Halifax Clarity interest avoidance

Nick_C

eDicky wrote: »

Good card, but don't forget Monzo's ATM withdrawal limits - £100/daily, £300/monthly, £2000/annual.

That's not correct. The daily limit is £250 and the monthly limit is £1000. Annual is £3000.

(A day is a rolling 24 hour time period. A month is a rolling 30 days.)

eDicky

Nick_C wrote: »

That's not correct. The daily limit is £250 and the monthly limit is £1000. Annual is £3000.

Yes, you're right - checking quickly I was looking at limits 'before identity verification' (and wondering why they're lower than I expected...).

youtellme90

I've just got my clarity card and was wondering about pay the cash withdrawals off.

If I made a $100 card payment and a $100 cash withdrawal, if I then paid off $100 equivalent on the card which amount would that apply to? I.e. can I avoid the interest that way, or would I need to pay off $200 equivalent to avoid that?
I know the way I'd like it to work, but they've got to make money from us some how...

[Deleted User]

Depends on what has statemented, what hasn't and any existing transactions and balance.

The T&Cs explain the hierarchy.

Nick_C

youtellme90 wrote: »

I've just got my clarity card and was wondering about pay the cash withdrawals off.

If I made a $100 card payment and a $100 cash withdrawal, if I then paid off $100 equivalent on the card which amount would that apply to? I.e. can I avoid the interest that way, or would I need to pay off $200 equivalent to avoid that?
I know the way I'd like it to work, but they've got to make money from us some how...

I don't know the answer, but avoid that situation. I have more than one CC with no forex loading. I use Halifax clarity to withdraw cash, and different cards for purchases.

On my next trip, I will use my new Halifax card towards the end of the trip to get the £20 cashback currently on offer. I will already have all the cash I need at that stage, but will have Monzo as a backup.

youtellme90

Thanks for the responses. I have a Monzo and a Clarity card. So ideally the Monzo will allow me to take any cash I need, I can then use the Clarity for purchases.

From the Clarity terms it says:
"If there is more than one type of balance at the same interest rate, they are paid off in the following order: cash transactions, purchases, balance transfers and money transfers, and then default charges (plus any interest or charges incurred as a result of those balances). For each type of balance, your payments will pay off the oldest balance (and related fees, charges or insurance) first."

So, from my understanding, they would apply the money to the cash transactions first, then the purchases. So if I paid $100 worth off in my example above it would be applied to the cash?

zagfles

youtellme90 wrote: »

Thanks for the responses. I have a Monzo and a Clarity card. So ideally the Monzo will allow me to take any cash I need, I can then use the Clarity for purchases.

From the Clarity terms it says:
"If there is more than one type of balance at the same interest rate, they are paid off in the following order: cash transactions, purchases, balance transfers and money transfers, and then default charges (plus any interest or charges incurred as a result of those balances). For each type of balance, your payments will pay off the oldest balance (and related fees, charges or insurance) first."

So, from my understanding, they would apply the money to the cash transactions first, then the purchases. So if I paid $100 worth off in my example above it would be applied to the cash?

You need read and understand the bit before that where it says

We will reduce the amount you owe in the following order:

• any overdue amounts from previous statements; then
• the remaining balance on your statement; then
• any recent transactions not yet shown on your statement.

That is applied first, before the bit you quoted above.


So in your example, if you had a zero statement balance and made $100 of purchases, then $100 ATM withdrawal, then paid off $100 after making sure the ATM withdrawal had hit the account, it would pay the ATM withdrawal off.



But if in between making the purchase and the cash withdrawal, the monthly statement is produced, then the £100 purchase is statemented but the $100 cash withdrawal isn't, meaning your $100 payment will pay off the purchase not the the ATM withdrawal.



Same if you have a DD to pay it off. Some people think they can have a DD to pay off their balance every month and then also pay off cash advances just after they make them. This does not work, since even if you have a DD, any payment will always go towards the statemented balance first.

pochisoldi

The method I've always used to clear cash advances on the Clarity card is as follows:

For the first cash advance in a "statement month":
1) Wait until the transaction shows online.
2) If the previous statement balance has not been cleared, then pay off last months balance+cash advance amount.
3) If the previous statement balance has been cleared, pay off the cash advance amount.
For subsequent cash advances
1) Wait until the transaction shows online.
2) Clear it.

Any purchases since the last statement don't get paid off until the statement arrives.

This has always worked for me, and I've never paid more than 40p for any cash withdrawal.

PochiSoldi

chattychappy

pochisoldi wrote: »

The method I've always used to clear cash advances on the Clarity card is as follows:

For the first cash advance in a "statement month":
1) Wait until the transaction shows online.
2) If the previous statement balance has not been cleared, then pay off last months balance+cash advance amount.
3) If the previous statement balance has been cleared, pay off the cash advance amount.
For subsequent cash advances
1) Wait until the transaction shows online.
2) Clear it.

Any purchases since the last statement don't get paid off until the statement arrives.

This has always worked for me, and I've never paid more than 40p for any cash withdrawal.

PochiSoldi

I would refine it as follows:
0) Cancel any DD mandate.
1) Wait until the transaction shows online.
2) If the previous statement balance has not been cleared, then pay off last months balance+cash advance amount.
3) If the previous statement balance has been cleared, pay off the cash advance amount.
For subsequent cash advances
1) Wait until the transaction shows online.
2) Clear it.

And that's pretty much what I do too.

In fact, I often just go online soon after a cash advance and clear the whole lot anyway, rather than leaving purchases to appear on the next statement first. With low interest rates, the extra credit period is worth nothing to me.