Paying off catalogue with a credit card

Pat76

I've just been accepted for a Barclaycard which has 0% on purchases for 27 months. Can I use this facility to pay off my catalogue bill?

MallyGirl

They might accept payment but it would probably not qualify as a purchase at 0%

Plus

You might be able to indirectly. For instance, can you pay some of your other bills by credit card? Council tax, utilities, groceries, travel? Then use the money you would have spent to pay off the catalogue.

aj23_2

Plus wrote: »

You might be able to indirectly. For instance, can you pay some of your other bills by credit card? Council tax, utilities, groceries, travel? Then use the money you would have spent to pay off the catalogue.

I'm not sure I'd go as far as saying groceries aka food shopping or travel are bills per se.

Vortigern

I have used a CC to pay a Very catalogue bill. It was not treated as a cash transaction. Whether it's treated as cash or otherwise depends on how the catalogue reports the payment and how the credit card treats that payment. There are too many variables so you'll probably not get a definitive from the card company, the catalogue or this forum.

You could try making a small payment first?

bowlhead99

aj23 wrote: »

I'm not sure I'd go as far as saying groceries aka food shopping or travel are bills per se.

It doesn't really matter what you choose to call them. If you receive the service or the product you get a bill. With groceries you might be at a checkout and you have to pay the amount which shows on the register or self checkout machine, before you can get a receipt for what you paid, pack your bags and leave. Or you might be online at Amazon and pay the bill for the "shopping cart" before they'll deliver it. When buying a train ticket you have to pay for it or you don't get the service. With cable internet you have to pay the bill or they cut off the service. With a mobile phone top-up voucher you have to pay for the voucher or don't get the talktime.

It's all the same premise. If you want to pay off some sort of debt and end up owing that amount of money on an interest free credit card instead, and the person you owe doesn't take credit cards (or takes them but the card company considers it a cash advance instead of a 'purchase'), your plan might be frustrated. So instead you could use your credit card to pay some other bill for goods and services (whether a utility bill or a bill for a banana at your greengrocer or a bill for the breakfast you just ate at a cafe or a mobile top-up) and then you owe the credit card company at 0%. The money from your pocket or bank account that would have been otherwise spent paying for internet or bananas or breakfast or phone service, is then "spare' to pay the debt.

PeacefulWaters

aj23 wrote: »

I'm not sure I'd go as far as saying groceries aka food shopping or travel are bills per se.

Call them Englebert if you prefer. Or maybe Cliffard.

It's still a decent suggestion.

aj23_2

bowlhead99 wrote: »

It doesn't really matter what you choose to call them. If you receive the service or the product you get a bill. With groceries you might be at a checkout and you have to pay the amount which shows on the register or self checkout machine, before you can get a receipt for what you paid, pack your bags and leave. Or you might be online at Amazon and pay the bill for the "shopping cart" before they'll deliver it. When buying a train ticket you have to pay for it or you don't get the service. With cable internet you have to pay the bill or they cut off the service. With a mobile phone top-up voucher you have to pay for the voucher or don't get the talktime.

It's all the same premise. If you want to pay off some sort of debt and end up owing that amount of money on an interest free credit card instead, and the person you owe doesn't take credit cards (or takes them but the card company considers it a cash advance instead of a 'purchase'), your plan might be frustrated. So instead you could use your credit card to pay some other bill for goods and services (whether a utility bill or a bill for a banana at your greengrocer or a bill for the breakfast you just ate at a cafe or a mobile top-up) and then you owe the credit card company at 0%. The money from your pocket or bank account that would have been otherwise spent paying for internet or bananas or breakfast or phone service, is then "spare' to pay the debt.

I'm not having a go, I'm just saying I wouldn't necessarily call those two services 'bills'. I think the OP meant more along the lines of buy now, pay later, a bill that comes in later in the month which you have to pay back the following month or spread out over several months. Typically a bill is something that comes in to you and you have to pay according to the terms of payment, like gas or electricity or in this case a catalogue order, credit services.

aj23_2

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

Call them Englebert if you prefer. Or maybe Cliffard.

It's still a decent suggestion.

See my above comment.