How much interest will I pay?

MrJazz302

Hello everyone.

I currently have a credit card from Vanquis with a 59.9% APR (kill me now) and have spent £135 of my £250 balance so far (Don't you just love Christmas time). I won't be able to pay my full balance this month however would like to pay it next. How much extra will I be paying if I spend £235 of my balance as I need to spend a further £100 and won't have the funds till the 4th of Jan.

I just want to be able to work out how much extra I'm going to be paying. Would it be 59.9% / 12 = 4.99%? So 5% of the entire balance for one month?

enthusiasticsaver

Sounds about right to me but it depends on statement date and when you actually end up paying it off. Most credit card statements these days quote the interest you will pay if you do not clear the balance.

Superscrooge

I've just checked online because I didn't believe any credit cards charged as much as 59.9% APR but you are right. That is horrendous! and to add further insult it looks as though you also have a £19 annual fee as well!

Have you received your credit card statement yet? If so I'm fairly sure they all follow the same format and if you look at the account summary it should give the following;
Your Balance
Payment Due Date
Minimum Payment
Estimated Interest next month.

If your spending has all been this month and you haven't yet received your statement listing these transactions then you might be in luck. The interest charge only starts accumulating on the balance still owing on the payment due date.and the payment due date is usually about three weeks after the statement which might therefore be after 4th Jan if you haven't yet received your statement.

I've just checked the small print on my credit card statement and it states

"interest is calculated and charged daily therefore interest payments will increase the longer payment is delayed"

I'm assuming this is the same for all credit cards so if you can't clear the full balance by the first payment due date, don't wait until you receive the next statement, pay it off ASAP to minimise interest charges.

Unless you have a 0% card or other special deal, borrowing on credit cards is very expensive and best avoided if you possibly can. Especially at 59.9%APR!






.

A4445

Wow 59.9% I thought my Capital One card with 34.9% was bad!

You really need to prioritise paying that off or try for a Capital one card and do a balance transfer it and save 25% in Apr.

darkidoe

Erm can I ask what is so important that you have to spend on that can't wait till you have the cash? Spending on credit when you don't have cash to repay or have a sensible repayment plan is digging a hole for yourself to jump into.

I wouldn't enjoy Christmas in your shoes. I suggest prioritising your spending rather then calculating how deep of the pit you are planning to dig for yourself. I am sure there can be other options out there that doesn't involve spending on credit.

boo_star

Superscrooge wrote: »

I've just checked online because I didn't believe any credit cards charged as much as 59.9% APR but you are right. That is horrendous! and to add further insult it looks as though you also have a £19 annual fee as well!

Where did you get the £19 annual fee from? I can't see it mentioned on their site.

YorkshireBoy

MrJazz302 wrote: »

So 5% of the entire balance for one month?

It's not as simple as that. If you don't pay the next statement in full, they won't waive the interest on purchases already made. So you could be looking at nearer 2 months interest on the average balance over those two months. So probably nearer 10% than 5% (without boring you with the maths).

Can I presume you'll now be planning for next Xmas? I hear it's on the same day next year so shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.

boo_star

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

It's not as simple as that. If you don't pay the next statement in full, they won't waive the interest on purchases already made. So you could be looking at nearer 2 months interest on the average balance over those two months. So probably nearer 10% than 5% (without boring you with the maths).

Can I presume you'll now be planning for next Xmas? I hear it's on the same day next year so shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.

Not true, we only know when Christmas is on the 10th of December when the Queen officially announces it.

SuperAllyB

boo_star wrote: »

Not true, we only know when Christmas is on the 10th of December when Queen officially announces it.

But they're not really Queen since Freddie died.

Superscrooge

boo_star wrote: »

Where did you get the £19 annual fee from? I can't see it mentioned on their site.

Apologies you are right. I initially looked on the Vanquis site but couldn't see a credit card charging 59.9% so I then Googled 'Vanquis 59.9%' (or something similar) and it brought up the following article

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cardsloans/article-1593509/Card-that-charges-70-interest.html

But I've just realised this is an old article and I assume the annual charge no longer apples

YorkshireBoy

Superscrooge wrote: »

I initially looked on the Vanquis site but couldn't see a credit card charging 59.9%

They only quote the 'representative' rate (of 39.9% APR) in the advertising. You need to delve into the T&Cs to see their other rates...

The interest rates applicable to the credit agreement will be from one of Tiers A) - H) below:

Tier A) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 19.94%, Cheque annual rate 29.93%, Cash annual rate 37.57%; or
Tier B1) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 29.84%, Cheque annual rate 39.94%, Cash annual rate 48.26%; or
Tier B2) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 29.95%, Cheque annual rate 39.94%, Cash annual rate 48.26%; or
Tier C) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 34.95%, Cheque annual rate 44.95%, Cash annual rate 53.63%; or
Tier D1) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 39.84%, Cheque annual rate 49.94%, Cash annual rate 58.95%; or
Tier D2) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 39.94%, Cheque annual rate 49.94%, Cash annual rate 58.95%; or
Tier E) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 49.94%, Cheque annual rate 59.94%, Cash annual rate 69.67%; or
Tier F) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 59.94%, Cheque annual rate 69.94%, Cash annual rate 80.38%; or
Tier G) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 69.94%, Cheque annual rate 79.93%, Cash annual rate 91.12%; or
Tier H) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 79.93%, Cheque annual rate 88.23%, Cash annual rate 99.99%.

https://www.vanquis.co.uk/credit-cards/terms-and-conditions

Check out their cash rate for Tier H customers!