Paying off a NEXT account- which type of credit card?

DullGreyGuy

WillPS said:

Hispanist123 said:

Thanks everyone, the consensus seems to be a money transfer card , so I’m off to investigate that now ! I appreciate your advice. 

You should be able to use a Purchase Card. 

If you're in any doubt, use your Purchase Credit Card to purchase Next gift cards from a retail location. Start with a small one to check it still works.

Do a small transaction either way first of all to check this all works.

Buying a gift card is totally different than paying off a loan from Next. 

A purchase card could be used, if Next accept CCs for loan repayment but its highly likely it will be considered a cash advance and so not benefit from the 0%, have instant fee and interest added. 

CliveOfIndia

DullGreyGuy said:

WillPS said:

Hispanist123 said:

Thanks everyone, the consensus seems to be a money transfer card , so I’m off to investigate that now ! I appreciate your advice. 

You should be able to use a Purchase Card. 

If you're in any doubt, use your Purchase Credit Card to purchase Next gift cards from a retail location. Start with a small one to check it still works.

Do a small transaction either way first of all to check this all works.

Buying a gift card is totally different than paying off a loan from Next. 

A purchase card could be used, if Next accept CCs for loan repayment but its highly likely it will be considered a cash advance and so not benefit from the 0%, have instant fee and interest added. 

Although, it does say on their website that you can use gift cards to pay off your credit account, so it may be an avenue worth exploring.

I would, however, follow the advice from WillPS, and buy a low-value gift card initially, to check whether a gift card will be treated as a cash advance.  Gift cards can be something of a minefield - sometimes they're treated as a standard purchase, sometimes they're treated as a cash advance, and it can be difficult for an ordinary consumer to know how it will be categorised.

If it turns out that gift cards are treated as a standard purchase, then this may be a viable option to consider.

WillPS

DullGreyGuy said:

WillPS said:

Hispanist123 said:

Thanks everyone, the consensus seems to be a money transfer card , so I’m off to investigate that now ! I appreciate your advice. 

You should be able to use a Purchase Card. 

If you're in any doubt, use your Purchase Credit Card to purchase Next gift cards from a retail location. Start with a small one to check it still works.

Do a small transaction either way first of all to check this all works.

Buying a gift card is totally different than paying off a loan from Next. 

A purchase card could be used, if Next accept CCs for loan repayment but its highly likely it will be considered a cash advance and so not benefit from the 0%, have instant fee and interest added. 

I'm not at all sure it is. We've seen lots of reports of various conspicuous things being treated as cash advances, but never Next Directory AFAIK (happy to be corrected on this).

Always try a small transaction first, and then maybe contact the issuer after a few days to check it's counted as a purchase. If it works, happy days, clear the Next balance.

If not, move on to gift cards.

CliveOfIndia said:

DullGreyGuy said:

WillPS said:

Hispanist123 said:

Thanks everyone, the consensus seems to be a money transfer card , so I’m off to investigate that now ! I appreciate your advice. 

You should be able to use a Purchase Card. 

If you're in any doubt, use your Purchase Credit Card to purchase Next gift cards from a retail location. Start with a small one to check it still works.

Do a small transaction either way first of all to check this all works.

Buying a gift card is totally different than paying off a loan from Next. 

A purchase card could be used, if Next accept CCs for loan repayment but its highly likely it will be considered a cash advance and so not benefit from the 0%, have instant fee and interest added. 

Although, it does say on their website that you can use gift cards to pay off your credit account, so it may be an avenue worth exploring.

I would, however, follow the advice from WillPS, and buy a low-value gift card initially, to check whether a gift card will be treated as a cash advance.  Gift cards can be something of a minefield - sometimes they're treated as a standard purchase, sometimes they're treated as a cash advance, and it can be difficult for an ordinary consumer to know how it will be categorised.

If it turns out that gift cards are treated as a standard purchase, then this may be a viable option to consider.

Gift cards purchased from retail locations will not be treated as a cash advance (don't buy them online tho, that probably *will* be treated as a cash advance unless you get lucky) - I've never seen any evidence to the contrary - the merchant uses the same MCC regardless, so all the credit card issuer sees is a charge for the merchant - they don't know what you purchase specifically - £100 worth of bananas from Tesco looks the same as a £100 Next gift card purchased at Tesco. That said, you might as well start with a very small amount and double check with your issuer, and if there's any issues pay it off straight away and try again.

