Travel credit card - paying off quickly

lad22

Hi,

Sorry to ask a dumb question, but Martin says the trick with the Creation card is to pay it off in full via internet banking. I have my card set up so it's paid off in full by direct debit (or standing order). Is there some way to do this e.g. the day you use it to buy something or the following day so you only pay 1 day's interest on the item instead of a month when it's due? If so, how can I do that? How would I set up such a payment and what details would I need?

Many thanks in advance.

laura

grumbler

lad22 wrote: »

Hi,

Sorry to ask a dumb question, but Martin says the trick with the Creation card is to pay it off in full via internet banking.

I don't think that 'Martin' says to pay immediately after purchases. Why would he? Creation is no different from the majority of CCs and waives interest on purchases if the statement balance is paid in full.

I have my card set up so it's paid off in full by direct debit (or standing order).

How can you do this by a SO if the amount varies?

Is there some way to do this e.g. the day you use it to buy something or the following day so you only pay 1 day's interest on the item instead of a month when it's due?

If you mean cash withdrawals, then the only way is to set a post-dated bank transfer if you can predict the date and the amount you withdraw. And beware, the transaction has to show in your online account first - and this isn't necessarily the same day when you withdraw cash.

How would I set up such a payment and what details would I need?

The same details that you can find on the back of your bill for making payments to the CC online or in a branch.
Sort code, account number, your card long number as a reference.

andyfromotley

You can use phone or internet banking to pay your credit card in addition to your stanging order.
Are you talking about a cash withdrawals abroad kind of thing?
The interest incurred for most holiday spending (i have a clarity card so its the same principle) is insignificant over the course of a week or so, so you may choose to just pay it off when you get back rather than faffing about on your hols.

Ben8282

I would draw to your attention that Creation is one of the issuers which TAKE THE DIRECT DEBIT REGARDLESS OF ANY OTHER PAYMENTS MADE DURING THE PERIOD.
So have you set up a full payment direct debit?
You refer to 'the item' and 'buying something' which implies a purchase. If you are paying in full every month anyway there will be no purchase interest so cannot understand what benefit there would be in paying for the purchase the day after you make it.

lad22

Hi again,

Yes, I've set up a full DD payment via my bank. Martin says this about the creation card:

"There's no fee for cash withdrawals, though you'll be charged interest at 12.9% representative APR until you pay it off in full. So it works out at about £1/month for each £100 withdrawn (if you get this APR).
But there’s a trick you can use to minimise this cost. You’re only charged interest until you’ve fully repaid the balance, so if you pay off the withdrawal amount as soon as you can (via internet banking while abroad, or when you return home) you can minimise interest."

i don't want to be charged interest at 12.9% for a month until the DD comes out. I'm just unclear how I can pay off the withdrawal amount. It's a new card, I'm now abroad and I have had no previous statement.

Thanks!

Candyapple

lad22 wrote: »

Hi again,

Yes, I've set up a full DD payment via my bank. Martin says this about the creation card:

"There's no fee for cash withdrawals, though you'll be charged interest at 12.9% representative APR until you pay it off in full. So it works out at about £1/month for each £100 withdrawn (if you get this APR).
But there’s a trick you can use to minimise this cost. You’re only charged interest until you’ve fully repaid the balance, so if you pay off the withdrawal amount as soon as you can (via internet banking while abroad, or when you return home) you can minimise interest."

i don't want to be charged interest at 12.9% for a month until the DD comes out. I'm just unclear how I can pay off the withdrawal amount. It's a new card, I'm now abroad and I have had no previous statement.

Thanks!

Log into your Creation account online and click on the 'Make a payment' box on the left. If it is greyed out because the transaction hasn't shown online yet, then just wait a couple of days and make the payment. I did this when I was in the States, whatever cash I had withdrawn, I waited 2 days for it to be posted and showing in my account and then just made a payment. I can't remember how much trailing interest was but it definitely was less than 50p and I withdrew £500 during my stay.

Also to add, if you prefer to make a payment using bank transfer, Creation's bank details are on the back of their statements.

redux

lad22 wrote: »

i don't want to be charged interest at 12.9% for a month until the DD comes out. I'm just unclear how I can pay off the withdrawal amount. It's a new card, I'm now abroad and I have had no previous statement.

Thanks!

Just to be clear in case of any confusion, the interest only arises on a cash withdrawal, and a withdrawal doesn't make the purchases also subject to interest straight away.

And read again the quote you included. The interest is about 1% a month not 12.9%. If you withdraw £100 it would cost you a quid to wait a month.

I think I might disagree very slightly with the tenor of the way Martin says something about this, or at least qualify it.

Although there is advice to pay back as soon as possible, consider a couple of other things. How much is the internet access costing? Some people might think their mobile network's flat fee of £2 a day is reasonable to use their bundle allowance while abroad. Or maybe the best internet access is at that nice bar in the village square. A month's interest on a modest cash advance might be less than the cost of one beer, and it's still cheaper than using a different card which charges a flat fee for cash advance or an exchange rate margin, or both.

So do this when an opportunity arises at no extra cost, instead of making oneself feel manic about getting it done as soon as possible.

You could set up a bill payment from your bank account. If you don't have the payment details yet because you don't have the first card statement yet, maybe the card has online account access and you can find payment details in there somewhere. Or when setting things up in your bank account some can search for sort codes and account numbers for the most common payees. Then your card number is the reference number.

If it doesn't become abundantly clear in one of those two places how to do this easily, leave it until you get home, and don't worry about it. Someone who worries too much and phones the card call centre to make a debit card payment into the account might well spend more on the phone call than the saving they make.

grumbler

http://www.creation.co.uk/about-us/creation-faqs#faq-section-2
Can I make a payment using my debit card?
How do I pay my account using my bank's Telephone Banking?
How do I pay my account at a bank?
What do I need to quote as a reference when making payments?