May jump off the CapOne ship, just not sure where to

derelyth

I came across the MBNA Rewards card today, a card I had looked at some time ago but forgot about. I've yet to call Barclaycard to verbally confirm their CB card is not for New Customers at the moment but if they confirm the MBNA could be the front runner due to the cost of the Lloyds Choice. I just need to work out the differences.

derelyth

Took the plunge on the Barclaycard Freedom with a view to upgrading to their Cashback cards as soon as I can. Accepted last night with a slightly higher limit than Cap1. I may well now keep the Cap1 as a decent backup and close my Lloyds Student as it has a low limit.

I created a spreadsheet to show cashback based on a £3k spend (with an at worst split of 60% on Amex and 40% on Visa/MC for dual cards) and found the following CB values:

Amex Everyday: £9.00
Amex Plat CB: -£2.50 (After fee)
Barclaycard CB: £24.00
Lloyds Choice: -£4.00 (After fee)
MBNA: £0.00*

* = I read every 5,000 points can be redeemed for £20 CB with MBNA. A £3k spend split 60/40 Amex/Visa would give 4,800 points so I would have to spend in multiples of £3,125 a year to get any benefit from that (£6,250-£9,375 a year would get £40 CB).

Candyapple

Are those figures above annually or monthly?

Is your likely annual spend on cards circa £3k?

derelyth

Candyapple wrote: »

Are those figures above annually or monthly?

Is your likely annual spend on cards circa £3k?

They're annual figures for the CB returns/losses. My annual spend averages £3k though is slowly creeping up.

Candyapple

I’d say then in that case then, surely the Halifax bank account and Clarity card are worth looking at? You’d need to put £300 per month through the Clarity which is £3.6k spend annually and then combined with the bank account you’d get £10 per month = £120 cashback per annum. Plus a possible extra £100 for switching to Halifax if you don’t already bank with them. Even if you just cycle the money through your Halifax bank account to meet the requirements and don’t use it as your main account. That’s way more than the figures you’ve given here.

derelyth

Candyapple wrote: »

I’d say then in that case then, surely the Halifax bank account and Clarity card are worth looking at? You’d need to put £300 per month through the Clarity which is £3.6k spend annually and then combined with the bank account you’d get £10 per month = £120 cashback per annum. Plus a possible extra £100 for switching to Halifax if you don’t already bank with them. Even if you just cycle the money through your Halifax bank account to meet the requirements and don’t use it as your main account. That’s way more than the figures you’ve given here.

I did look at the Halifax card but decided against it for the following reasons.

To qualify for the £5 "cashback" on the card, you need a Reward account. This requires £750 a month funding (not a problem) but also 2 direct debits. My DDs come out of my primary account so this is not an option. Also, my current annual spend is £3k on average - some months it can be as low as £180 but it averages £250 at the moment.

Candyapple

For the 2 DD's, you could set up one for repayment of the Clarity card and then one for a Tesco savers account (money going back to you ultimately) even if it was for £1.

The average monthly spend is where you would fall down then if it's £180-£250 as you'd need £300 to qualify.

You said earlier that you are secondary cardholder on your dad's credit card account, could you not put £50 (or whatever figure is needed that month to take you up to £300) of his monthly spend eg petrol, shopping etc on your card (Clarity) and then give him the cash, that way you would qualify for the cashback reward?

derelyth

Candyapple wrote: »

For the 2 DD's, you could set up one for repayment of the Clarity card and then one for a Tesco savers account (money going back to you ultimately) even if it was for £1.

The average monthly spend is where you would fall down then if it's £180-£250 as you'd need £300 to qualify.

You said earlier that you are secondary cardholder on your dad's credit card account, could you not put £50 (or whatever figure is needed that month to take you up to £300) of his monthly spend eg petrol, shopping etc on your card (Clarity) and then give him the cash, that way you would qualify for the cashback reward?

I could have, but it's a lot of faff - I like to keep my finances separate as we're both busy people so sometimes getting the time to get together and reconcile things could be difficult.

I've got the Barclaycard Freedom on it's way now, I'll set up a DD for that for the minimum for 6 months (Interest Free Purchases) and then amend it to Full Balance upon end.