What I was less certain of is whether Next still accept Gift Cards for Next Directory settlement, although it seems pretty definitive from this page that they do:

https://zendesk.next.co.uk/hc/en-gb/articles/4408921074065-Making-a-payment-towards-your-Credit-Account

As always - purchase a small gift card, check with your 0% Purchase card issuer that it's OK, check it clears your balance with Next OK, then buy gift cards for the rest.

You might need to do it in £100 chunks depending on where you purchase the cards from.

Stuart_W

Hi folks. I thought I would jump in here as a Next credit account holder to confirm my experience. 

The Next credit account, unlike virtually all other credit accounts (except for Littlewoods/Very/all shop direct brands), accepts payments by card and they are counted as "purchases" by all credit cards.

Their statement even advertises payment by card, or even gift card (which you could buy from any supermarket) or even wandering in to a next store and paying by card. This is unusual for credit accounts, but I can happily confirm that credit card payment online and gift card payment - online or instore - both work.

All the generic advice you've been given about paying credit with credit would usually be correct, but Next accounts are one of the rare exceptions, like Littlewoods and Very. The credit card companies see your next transaction as a "purchase". Here's a screenshot from the bill. Usually credit accounts will only accept bank transfer or possibly debit card.

WillPS

Stuart_W said:

Hi folks. I thought I would jump in here as a Next credit account holder to confirm my experience. 

The Next credit account, unlike virtually all other credit accounts (except for Littlewoods/Very/all shop direct brands), accepts payments by card and they are counted as "purchases" by all credit cards.

Their statement even advertises payment by card, or even gift card (which you could buy from any supermarket) or even wandering in to a next store and paying by card. This is unusual for credit accounts, but I can happily confirm that credit card payment online and gift card payment - online or instore - both work.

All the generic advice you've been given about paying credit with credit would usually be correct, but Next accounts are one of the rare exceptions, like Littlewoods and Very. The credit card companies see your next transaction as a "purchase". Here's a screenshot from the bill. Usually credit accounts will only accept bank transfer or possibly debit card.

Thank you for confirming the advice I've always read has been a Purchase Credit Card is the optimum choice for Next Directory balances.

DullGreyGuy

Stuart_W said:

The Next credit account, unlike virtually all other credit accounts (except for Littlewoods/Very/all shop direct brands), accepts payments by card and they are counted as "purchases" by all credit cards.

Their statement even advertises payment by card, or even gift card (which you could buy from any supermarket) or even wandering in to a next store and paying by card. This is unusual for credit accounts, but I can happily confirm that credit card payment online and gift card payment - online or instore - both work.

Simply accepting cards doesn't mean it will count as a purchase, as per the thread earlier this week when someone paid off a Creation Loan for an in store purchase by CC and got hit by a cash like transaction fee. 

It is useful to confirm that they arent being identified as cash though, and probably helps that its the merchant themselves thats providing the credit unlike Creation who are a finance house that the merchant has worked with to provide the credit. 

WillPS

DullGreyGuy said:

Stuart_W said:

The Next credit account, unlike virtually all other credit accounts (except for Littlewoods/Very/all shop direct brands), accepts payments by card and they are counted as "purchases" by all credit cards.

Their statement even advertises payment by card, or even gift card (which you could buy from any supermarket) or even wandering in to a next store and paying by card. This is unusual for credit accounts, but I can happily confirm that credit card payment online and gift card payment - online or instore - both work.

Simply accepting cards doesn't mean it will count as a purchase, as per the thread earlier this week when someone paid off a Creation Loan for an in store purchase by CC and got hit by a cash like transaction fee. 

It is useful to confirm that they arent being identified as cash though, and probably helps that its the merchant themselves thats providing the credit unlike Creation who are a finance house that the merchant has worked with to provide the credit. 

Incidentally - Creation were the one credit card issuer I'm aware of who accepted credit card settlement for their credit card bills. It tended to go through as a purchase as I understand too...

DullGreyGuy

WillPS said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Stuart_W said:

The Next credit account, unlike virtually all other credit accounts (except for Littlewoods/Very/all shop direct brands), accepts payments by card and they are counted as "purchases" by all credit cards.

