"Interest on cash" appearing on credit card

Largs

Hi, wonder if anyone knows the answer to this.

Each payday in the run up to Christmas I purchase gift vouchers online for Christmas gifts from Voucher Store.  

I have used an ASDA Visa card, my Sainsburys Mastercard and Creation Everyday Mastercard since September.

The Creation card is charging me each month "interest on cash", when I asked them, he said the gift voucher has been treated as cash.  I asked why the other 2 don't treat it like that.  He checked and said its how the merchant "put it through" to them.

Does anyone know if this is correct?  I'll stop using the Creation one from now on but I don't understand why different cards treat the same type of purchase differently.

Thanks for any advice.

MorningcoffeeIV

Largs said:

I'll stop using the Creation one from now on but I don't understand why different cards treat the same type of purchase differently.

Simply because each card sets their own categorisation. If the merchant uses a code which is categorised as cash, it will be treated as cash.

MEM62

Largs said:

Each payday in the run up to Christmas I purchase gift vouchers online for Christmas gifts from Voucher Store.  

I am just wondering why you would do that.  Not only as you restricting where the recipient of your gift can spend it, but if the company supplying the vouches goes bust the voucher is useless.  Surely it is better just to give them the cash.    

crumpet_man

I buy gift cards via Complete Savings and this appears as Voucher Store on my credit card statement.  Selected gift cards are 20% discount but there is a monthly limit hence people will make sure to buy the maximum each month.

I have found that Lloyds treat the Voucher Store transaction as cash and charged a cash advance fee and interest.  Aqua and Pulse treat it as a regular purchase.

Largs

crumpet_man said:

I buy gift cards via Complete Savings and this appears as Voucher Store on my credit card statement.  Selected gift cards are 20% discount but there is a monthly limit hence people will make sure to buy the maximum each month.

I have found that Lloyds treat the Voucher Store transaction as cash and charged a cash advance fee and interest.  Aqua and Pulse treat it as a regular purchase.

Hi, yes that is where I bought them from too.  I've not long joined so will watch which cards I use there in future.  Every day is a school day and all that........

jnm21

crumpet_man said:

I buy gift cards via Complete Savings and this appears as Voucher Store on my credit card statement.  Selected gift cards are 20% discount but there is a monthly limit hence people will make sure to buy the maximum each month.

I have found that Lloyds treat the Voucher Store transaction as cash and charged a cash advance fee and interest.  Aqua and Pulse treat it as a regular purchase.

THANK YOU!  I am also wondering about using Aqua (my long since unavailable to new customers Aqua Reward) as I get 0.5% cashback (hey 20.4% is better than 20%).

FYI I can confirm that Trading 212 (debit card, 1.5% CB until September ) does NOT give CB on the transactions, I'm nearly sure I tried Chase before with NO luck & shockingly when I use Uphold (DC, 1% CB), my transaction fails & I get stuck for days/weeks/months unable to buy my discounted card. 😭  CS say it is because prepaid cards are not allowed (they can't tell me where that is in T&Cs & I can't find it) & in any case Uphold say their card is a true DC, not a prepaid one. 🙄

Superhoopza

MEM62 said:

Largs said:

Each payday in the run up to Christmas I purchase gift vouchers online for Christmas gifts from Voucher Store.  

I am just wondering why you would do that.  Not only as you restricting where the recipient of your gift can spend it, but if the company supplying the vouches goes bust the voucher is useless.  Surely it is better just to give them the cash.    

Few reasons. It's a 'nicer gift' to start with. Secondly it forces the recipient to spend it on something that would be treated more as a gift (present, clothes, meal out etc) where as cash would just go on every day spending. 

Stuart_W

This shambles of not knowing how a transaction will be treated for the end user needs to end - it is all totally random.

I have used my credit card for gift voucher purchases (both in-store and online), paying council tax, very and next credit accounts, my gas bill - and all of them are purchases on my card and generate cashback (Co-op), but others have reported on here they are treated as cash. The end user doesn't know what merchant code the retailer is using with the card processor, and then in turn different credit cards have different rules for different codes. 

On holiday recently I even used my card in one of those arcade amusement places to get £20 in change,and it was treated as a purchase. Both direct and via a Curve card. Both fee free. Nothing cash-like about that, it was a blatant cash withdrawal. Still earned credit card cashback on it and got the usual interest free period. 

Cash machines that charge a fee display this before the transaction proceeds. A similar system should be possible for "cash-like" fees surely?

jnm21

Fully agree Stuart - another one to watch for is Curve 'high risk' fees - introduced in May IIRC, so transactions that were fee free now incur a fee, with no way to know in advance.

I'm sure a good legal mind could use existing law to have such things deemed unfair - needs a test case, then it will all clear up.

How do you find Curve - from reading the reddit sub r/CurveCard, seems like some of the worst customer service imaginable! 

Stuart_W

jnm21 said:

How do you find Curve - from reading the reddit sub r/CurveCard, seems like some of the worst customer service imaginable! 

I have never needed to contact them so can't comment. The main use I have for curve is in a couple of places that only allow debit cards but I will probably ditch it eventually.

jnm21

Watch for curve fronted fees in those cases.