Never had a credit card!!

swanseajack47

Don't laugh folks .. I'm 71 and never had a credit card so am finding all the jargon and offers very confusing. About a month ago we bought some furniture from M&S and got around £1350 worth of 24 months interest free credit through a finance company. No problem .. we're just due to pay around £56 per month for 24 months. But I'm wishing now that I'd had a 0% credit card to save the hassle of the direct debit, plus it took around two hours of hassle in store just to get the credit agreement set up!

The credit agreement allows penalty-free settlement of the full amount any time within the 24 months period so I'm wondering whether there would be any financial benefit in getting a credit card with which I can pay off the balance. If so, what type of card should I apply for? Thanks. Daibach.

[Deleted User]

You would need a money transfer option.

However, it may be tricky to get as a first card, and to be honest, you may as well just complete the 0% finance you have.

Get a card as a separate entity so that you have something for future usage.

northwalesd

swanseajack47 wrote: »

to save the hassle of the direct debit

But how would you intend to pay back the credit card balance without a direct debit?

Ben8282

You already have the finance at 0% interest so there would be no saving in transferring it to a 0% credit card.
You mention hassle. You have already been through the hassle in the store which is now over and done with so cannot be a factor in the decision. As for the direct debit, I don't understand why this would be considered a hassle as the money is taken automatically every month with no action needed on your part. Also, as has already been pointed out, you would still need to make a monthly payment to the credit card either by direct debit or manually which would be more of a hassle as you would actually have to remember to do it.
I'm surprised M&S didn't try to get you to take out one of their credit cards to make the purchase. They were pushing them when I purchased some clothes there a couple of weeks ago.

NewToTheUkAgain

If you want a first credit card try your bank as you will likely have a long standing history with them. Then you can transfer payments from your account to your credit card very simply by either phone, internet or branch.

SlovakianGuy

NewToTheUkAgain wrote: »

If you want a first credit card try your bank as you will likely have a long standing history with them.

Yeah, as long as it's not TSB

They've rejected to issue a credit card for me after 4 years with them. It was my first and only bank in the UK, I've never been overdrawn, my current account balance was never even close to zero, constantly growing, I also have ISA with them from the beginning, I used to do almost all my shopping with their debit card, even my credit score was good (Excellent with Experian), yet I was pre-declined in their computer system. Since then I took out 2 credit cards elsewhere, with 1500 and 1700 credit limit. Five months later, I asked again in TSB branch if they can have a look on it, and guess what... I was still pre-declined. What a bunch of douchebags.