Withdrawing cash with a credit card

maxthepolarbear

Hi potentially a dumb question but I have never withdraw cash with a credit card before.

If I withdraw cash with my credit card but I pay it off immediately, will I still be charged interest?

A more specific example, say I already have £400 on my card this month (which I intend to pay in full next month) and I withdraw £100 as cash with my card, do I have to repay£100, or £500 in order not to be charged interest?

Background for this question is that I'm thinking of withdrawing cash with the halifax credit card when I'm abroad. If it turns out interest will be charged I might explore other means to get travel cash.

Thanks a lot.

[Deleted User]

You'd need to pay the full £500, as statemented transactions will be paid first.

YorkshireBoy

Deleted_User wrote: »

You'd need to pay the full £500, as statemented transactions will be paid first.

...unless some of the transactions were made after the statement date.

So really it's £100 plus the value of the last statement balance.

But, OP, you do realise you're dealing with pennies here don't you? Somewhere between 3-5p per day, depending on your APR, on your £100 cash transaction. How much is a beer where you're going?

grumbler

Deleted_User wrote: »

You'd need to pay the full £500, as statemented transactions will be paid first.

Do you mean a monthly statement? If so, "£400 already on card" could be spent in the new billing month. If the statement balance was already paid in full, then, I believe, a new payment goes towards the cash advance in the first place.

lisyloo

If I withdraw cash with my credit card but I pay it off immediately, will I still be charged interest?

If you do it by faster payments then you won't get charged interest.
I use Clarity and interest is charged from the date the ATM transaction is posted. For example if you take cash out on a Saturday it's most likely posted to your account on a Monday.

do I have to repay£100, or £500 in order not to be charged interest?

As others have said. Depends on whether the £400 was statemented or not. Personally I pay off the whole lot to avoid confusion if I'm withdrawing cash.

I'm thinking of withdrawing cash with the halifax credit card when I'm abroad. If it turns out interest will be charged I might explore other means to get travel cash.

You won't get anywhere near as cheap through other methods, even if you have no internet access and can't make payments.
Two weeks on Clarity is 0.5%. Other methods are circa 4%.
Obviously you want to avoid having a large balance on the card as you may get charged interest on the whole lot.
Is it a big deal to pay the £400 slightly early?
If not it's still probably cheaper.

Don't assume that just because there's interest it won't be the cheapest.
It probably STILL IS the cheapest method.

eDicky

lisyloo wrote: »

Don't assume that just because there's interest it won't be the cheapest.
It probably STILL IS the cheapest method.

True, assuming that the OP's Halifax card is a Clarity...

lisyloo

Yes sure - my assumption.
The OP needs to check the interest rate.

maxthepolarbear

Cool - thank you for all your replies.

So just to be clear: say since my last statement date I have spent £400 on my card, I still have to pay off the whole lot (£400 + £100 cash withdrawal) in order to avoid interest - is that right?

Will paying interest affect my credit rating? (I'll still pay my bills in full by DD every month)

grumbler

maxthepolarbear wrote: »

Cool - thank you for all your replies.

So just to be clear: say since my last statement date I have spent £400 on my card, I still have to pay off the whole lot (£400 + £100 cash withdrawal) in order to avoid interest - is that right?

Not right - if the statement balance was £0 or have been paid already.
If it wasn't £0 or haven't been paid, you have to pay £100 plus the statement balance, not +£400

Will paying interest affect my credit rating?

No, but cash withdrawals get reported and may have some negative effect. It's believed that the effect is minor/negligible if everything else in your credit history is fine.

YorkshireBoy

maxthepolarbear wrote: »

So just to be clear: say since my last statement date I have spent £400 on my card, I still have to pay off the whole lot (£400 + £100 cash withdrawal) in order to avoid interest - is that right?

No, that's wrong.

Will paying interest affect my credit rating? (I'll still pay my bills in full by DD every month)

Paying interest, per se, won't. However, since cash withdrawals are recorded on your credit report it could have an impact. Halifax may also take a dim view, unless it is the Clarity card. Is it? You didn't say one way or the other.

YorkshireBoy

eDicky wrote: »

True, assuming that the OP's Halifax card is a Clarity...

And also assuming an APR of 12.9% for the 0.5% monthly cost.

Lot of assumptions. Let's hope the OP clarifies.