Tandem Cashback ending 9th March

SuiDreams

Just had email from Tandem, saying that unless I change to their new membership card costing £5.99 a month (£71.88 per year). My agreement will end on 9th March. Apparently I can continue to use the card and get cashback until then.


Not happy at all especially when told before Christmas that the card would remain as it is. £5.99 per month is a ridiculous cost, no thanks.

leodis23

Just received that email too - terrible decision! Normally when a company implements a charge that steep, it comes with a few extra perks (free coffee, cinema ticket, movie rental, phone insurance, etc.) - but there's nothing like that.

Shame - means I'll have to find a new cashback card to pair with Curve. Made a nice little sum using Tandem behind it.

Mickyp

Yes, I've had that email too, I'll be cancelling it. Its a shame, it was a good app and the cashback was handy.

djdave

Just had that too. They say that in exchange for the fee the interest rate will drop to 0%, which could be handy for many. But I use the card to earn cashback and get s75 protection, and pay the balance in full each month, so it will effectively cost me £72 for nothing. I'll be looking elsewhere, and I don't suppose Tandem care as they can't make any money from my custom.

Pealp

This was my first reaction, but then I considered the other benefits and it seems quite interesting at face value to be honest.

- Current account at 1.5% AER is pretty good - only Santander and a few others match this as far as I can tell, and they are limited in one way or another. This seems like unlimited at 1.5%?! (it doesn't say unlimited anywhere, but I can't see a limit either - perhaps worth it to confirm)

- 0% interest on purchases is likewise quite tempting. In effect that means an additional 1.5% cashback if you turn all your credit into savings and pay it off slowly enough

There might be downsides that I'm not seeing, but it seems quite good even with the £6 monthly fee.

Gerry1

Grrrr.... yes, it was bait and switch. Shame, because it was great both at home and abroad, and the app worked well, especially with its notifications when a transaction was made.

The old rule still applies - If It's Too Good To Be True, It Probably Is ! :mad:

Tragen

At 5.99 you'd need 4700 saved with them to cover the fee, effectively earning zero interest.

I'd rather not.

Gerry1 wrote: »

Grrrr.... yes, it was bait and switch.

Yeah I knew it would be when I signed up 6 months ago, would have liked to have got more out of it but it's been money for free and I wont complain, the app whle not quite as good starling or monzo, far better than any other credit card I can think of.

So on that subject, is there any credit card out there with 0% fees and MC conversion on foreign transactions that has a good app? I have halifax clarity as a backup but the app is not as good and no notifications.

Essentially I want Tandem but without the cashback.

rob_cb

I've asked Tandem support if my card can be converted to the "Journey credit card" as would still be useful for fee-free overseas spending, or at least as a backup card.

But for sure, won't be paying £72/year just for 0.5% cashback. The 0% spending and ATM withdrawals would only be useful if they gave me a higher credit limit. While I have five figure limits on other cards, they only gave me about £4k when I first signed up. I spend about 25-50% of my limit each month (sometimes overpaying to spend more) and always pay off in full, so the 0% offer wouldn't help me as a daily use card

scragend

As I was reading down the e-mail and seeing all the benefits, I was thinking what would be an appropriate level of monthly fee that I would be prepared to pay. I had a figure in mind of about £3.

Then I got to the bit where it said it was £5.99. No thanks.

I suppose if someone has a massive credit limit they could run up a load of purchases, only ever pay off the minimum payment and put the money they would otherwise have spent in an account earning interest, but my credit limit isn't anywhere near high enough to make that worthwhile. So I won't be becoming a "member".

Shame really, I've been happy with Tandem's offering up to now.

gwapenut

Pealp wrote: »

This was my first reaction, but then I considered the other benefits and it seems quite interesting at face value to be honest.

- Current account at 1.5% AER is pretty good - only Santander and a few others match this as far as I can tell, and they are limited in one way or another. This seems like unlimited at 1.5%?! (it doesn't say unlimited anywhere, but I can't see a limit either - perhaps worth it to confirm)

- 0% interest on purchases is likewise quite tempting. In effect that means an additional 1.5% cashback if you turn all your credit into savings and pay it off slowly enough

There might be downsides that I'm not seeing, but it seems quite good even with the £6 monthly fee.

I agree completely. I went from "no way" to whirring cogs.

What's the easiest way these days of filling up a large CC credit limit ("slow stoozing") to make use of an interest free balance and minimum repayments? I have a curve card but am not sure that it gives much advantage now that they are charging for HMRC payments.

A credit limit of 5K earning 1.5% tax free (say, ISA or PSA) would offfset the monthly fee. A 10K credit liimt would be quids in, even for someone paying higher rate tax on their savings. Plus the benefit of the best instant access savings interest on the market.

chamelion

Pealp wrote: »

This was my first reaction, but then I considered the other benefits and it seems quite interesting at face value to be honest.

- Current account at 1.5% AER is pretty good - only Santander and a few others match this as far as I can tell, and they are limited in one way or another. This seems like unlimited at 1.5%?! (it doesn't say unlimited anywhere, but I can't see a limit either - perhaps worth it to confirm)

- 0% interest on purchases is likewise quite tempting. In effect that means an additional 1.5% cashback if you turn all your credit into savings and pay it off slowly enough

There might be downsides that I'm not seeing, but it seems quite good even with the £6 monthly fee.

i'm going through the same thinking as you.
On one hand:
- under £4800 in the savings account will cover the monthly fee
- using it as a 0% finance card means if you're buying big items and not paying it off, you can keep that money in a savings account and earn 1.5% or more
- if there's no 20k limit like santander, you could put £85k in there, and earn £1.2 - £1.3k of interest safely.

on the other hand
- hopefully getting my crypto.com (ping me if you want details / referral!) metal card this month which will have 3% cashback, free withdrawals and spending, on top of airport lounge access and free netflix + spotify. you just need an appetite in exploring the crypto world a bit.

really annoyed - i've extensively used tandem. my capital one card gives the same interest and free foreign spending, but has a pathetic credit limit. glad i didn't cancel it!