Halifax Clarity - Using to withdraw from ATM's overseas

chattychappy

andyfromotley wrote: »

just hop online and pay what you have taken out of the atm from your bank account to the credit card, this way you will avoid virtually all interest.

Bear in mind that payments are applied first to statemented transactions. So if the OP has not paid off the previous statement balance, the payment will go to this first.

For simplicity, I put cash onto Santander Zero/Clarity, and purchases onto PO Mastercard/Nationwide Select. When I do mix onto Zero/Clarity, I pay off the entire balance each time I make a cash withdrawal.

As you say, you can virtually avoid all interest. 28p on my recent couple of grand's worth.

Susan1942

Thanks for this very interesting thread I am going to Australia in dec for just under 6 weeks I have just applied for the Clarity halifax card
If I want to pay it off as soon as I take cash out can I do this by just sending it from my current account online or should I set up an account as I do with some bills and then put the amount that I want to pay on a given date I have set up a DD for the card I am taking not of what is being said and see that someone says they use another card (I have PO one ) for purchases and uses the Halifax for cash withdrawals I am a bit confused so would welcome clarity on this
Thanks again Sue

chattychappy

Susan1942 wrote: »

Thanks for this very interesting thread I am going to Australia in dec for just under 6 weeks I have just applied for the Clarity halifax card
If I want to pay it off as soon as I take cash out can I do this by just sending it from my current account online or should I set up an account as I do with some bills and then put the amount that I want to pay on a given date I have set up a DD for the card I am taking not of what is being said and see that someone says they use another card (I have PO one ) for purchases and uses the Halifax for cash withdrawals I am a bit confused so would welcome clarity on this
Thanks again Sue

To be honest, Sue, I'm struggling to understand what you wrote... But I recognise myself as the "someone" you refer to!

With purchases, foreign or otherwise, you can get up to 56 days interest free. So the usual way is to get the statement and pay by the "due by" date (perhaps by DD).

With cash (except Barclaycard in respect of foreign cash), interest runs from the date of withdrawal. If you pay off as you would do for purchases, you could get "up to 56 days interest". About 2% in the case of Clarity. 5% in the case of my Santander Zero card (APR 35% - I believe that this is no longer available).

So the most efficient way is to put purchases onto one card (eg PO Mastercard) so you can benefit from the interest free period, and cash onto the other - which you pay off right away to minimise interest.

If you mix purchases and cash onto a card, you must be aware of how your payments will be applied. Eg let's say your statements are generated on the 1st of the month, and you get 25 days to pay. During March you make £500 of purchases. April 1st, you withdraw £100 from an ATM. As interest is running on the ATM transaction, you decide to send £100 to pay it off. BUT, what will happen is that the £100 will pay off the £500 balance first. Interest will continue to run on the £100 ATM amount until the rest of the £500 has been cleared.

As cards are prone to being blocked when overseas, it's always best to take at least a couple/three or so. (Or other backups.) I suggest getting Clarity for cash and PO Mastercard for purchases. If one gets blocked, you've still got the other as a backup.

Susan1942

Thanks for that and sorry my question was so vague I understand what you are sayin so as suggested I will use the post office card for purchases and use the Clarity for cash withdrawals

Thanks again for this Sue

gt94sss2

tiero3 wrote: »

Yes you are correct re: 50% cash. Am I right in assuming this means 50% of my credit limit until I have paid it off in full? I can't imagine what else it would be, probably silly question :T

Not a silly question at all-I think its per billing period so even if you pay it off, they won't let you take more if you have already taken 50% in total during the period.

Regards
Sunil

flipperg22

I've got myself a Halifax Clarity credit card, specifically for a forthcoming holiday to Majorca. I already hold the Post Office credit card, so am intending to use the Clarity card for withdrawing cash, and the Post Office card for purchases.

I just wanted to check the situation regarding withdrawing cash on the Halifax card in relation to it affecting my credit score. Throughout the MSE site, we're consistently told not to withdraw cash on a credit card as it impacts badly on credit scores - so clearly using this card for cash abroad is rather a contradiction.

If I pay off the Clarity card immediately that I'm home a week later (ideally during the holiday if I can get online), I know that I'll be charged pennies for the interest if I pay quickly, but will paying quicker also be better for my credit score? My score is currently pretty good and I don't want to risk blowing it, just so that I can save a couple of quid on not having to buy travel money in the traditional way.

tiero3

gt94sss2 wrote: »

Not a silly question at all-I think its per billing period so even if you pay it off, they won't let you take more if you have already taken 50% in total during the period.

Oh, thanks for confirming that!

Regards
Sunil

flipperg22 wrote: »

I just wanted to check the situation regarding withdrawing cash on the Halifax card in relation to it affecting my credit score. Throughout the MSE site, we're consistently told not to withdraw cash on a credit card as it impacts badly on credit scores - so clearly using this card for cash abroad is rather a contradiction.

If I pay off the Clarity card immediately that I'm home a week later (ideally during the holiday if I can get online), I know that I'll be charged pennies for the interest if I pay quickly, but will paying quicker also be better for my credit score? My score is currently pretty good and I don't want to risk blowing it, just so that I can save a couple of quid on not having to buy travel money in the traditional way.

This is a good point and quite worrying, especially since I have seen people recommend not withdrawing large amounts of cash before you go to do exactly what you mention, save some money by using the card. Especially since personally I'll be away for over 2 months, this could be a disaster. I think I'm just going to withdraw a larger amount before I go to be safe. It's roughly a £20 loss on a conversion of £1000 compared to using the clarity card, but could be worth not ruining my credit rating over!

chattychappy

I'm taking cash out on Clarity/Zero every week, sometimes Barclaycard too.

Never had a problem getting credit. I can only assume it's negative when combined with other factors - eg only paying minimums/close to limit etc.

Midland45

Susan1942 wrote: »

Thanks for this very interesting thread I am going to Australia in dec for just under 6 weeks I have just applied for the Clarity halifax card
If I want to pay it off as soon as I take cash out can I do this by just sending it from my current account online or should I set up an account as I do with some bills and then put the amount that I want to pay on a given date I have set up a DD for the card I am taking not of what is being said and see that someone says they use another card (I have PO one ) for purchases and uses the Halifax for cash withdrawals I am a bit confused so would welcome clarity on this
Thanks again Sue

Not sure if you got an answer to this but If I check my account online there is a link displayed to allow me to pay off my Halifax Reward Clarity card. I also have a Halifax Reward current account which I assume is where the money would be transferred from. My monthly DD payment is from another bank.

weezie7

Just an aside, I have a Halifax Clarity card and if you load money onto it before you go away, if you withdraw cash, it comes off immediately, but no interest is charged, as you don't owe them any money!
One way around it! Obviously, you need the funds to do that, and also beware if using it for hotel or restaurant bills, in case you go over the amount you pre-loaded. Just takes a bit of planning......... Hope this helps someone, it worked for me!