Halifax Clarity Card

adindas

I wonder why people are still considering Halifax Clarity card still good for cash withdrawal in foreign currency ?

It was good 10+ years ago when there they did not have competitors. But nowadays many credit cards are offering this perks as a default.

Let alone you could now get Debit-cards for cash withdrawal in foreign currencies issued by a few other banks especially by challenger banks.

I have had Clarity card for 10+ years ago. But nowadays I hardly ever use it. It is just sitting as a back up card as there a better alternative.

zagfles

CliveOfIndia said:

zagfles said:

I've been using my Barclaycard Rewards to withdraw small amounts of cash in the UK as it's treated like a purchase (no fee and unlike the Clarity no immediate interest), doesn't seem to have had an effect on my credit score (yet!). But I'll keep an eye on it...

Your score is irrelevant as it is not used, nor even seen, by any lender.  Each lender will of course make their own judgement about you, based on your credit history.  I don't know for certain, but it would be logical to assume that a lender will not be too concerned by occasional small cash withdrawals.  It's regular large cash withdrawals that would start to raise concerns.  The rationale is fairly obvious - why would you need to withdraw cash on a credit card, why not use your debit card?  Is it because you don't have enough money in your current account?

This is not me being nasty towards you, by the way!  Just trying to put into words how a lender's algorithm would view it.

The Barclaycard Rewards card is somewhat unusual in not charging interest as long as you repay in full every month, so from your point of view I guess it's no different to using a debit card.  But most cards would charge interest, so you'd only really take cash out (in the UK) in an emergency.

Yup understood - but with the way the BC Rewards works the question of "why withdraw cash on a CC" is no different to "why make purchases on a CC not your debit card". But I can believe lenders haven't caught up or don't account for odd exceptions like this.

But these days the requirement for cash is so low, only need £30 a month or so, in the old days I'd be spending several hundred a month in cash, so I guess £30 or so a month shouldn't cause an issue.

zagfles

adindas said:

I wonder why people are still considering Halifax Clarity card still good for cash withdrawal in foreign currency ?

It was good 10+ years ago when there they did not have competitors. But nowadays many credit cards are offering this perks as a default.

Let alone you could now get Debit-cards for cash withdrawal in foreign currencies issued by a few other banks especially by challenger banks.

I have had Clarity card for 10+ years ago. But nowadays I hardly ever use it. It is just sitting as a back up card as there a better alternative.

Me too, Clarity is a backup, but for people who don't travel much who already have a Clarity it might be easier than bothering getting an alternative particularly these days when cash requirement is usually low in a lot of countries.

Other thing to bear in mind is Mastercard give better rates than VISA on average, or at least did a few years ago when MSE last checked, a difference of about 0.6%, which could make using the Clarity for purchases, and cash if paid off within a few days, better value than using a VISA card. Even accounting for perks like the BC Rewards 0.25% cashback on purchases.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2015/05/mastercard-vs-visa-for-using-abroad-which-wins/

NoodleDoodleMan

Likewise I'm wondering if we need to keep Halifax Clarity - for the reasons stated above.

Gary_Laurus

adindas said:

I wonder why people are still considering Halifax Clarity card still good for cash withdrawal in foreign currency ?

It was good 10+ years ago when there they did not have competitors. But nowadays many credit cards are offering this perks as a default.

Let alone you could now get Debit-cards for cash withdrawal in foreign currencies issued by a few other banks especially by challenger banks.

I have had Clarity card for 10+ years ago. But nowadays I hardly ever use it. It is just sitting as a back up card as there a better alternative.

HI, 
Curious as to what are the other cards that one can use as a main option/s

[Deleted User]

zagfles said:

adindas said:

I wonder why people are still considering Halifax Clarity card still good for cash withdrawal in foreign currency ?

It was good 10+ years ago when there they did not have competitors. But nowadays many credit cards are offering this perks as a default.

Let alone you could now get Debit-cards for cash withdrawal in foreign currencies issued by a few other banks especially by challenger banks.

I have had Clarity card for 10+ years ago. But nowadays I hardly ever use it. It is just sitting as a back up card as there a better alternative.

Me too, Clarity is a backup, but for people who don't travel much who already have a Clarity it might be easier than bothering getting an alternative particularly these days when cash requirement is usually low in a lot of countries.

Other thing to bear in mind is Mastercard give better rates than VISA on average, or at least did a few years ago when MSE last checked, a difference of about 0.6%, which could make using the Clarity for purchases, and cash if paid off within a few days, better value than using a VISA card. Even accounting for perks like the BC Rewards 0.25% cashback on purchases.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2015/05/mastercard-vs-visa-for-using-abroad-which-wins/

Unless you're a regular traveller, it's not really worth moving from any forex free credit cards to another if only making card transactions as difference is marginal. I've found Visa to be virtually identical to Mastercard (or better) on my last few non-GBP transactions.I also travel to countries where with cash economies, so having BC Rewards (Visa) is a useful backup to currency/ Mastercard debit cards.

jbrassy

Interestingly, this article says that Visa rates are now a touch better than Mastercard: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/travel-credit-cards/

However, the difference is probably really small.

Even so, I would choose BC Rewards over Clarity because of the cashback. Clarity currently offers a £20 sign-up bonus, but you'll probably make more than £20 over time with BC Rewards due to the 0.25% cashback. I certainly have earned over £20 in cashback in the three years I've had the card. 

It's still worth having a forex-free card for when making large purchases (s75 protection) and they're also essential when hiring a car abroad. However, I would avoid using them for cash withdrawals due to the impact on your credit file.