Capital One credit card question

dgmjr2018

I am pre-approved for the Capital One Complete 6 Months card, which offers 0% purchase and balance transfer for 6 months as a first Credit Card. 

On their website, they advertise that for purchases and balance transfers, they offer "0% fixed for any statement period beginning within the first 6 months of your account", however the interest free period is only a : "Maximum of 56 days for purchases where the balance is paid in full and on time". 

Does this mean that, 56 days after the purchase they will start charging interest? 

Secondly, how are installments calculated on large purchases (£700+), given that the interest free period is only 6 months?

Finally, will there be any issues if I link the card to Curve in order to benefit from the cashback on the metal plan & fx free spend?

grumbler

UP TO 56 days is the usual interest-free period for purchases (about the same for all CCs) regardless of any other offers/promotions. At the end of the statement month (up to 31 days) you receive a statement showing the due date for your payment (about 25 days ahead). If you pay the statement balance in full before the due date, then all the interest is waived, i.e. all the purchases you made are interest-free. For the earliest transactions in the statement it's up to 56 days; for the latest - 25 days.

MSE: Learn more about how do credit cards work

In your case 0% for 6 months is an extra promotion. What you call 'installments' is in fact 'minimum payments' (you can pay more than minimum) - see the Summary Box . During the first 6 months you can make only minimum payments and not incur any interest.  If you don't pay the balance off after 6 months the interest kicks in and it will be horribly high. Don't even think about not paying your balance in full with this card.

CliveOfIndia

As above, the "Up to 56 days interest-free" is the standard for all credit cards - as long as you pay the full statement balance by the due date, then the interest is waived.  If you have a promotional offer, then this overrides the standard terms & conditions - as long as you pay at least the minimum amount each month, you won't be charged interest for the duration of the offer (OK, to be pedantic, you will be charged interest, but at 0%.  Same difference for all practical purposes).  But do remember that when the promotional offer expires, any remaining balance will start to attract interest at the card's standard APR.

dgmjr2018 said:

Secondly, how are installments calculated on large purchases (£700+), given that the interest free period is only 6 months?

You don't have "instalments" as such with a credit card.  With a standard card (i.e. one with no promotional offer), you make a purchase, then as long as you pay the full statement balance by the due date, you'll pay no interest.  If you have a 6 months 0% offer, then you can pay as much as you like every month - with one caveat.  You MUST pay at least the "minimum amount" (which will be clearly stated on your statement) every month, otherwise you'll be charged penalty fees - and usually the promotional offer will also be immediately withdrawn.  Safest to set up a Direct Debit to pay the minimum each month.

But you can pay any amount you like, as long as it's at least the minimum amount.  Ideally you should be aiming to pay a monthly amount such that the balance will be cleared by the time the 6 months is up.  Either that, or pay the minimum and also put some aside into a savings account, so you'll have enough to clear the balance in full when the promotional offer expires.

What you don't want is to have a large balance remaining when the 6 months is up - otherwise you'll start paying interest on the remaining balance, and the interest rate on credit cards is usually pretty hefty.

MrFrugalFever

Just to clarify, you currently pay £17.99pm for the Curve Metal subscription (minimum 6 months subscription) yet are looking at a Capital One 6 month BT offer at 0%? 

Forgive me but either your expectations of Curve have been grossly overestimated, you're unaware of much better 0% balance transfer offers available on the market or you've got a very thin / poor credit history?

Once the 0% promotional rate ends in 6 months time you will need to make the statement payment in full or you will be charged a very high rate of interest, as per the above comments.