Halifax 'Aqua' Card Rip-off 35.9% apr !

Hugeone

I recieved a letter this morning saying they are increasing thier APR on cash and retail purchases to 39.95%!!!!! and an increase in thie min to 3.5% of the balance. I am now going to consider transfering my entire balance to another lower card and cut this up and sending back to thier managing director with a strongly worded letter! Complete rip off do not touch ever! They cliam and i quote 'This change fits in with our responsible lending strategy'!

dhassen

The APR is high, but if you can't get credit anywhere else it's much better than loansharks or you can use them to build your credit score...... they're only a bad thing if you borrow money you can't afford to pay back - which means you can't afford to borrow in the first place.

It's not disgusting or whatever some of the other posters have said. lol if you don't want it, don't get it!

cambsgirl_2

But you dont have to pay a penny as long as you pay your bill in full each month!

System

cambsgirl wrote: »

But you dont have to pay a penny as long as you pay your bill in full each month!

Exactly!

And this is what these kind of cards ('subprime') should be used for. If you repay in full every month and never hold a balance they can be very useful credit rebuilding tools.

I had two sub-prime cards (Vanquis and Capital One) when I had a poor credit rating, both of which had shocking %APRs, and with about 14-15 months of responsible use I was able to obtain mainstream cards again and have access to all the best deals.

These cards come with very low credit limits which are not increased until a pattern of repayments is established, so it's pretty difficult to get in any real trouble with them.

Check out this thread:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=922297

Regards
UNDERGROUND

MYLITTLESISTERLOLA

lou_martin wrote: »

Yesterday I received some junk mail in the post addressed to me inviting me to apply for an 'Aqua' card. I was disgusted to see that their typical interest rate for purchases and balance transfers is a whopping 35.9%!!!!

How on earth do credit card companies get away with charging these extortionate rates?! I think there should be serious limitations for how much they should be able to charge, i'm not that stupid but there are plenty of desperate people out there who would take them up on their offer and then suffer the consequences for years to come.

After reading the small print it turns out the Aqua card is part of SAV Credit Ltd which is issued by Halifax Plc.

I totally agree I had received various junk from Vanquis at a siilar rate, I call them and told them this was unsolicited mail and if the ever sent anything out to me again I would make a formal complaint...at least !!!!!! Turpin had the decency to wear a mask !!!!

latecomer

Pah 39.9% is nothing. I got some junk mail for a loan about 2 years ago which had an APR of approx 170% (I dont remember the exact figure). :eek:

I had to re-read it several times and then checked the worked example to ensure that it was correct. I seriously hope no-one was that desperate.

jd87

The Aqua card is specifically designed for people with a poor credit rating. The bank is taking out a bigger risk by lending to such people, so they charge a higher rate.

PROLIANT

Why are complaining "AGAIN" about high APR cards? The same people who complain are those who carry a platinum MBNA or AMEX in their pocket because they have a good credit rating, if it wasn't for sub prime lenders like Aqua and Capital One etc, guys like me who are unfortunate enough to have a low credit rating would otherwise not carry a credit card at all, the purpose of these cards is to help people get back on top, not extort money nor con them, Provident is a prime example of "extort" with their typical 183% APR, now you can twist about that all you want but considering the standard MBNA APR is 35% I don’t think the sub prime market are in a bad position at all, I have 30% APR on my Capital One card and 26.9% APR on my Monument Visa, lower than some of the "Arty- Fartie" cards on the market!

Toto

I have an aqua card and to be honest it could be 5000% apr for all I care. I don't and I won't pay any interest on it so it makes no difference.

[Deleted User]

Hugeone wrote: »

I recieved a letter this morning saying they are increasing thier APR on cash and retail purchases to 39.95%!!!!! and an increase in thie min to 3.5% of the balance. I am now going to consider transfering my entire balance to another lower card and cut this up and sending back to thier managing director with a strongly worded letter! Complete rip off do not touch ever! They cliam and i quote 'This change fits in with our responsible lending strategy'!

I got this letter today too. This is the second increase within the last 12 months, a whole 10% increase since I first applied for the Aqua card last July. They also keep increasing my available credit, encouraging you to spend more then finding yourself unable to pay back the minimum due to the high interest rate.