Halifax Clarity - can I pay off / pay in early

jackieblack

zagfles wrote: »

Cash advances are paid off first - but that rule is trumped by the other rule saying statemented items are always paid before non statemented items.

So in the above example the cash advance would be paid first - provided that it had hit the account, and that the previous statement had already been paid off .

Not my experience
But maybe this has changed in the last couple of years

zagfles

jackieblack wrote: »

Not my experience
But maybe this has changed in the last couple of years

Definitely been the case since I've had my card (about 4 years). Are you certain you waited till the transaction appeared on your card, and you had no outstanding statement balance?

jackieblack

zagfles wrote: »

Definitely been the case since I've had my card (about 4 years). Are you certain you waited till the transaction appeared on your card, and you had no outstanding statement balance?

Yes, balance paid in full every month by direct debit and I waited until the transaction was showing on online banking and made the payment the same day.
When I rang them to query it I was told it was correct and that the payment was credited to the 'oldest' transactions first.

zagfles

jackieblack wrote: »

Yes, balance paid in full every month by direct debit and I waited until the transaction was showing on online banking and made the payment the same day.

But as I posted above, was the cash advance between the statement date and the DD date?

For instance, say you get a statement for £500 on the 1st June, scheduled to be paid in full by DD on the 26th June.

If you make a £100 cash advance on the 2nd June and pay £100 on the 5th June, you will be charged 24 days interest on the cash advance not 3 days interest. Because the £100 payment will go towards the statement not the cash advance. Payments always go towards statemented balances first.

When I rang them to query it I was told it was correct and that the payment was credited to the 'oldest' transactions first.

That is rubbish. The rules are as I posted above.

jackieblack

zagfles wrote: »

But as I posted above, was the cash advance between the statement date and the DD date?

For instance, say you get a statement for £500 on the 1st June, scheduled to be paid in full by DD on the 26th June.

If you make a £100 cash advance on the 2nd June and pay £100 on the 5th June, you will be charged 24 days interest on the cash advance not 3 days interest. Because the £100 payment will go towards the statement not the cash advance. Payments always go towards statemented balances first.

TBH I can't remember the dates involved exactly, it was almost 2 years ago.
Maybe that is what happened, it would make sense as it seems there is only a 4 or 5 day window each month that you can withdraw cash and avoid this scenario, unless you ensure the balance is cleared prior to any withdrawal :huh:

zagfles

jackieblack wrote: »

TBH I can't remember the dates involved exactly, it was almost 2 years ago.
Maybe that is what happened, it would make sense as it seems there is only a 4 or 5 day window each month that you can withdraw cash and avoid this scenario, unless you ensure the balance is cleared prior to any withdrawal :huh:

Which is exactly what you have to do if you want to stop the interest on cash advances. The Clarity is the only card I don't pay by DD for this reason - it complicates things.

Easy way to use it is go on holiday, spend, withdraw cash, and pay the whole lot off when you get back. If you want to pay off cash advances just after making them you need to clear the statement balance first.

jackieblack

zagfles wrote: »

Easy way to use it is go on holiday, spend, withdraw cash, and pay the whole lot off when you get back.

Agreed, these days we use our Nationwide Flex+ debit card to withdraw cash, but we always take our Clarity as a back-up.

zagfles wrote: »

If you want to pay off cash advances just after making them you need to clear the statement balance first.

Or at the same time presumably, so what I was told was correct, although the reason I was given for this was wrong

jackieblack wrote: »

I was told I would have had to repay in full in order to pay off the cash withdrawal

zagfles

jackieblack wrote: »

Agreed, these days we use our Nationwide Flex+ debit card to withdraw cash, but we always take our Clarity as a back-up.


Or at the same time presumably,

Yes

so what I was told was correct, although the reason I was given for this was wrong

No. Unstatemented cash advances are paid before unstatemented purchases, regardless of which was first.

For instance, you get a statement for £500 on 1st June. You make £300 of purchases on 5th June and £200 cash withdrawal on 8th June. Your balance is therefore £1000

You need to pay £700 to stop the interest on the cash advance, ie the statement balance plus the cash advance. You don't need to pay off the £300 unstatemented purchases.

jackieblack

zagfles wrote: »

Yes No. Unstatemented cash advances are paid before unstatemented purchases, regardless of which was first.

For instance, you get a statement for £500 on 1st June. You make £300 of purchases on 5th June and £200 cash withdrawal on 8th June. Your balance is therefore £1000

You need to pay £700 to stop the interest on the cash advance, ie the statement balance plus the cash advance. You don't need to pay off the £300 unstatemented purchases.

Ok, I'll remember that for the future, thanks

KingL

Clarity, indeed!