company always says the payment didn't arrive in time.

.... In my case, I found out that several statements came to me printing a later date such as 30 June and yet the money was taken on 25th, causing me in red with my bank First Direct. I phoned Tesco Clubcard credit card, the operative said the money was still with my bank on 25th and they did not have the money until 30th. He claimed that Tesco did not have the money until 30th, which happened to be a Sunday, (yesterday). As I had been using the card for years, I knew I had to transfer money to the bank on 23rd to avoid any hassle, but as the favourable rate has finished, so I transferred bank and in the midst of the bruhaha, I stuck to the 30th date AS PRINTED ON THE STATEMENT and when I tried to set up the standing order from the new bank on 26th, I found out that I was in red with the old one. I was livid. WHY PRINT 30TH, when Tesco took the money out on 25th. I phoned First Direct who told me that Tesco had taken the money on 25th. Tesco should come clean over printing the 30th June and snatched the money on 25th. A letter D can incur a fine of £25! I really do not like Tesco - paying their suppliers late and taking credit card payment early ... I have learned this lesson: NEXT TIME WHEN YOU CHANGE ACCOUNTS: PAY UP ALL THE CREDIT CARD BILL BY DIRECT PAYMENT FOR THE CRITICAL MONTH AND FOR TESCO PAY BY 23RD! MY MANTRA and I have reported this anomaly to Financial ombudsman as I am sure I am not the only person stung!

pvt

aym280 wrote: »

Statement states 31 June,

Well that's impressive in itself...

Enterprise_1701C

I go into online banking when I get my Tesco CC statement and arrange for the money to be transferred to arrive by the statement date. Funnily enough I use First Direct and when I put to arrive by the statement date, the transfer date is the same, it transfers in less than a day. I have not had a late payment charge yet.

Hominu

Enterprise_1701C wrote: »

I go into online banking when I get my Tesco CC statement and arrange for the money to be transferred to arrive by the statement date. I have not had a late payment charge yet.

I'm not surprised, the statement date is about 20 days before the payment due date, so no chance of a late payment charge.