Moneysavingexpert.com/Best Cashback cards discussion area

tsman

I have used the Nationwide cashback card for the last couple of months. When I get paid I go onto the site, check the balance and pay it in full - this has worked for my previous cards - no interest, however on the Nationwide card interest has appeared. On checking the notes it states the following :
"Interest is not just based on the balance remaining after your payment. Interest will be charged even if your payment is received before the monthly payment due date unless you make a full payment". What this means in practice is that if you do not pay the exact amount on the paper credit card statement you seem to pay interest on the full amount - ie if you have paid £999 the day before the paper statement of £1000 is issued then you pay a full months interest on £1000 - I do not consider this to be fair practice, and am going to stop using the card

grumbler

tsman wrote:

... if you do not pay the exact amount on the paper credit card statement you seem to pay interest on the full amount - ie if you have paid £999 the day before the paper statement of £1000 is issued then you pay a full months interest on £1000 - I do not consider this to be fair practice, and am going to stop using the card

Think again before doing this. This is a standart practice for ALL credit cards. Let's take Barclaycard (just for example):

Interest free period: Maximum 56 days for purchases if you pay your balance in full and on time.

This means that if you don't pay balance in full, interest is charged on each purchase from the day of transaction. After payment interest is charged on the remaining balance untill paid in full.
Be aware that you don't pay balance in full and on time you lose interest free period for the next month too.

When I get paid I go onto the site, check the balance and pay it in full - this has worked for my previous cards - no interest, however on the Nationwide card interest has appeared. On checking the notes it states the following :
"Interest is not just based on the balance remaining after your payment. Interest will be charged even if your payment is received before the monthly payment due date unless you make a full payment".

I am sure that if you pay full balance on time - before due date - you will not be charged interest. From what you are saying it is not clear that you make payment on time. Also if you pay balance in full, what is your above example with £1000 and £999 for?

jimp_2

Why is there no mention of the citi card? https://www.citicards.co.uk
they give 1% cashback on all purchases,paid yearly, I dont think there are any differential rates ie the rate drops over a certain monthly spend
Like all the rest you have to pay the full balance every month 'coz their interest rates are steep and the credit limit is not generous

grumbler

jimp wrote:

Why is there no mention of the citi card? www.citicards.co.uk
they give 1% cashback on all purchases...

Probably (?) they offered such a card in the past and still have it, but not for new customers. Your link leads to Citi AAdvantage card that pays only some AAdvantage miles. This is not a cashback card and it is listed in Martin's Best Credit Card Rewards article (See full table of 80 credit card rewards ranked in order) ...

RayN_on_me

Got my first ever credit card through the post yesterday morning - thanks for the advice Grumbler!

Fossil_2

Is Egg still @ 1%? Couldn't see rates on their website.

grumbler

Fossil wrote:

Is Egg still @ 1%?

No, it is not. It is just 0.1% now and only for old customers.

Couldn't see rates on their website.

I think they are so ashamed of 0.1% that hide this in T&C and Frequently asked questions:

What is the cash back on my Egg Card?
You earn 0.1% cash back on all purchases. (From 1 September 2005 customers who applied for an Egg Card from 1 October 2001 will no longer earn Cash Back. Customers who applied before 1 October 2001 will continue to earn 0.1% Cash Back on all purchases. Cash Back will be paid each year provided the Cash Back is Ј10 or more. Cash back paid to all customers in September 2005 will be unaffected by these changes)

However, their new EGG MONEY card does pay 'at least 1% cash back on all purchases guaranteed until 2007'.
See also Best Cashback Credit Cards article.

cos_2

ray-ez wrote:

Yeah, does anyone have any positive experiences of Morgan Stanley (cashback) cards? I had a slight issue with a non-cashback MS card. I was tarting them, I had a large balance that i cleared in the last month of the offer period, but they charged me 'interest on interest' (or something) even though i had cleared my entire balance. I didn't bother arguing as i just wanted rid of them (MS)! But I should've done!

This quote from their T&Cs seems to tally with what they did with me:
"Interest charging information: The periods over which interest are charged are as follows:
From Until
Purchases Transaction date Paid in full
Cash withdrawals Transaction date Paid in full
Balance transfers Date debited to your account Paid in full
Credit Card Cheques Date debited to your account Paid in full

Note: If you pay the balance in full, any interest charges for the period from the previous statement to the date of full repayment will be debited the following month."

Does that last line mean that you have to clear your balance, then be sure to clear the 'residue' interest the following month - or what?

Any thoughts,
Cheers,
Ray

I've had this card for a few months, with a Direct Debit to pay the outstanding balance every month. No problems so far, no interest charged, and the cashback balance is accruing nicely to be paid by cheque on the first anniversary.

too_many_details

Hi,

is it time Martin updated the article on the best cashback card?

I have an Egg Money Card (not be confused with the classic Egg Card) that pays 1% cashback until April 2007. Quite a few nice deals as well (10% of Selfridges).

I'm ditching the old Egg Card.

Cheers

Rakesh

grumbler

too_many_details wrote:

...is it time Martin updated the article on the best cashback card? ... I have an Egg Money Card that pays 1% cashback ...

What article do you mean?
The article Best Cashback Credit Cards (also link Cashback in the blue top above) says:

Update Note – Egg’s new shell
Egg Money is a hybrid debit/credit card which offers 1% cashback on all purchases ...