Halifax Clarity Credit Card at 21.9% - still a good option?

captainjon

Hi,

I applied for the Halifax Clarity Credit Card but got offered the top rate of 21.9% instead of the headline 12%.

Is this still the best way of paying when abroad, or is there a better option? I intend to pay off as soon as i can but that still leaves the £££ earning interest for a week until its paid off.

thanks

Jon

captainjon

just trying to work out the interest payment - its 21.9/365 % per day?

so not that much i guess

PeacefulWaters

Less than 6p per £100 per day for cash withdrawals.

Bargain.

Minimise costs by clearing in full ASAP and use the card to purchase stuff rather than going via an ATM where possible.

cinereus

Of course. Why wouldn't it be? You can always make cash transfers as you go too if you're away for several months.

captainjon

its looking good. i loaded up a halifax savings account so i can transfer the balance over with the mobile app

captainjon

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

Less than 6p per £100 per day for cash withdrawals.

Bargain.

Minimise costs by clearing in full ASAP and use the card to purchase stuff rather than going via an ATM where possible.

why would that make a difference? i thought cash withdrawal didnt have a fee?

Gloomendoom

captainjon wrote: »

why would that make a difference? i thought cash withdrawal didnt have a fee?

No, but they do attract interest from the moment you pull the cash out of the ATM. Card purchases don't.

Doshwaster

captainjon wrote: »

why would that make a difference? i thought cash withdrawal didnt have a fee?

Because cash withdrawals are charged interest while card payments aren't - so it's cheaper to pay a €50 restaurant bill by card than take out the money from an ATM. If you pay off the balance within a week then the difference is only going to be pennies but some people worry about that kind of thing.

Also in some countries there are cash machine fees that are imposed by the operator. The Clarity card can't avoid those.

YorkshireBoy

captainjon wrote: »

why would that make a difference? i thought cash withdrawal didnt have a fee?

PW meant to minimise interest costs.

Cash advances start to accrue interest from the day they're posted to your account (which may be 2-3 days after the transaction itself), whereas purchases do not (provided you've cleared the last 2 statements in full by their respective due dates).

just trying to work out the interest payment - its 21.9/365 % per day?

Close enough. It's actually less than that as PW said earlier. You need to use the annual non-compounded interest rate (so long as you're not spanning a statement date, ie two statement periods) of 12 x the monthly rate of 1.6639% which is 19.99%.

So your interest figure is 19.99/365 = £0.055, or 5.5p/£100/day for ATM withdrawals.