sainsburys Mastercard- strange allocation of payments

gb908010

Well 18 months ago i took out a Sainsburys credit card which had 0% balance transfers for 18months and 29months 0% for new purchase.
Transferred £1800 and then purchased a new TV etc for £2000.
I set up direct debits for £150 a month thinking that the BT would be cleared within the 18 months.
Wrong, when i rang up to check they had allocated the majority of my payments against the purchases leaving me with £1750 worth of BT which would start incurring interest the following month.

Just be wary and check the T&Cs as i have now swapped this to my bank First Direct on another 0% BT.

BoGoF

General advice is don't mix purchases and transfers for this very reason.

bengalknights

Unfortunately most card companies allocate to either oldest debt or purchases first, its why you should avoid mixing the transactions.

planetf1

I haven't used BT for many years, and don't need/plan to currently - however I just had a letter from barclaycard saying that they are revising their strategy such that you can mix BT and purchases and not lose the beneficial BT interest rate.. Not read into the details but fyi.

molerat

The T&Cs are quite clear

If the payment is not enough to pay off all transactions at a particular interest rate, we will pay off transactions charged at that interest rate in the order:- cash advances, cheques, purchases, balance transfers and default sums.

gb908010

molerat wrote: »

The T&Cs are quite clear

When your paying £150 a month dd and then paying £50 a month that is more than enough to clear both debts

I've moved it now with first direct who I've banked with for years

chattychappy

It usually simpler to separate out debts onto different cards, but not always possible.

The best method to deal with situations such as this is to pay the minimum + £1, whilst putting additional monies into a savings account.

THEN, just after the first deal expires, send enough from your savings to cover the amount of the first deal that is outstanding. Because it's gone to standard interest, your money must be applied to this first.

You may pay a couple of days' interest, but it does guarantee the money will be allocated properly so this is a small price to pay.