Their statement even advertises payment by card, or even gift card (which you could buy from any supermarket) or even wandering in to a next store and paying by card. This is unusual for credit accounts, but I can happily confirm that credit card payment online and gift card payment - online or instore - both work.

Simply accepting cards doesn't mean it will count as a purchase, as per the thread earlier this week when someone paid off a Creation Loan for an in store purchase by CC and got hit by a cash like transaction fee. 

It is useful to confirm that they arent being identified as cash though, and probably helps that its the merchant themselves thats providing the credit unlike Creation who are a finance house that the merchant has worked with to provide the credit. 

Incidentally - Creation were the one credit card issuer I'm aware of who accepted credit card settlement for their credit card bills. It tended to go through as a purchase as I understand too...

Ultimately it's your card issuer that decides if something is a purchase or a cash advance. Their merchant services company will decide what the MCC should be, though a large firm can probably influence it to a degree, and its the MCC which your card issuer uses, in principle, though for a well known company it could decide based on the MerchantID. 

WillPS

DullGreyGuy said:

WillPS said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Stuart_W said:

The Next credit account, unlike virtually all other credit accounts (except for Littlewoods/Very/all shop direct brands), accepts payments by card and they are counted as "purchases" by all credit cards.

Their statement even advertises payment by card, or even gift card (which you could buy from any supermarket) or even wandering in to a next store and paying by card. This is unusual for credit accounts, but I can happily confirm that credit card payment online and gift card payment - online or instore - both work.

Simply accepting cards doesn't mean it will count as a purchase, as per the thread earlier this week when someone paid off a Creation Loan for an in store purchase by CC and got hit by a cash like transaction fee. 

It is useful to confirm that they arent being identified as cash though, and probably helps that its the merchant themselves thats providing the credit unlike Creation who are a finance house that the merchant has worked with to provide the credit. 

Incidentally - Creation were the one credit card issuer I'm aware of who accepted credit card settlement for their credit card bills. It tended to go through as a purchase as I understand too...

Ultimately it's your card issuer that decides if something is a purchase or a cash advance. Their merchant services company will decide what the MCC should be, though a large firm can probably influence it to a degree, and its the MCC which your card issuer uses, in principle, though for a well known company it could decide based on the MerchantID. 

What you're saying is broadly true - I was just challenging the notion that a "finance house" or Creation specifically would be neccessarily unhappy to accept credit cards payments as a form of settlement towards a debt.

AIUI merchants have a bit more control over their MCC than you imply, and while card issuers can arbitrarily determine which card transactions count as a 'cash advance' - in my experience they always do so on the basis of MCC.

DullGreyGuy

WillPS said:

DullGreyGuy said:

WillPS said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Stuart_W said:

The Next credit account, unlike virtually all other credit accounts (except for Littlewoods/Very/all shop direct brands), accepts payments by card and they are counted as "purchases" by all credit cards.

Their statement even advertises payment by card, or even gift card (which you could buy from any supermarket) or even wandering in to a next store and paying by card. This is unusual for credit accounts, but I can happily confirm that credit card payment online and gift card payment - online or instore - both work.

Simply accepting cards doesn't mean it will count as a purchase, as per the thread earlier this week when someone paid off a Creation Loan for an in store purchase by CC and got hit by a cash like transaction fee. 

It is useful to confirm that they arent being identified as cash though, and probably helps that its the merchant themselves thats providing the credit unlike Creation who are a finance house that the merchant has worked with to provide the credit. 

Incidentally - Creation were the one credit card issuer I'm aware of who accepted credit card settlement for their credit card bills. It tended to go through as a purchase as I understand too...

Ultimately it's your card issuer that decides if something is a purchase or a cash advance. Their merchant services company will decide what the MCC should be, though a large firm can probably influence it to a degree, and its the MCC which your card issuer uses, in principle, though for a well known company it could decide based on the MerchantID. 

What you're saying is broadly true - I was just challenging the notion that a "finance house" or Creation specifically would be neccessarily unhappy to accept credit cards payments as a form of settlement towards a debt.

Never intended to imply that finance companies were unhappy with credit card payments, just that your credit card company may treat it as a cash advance. In referenced case creation were the providers of a retailers buy no, pay later offer rather than being a credit card given they do both plus loans.