Purchases on barclaycard during balance transfer offer

fedupdad

I have a current 33 month 0% offer with barclaycard and made some purchases on it last month. I paid the amount for the purchases onto the credit card and thought all was well.

However I have just noticed that barclaycard have used my payments to reduce my balance transfer offer balance and are using the purchases to charge interest on them. Is this right?

If so how can you ensure you don't pay any interest on the balance of the purchases?

20aday

fedupdad wrote: »

I have a current 33 month 0% offer with barclaycard and made some purchases on it last month. I paid the amount for the purchases onto the credit card and thought all was well.

However I have just noticed that barclaycard have used my payments to reduce my balance transfer offer balance and are using the purchases to charge interest on them. Is this right?

If so how can you ensure you don't pay any interest on the balance of the purchases?

Hello there,

From what I've read here on MSE you shouldn't really mix purchases and balance transfers on the same card because, as you've found out, you'll attract interest.

The only way to avoid interest would be to pay the entire balance in full every month.

Paully232000

fedupdad wrote: »

I have a current 33 month 0% offer with barclaycard and made some purchases on it last month. I paid the amount for the purchases onto the credit card and thought all was well.

However I have just noticed that barclaycard have used my payments to reduce my balance transfer offer balance and are using the purchases to charge interest on them. Is this right?

If so how can you ensure you don't pay any interest on the balance of the purchases?

If you mean should you have been charged interest then yes you should have. That is why you shouldnt really, unless necessary, mix balance transfers and purchases on the same card. To make sure you are not charged interest on purchases in general you must pay the balance of the card in full by the date stated on your statement, which includes all balance transfer amounts.

To make sure you don't pay interest on purchases don't mix the two (BT offers and purchases), pay the balance in full, or get a card which offers 0% on purchases.

shortcrust

Payments DO clear the most expensive bits of your balance first, so you don't have to clear your balance to pay off your purchases. However, you run into problems when you pay too soon. If you pay before payment transactions have been processed then you pay off the balance transfer instead. This means that it's difficult to avoid paying interest for a day or two.

forgotmyname

I remember Martin on TV talking about the balance transfer cards. Never spend on it. Thats all i remember. Never spend on it.

20aday

From their website:

If you have a balance transfer of £100 and spend £20, you’ll pay interest on the £20 from the moment the transaction appears on your account. The £100 balance transfer will stay interest-free.

Vortigern

fedupdad wrote: »

...how can you ensure you don't pay any interest on the balance of the purchases?

Wait for the purchase to appear on your statement, then pay the amount of your purchase, or the minimum amount if higher.

Darren87

Ow god... I've got a cash transfer offer on till August and have £300 on pending purchases. When will I learn :embarasse.

Luckily after two conflicting calls to the offshore call center I spoke to a supervisor in the uk that confirmed that I would indeed be paying for my purchases if I had left it... she altered something so I don't pay anything on my next statement which I can pay off manually not effecting my cash transfer? we shall see... Doh, I'll read the small print a little more closely next time