Tesco Credit Card vs Debit Card

Sue58

I am considering applying for a Tesco Clubcard Purchases Credit Card because they are currently offering 1,000 clubcard points as an incentive.

I already have a Tesco Bank Account and Debit Card so I'm not sure if I would use the credit card very often because you gain more clubcard points with the debit card ie. 1 point for every £1 spent in Tesco/Fuel whereas the credit card card is only 1 point for every £4 spent.

Does anybody else have the Tesco credit card and if so is there any advantages/merits over the debit card?

20aday

Good morning,

If you used your Tesco Bank Clubcard as your Clubcard and payment card you'd get 5 points £4 spent in a qualifying transaction-four points for the £4 you've spent and the further point for usage of your credit card.

Tiexen

and if you use the Tesco app (on your smartphone) and link your Tesco credit card and your clubcard you get another 1 point for every £4 spent (£4 minimum) in each Tesco Pay+ transaction in Tesco and Tesco petrol filling stations.

Sue58

20aday wrote: »

Good morning,

If you used your Tesco Bank Clubcard as your Clubcard and payment card you'd get 5 points £4 spent in a qualifying transaction-four points for the £4 you've spent and the further point for usage of your credit card.

Thanks for your input. I presume you are referring to the credit card as opposed to the debit card? I only ask because I understood that you only get 1 clubcard point for every £4 spent with a credit card?

Paul_DNAP

Sue58 wrote: »

Thanks for your input. I presume you are referring to the credit card as opposed to the debit card? I only ask because I understood that you only get 1 clubcard point for every £4 spent with a credit card?

As far as I understand it, you get


Basic clubcard points:

• 1point for every £1 spent in store
• 1 per £2 on fuel).
• No basic points outside Tesco.

Debit card points (on top of the basic):

• 1 point for every £1 spent in Tesco.
• 1 point per £1 for fuel also
• The debit card also doubles your basic clubcard points on fuel to the 1 point per £1 level.
• Earn 1 point for every £8 spent outside Tesco.

Credit Card points (on top of the basic):

• 1 point per £4 spent in Tesco
• 1 point per £8 anywhere else.

Tesco Pay+

• By routing your payment in Tesco through the app, you get 1 extra point per £4 until Dec 31st 2018.

I'd say once you've fulfilled the criteria to bag the 1,000 points use the debit card - especially if buying Tesco fuel.

Sue58

Paul_DNAP wrote: »

As far as I understand it, you get


Basic clubcard points:

• 1point for every £1 spent in store
• 1 per £2 on fuel).
• No basic points outside Tesco.

Debit card points (on top of the basic):

• 1 point for every £1 spent in Tesco.
• 1 point per £1 for fuel also
• The debit card also doubles your basic clubcard points on fuel to the 1 point per £1 level.
• Earn 1 point for every £8 spent outside Tesco.

Credit Card points (on top of the basic):

• 1 point per £4 spent in Tesco
• 1 point per £8 anywhere else.

Tesco Pay+

• By routing your payment in Tesco through the app, you get 1 extra point per £4 until Dec 31st 2018.

I'd say once you've fulfilled the criteria to bag the 1,000 points use the debit card - especially if buying Tesco fuel.

Perfect, thank you for the detailed explanation.

etienneg

Paul_DNAP wrote: »

As far as I understand it, you get


Basic clubcard points:

• 1point for every £1 spent in store
• 1 per £2 on fuel).
• No basic points outside Tesco.

Debit card points (on top of the basic):

• 1 point for every £1 spent in Tesco.
• 1 point per £1 for fuel also
• The debit card also doubles your basic clubcard points on fuel to the 1 point per £1 level.
• Earn 1 point for every £8 spent outside Tesco.

Credit Card points (on top of the basic):

• 1 point per £4 spent in Tesco
• 1 point per £8 anywhere else.

Tesco Pay+

• By routing your payment in Tesco through the app, you get 1 extra point per £4 until Dec 31st 2018.

I'd say once you've fulfilled the criteria to bag the 1,000 points use the debit card - especially if buying Tesco fuel.

Of course, the bigger picture depends on your situation. The debit card takes money immediately from your Tesco current account.

If you have less than £3,000 in there, paying by debit card will result in an immediate loss of the 3% interest on the amount spent. Paying by credit card avoids this until settlement day, by which time you may well have been paid. In other words, it maximizes the balance earning 3%.

If you have more than £3,000, it would be better to have another current account (earning less than 3% interest) for the excess and just treat the Tesco one as a savings account.

Either way, it's likely that the small increase in Clubcard points will be outweighed by the lower interest.

Paul_DNAP

That's a good point about loss of interest with the quick payment from debit cards, but if the clubcard points are worth about a penny each.

So on the credit card you're gaining £0.01 per £4 spent, or 0.25% of your spend. On the debit card you're gaining £0.01 per £1 spend, or 1%. And indeed, on the face of it that looks a lot less than the 3% on the current AC, but that 3% is APR whereas the clubcard points are immediate.

So let's say you spend £100 at the start of a month.

Debit card - you gain £1 worth in clubcard points, and no more current AC interst.

Credit card - you gain £0.25 worth of points, but how much interest will you gain on that £100 in your current account for up to two months? Rough calc, it would earn 3% or £3 per year, and £3*(2÷12) = £0.50 - so that's £0.75 total, and so I reckon the debit card just nudges it still but the margin is closer.

Katiehound

My Tesco CC gives me 1 point for every £1 spent on fuel- unlike basis clubcard which is 1 point for every £2 spent on fuel.

I suspect overall it won't make a huge difference to the calculations!
(You don't actually have to pay with the CC- just make sure the points go on there rather than clubcard)