help with halifax one card

se_yp

hi,

ive got a halifax one credit card. ive been using it for 5 months now and have always paid off my credit immediately. never missed a payment, never withdrawed cash or anything. i usually pay online before my statement even reaches me by post.

recently i purchased a item on 03 MAR 08 using my card. however a few days later (approx 10 MAR 08) i checked my online statement and it said i need to get my minimum payment of £5.00 paid by 1 APRIL 08. i couldnt understand this part. arent i suppose to get about 59days to pay it off? either way i paid it off anyway so ive still paid on time. (quote from halifax site - Interest Free Period - Up to 59 Days for Purchases Only)

what strikes me now is that looking at my online statement it says "" 07 MAR - INTEREST CHARGE - £0.50.

so i have been charged interest of 50p of some sort but not sure why? is it some sort of standard charge becuase ths has never happen to me before in the last 5 months of use.

if somebody could provide some insight into this id be very grateful.

michilin27

is it possible your last payment didnt arrive before the due date?

what is it you have purchased this month?

se_yp

07-Feb………TRAVEL INSURANCE………………..…38.99
09-Feb………B365………………………………………10
08-Feb………OPTICIAN.................………………..…264.75
09-Feb………CASH ADVANCE FEE………………..…0.25
12-Feb………PAYMENT REC'D - THANK YOU….…-10
20-Feb………PAYMENT REC'D - THANK YOU…….-303.99
28-Feb………MOTOR INSURANCE .……………...…268.92
04-Mar………PAYMENT REC'D - THANK YOU.……-268.92
03-Mar………EBUYER (UK) LTD……………………...20.06
07-Mar………INTEREST CHARGE…………………....0.5

hi, above is a recent statment of mine. as you can see i have paid of any debt within 10days (highligthed in red). I also noticed i have been charged some sort of cash advance fee as well and the interest charge.

can anybody advise on these charges. thanks

NickX

I think the problem here stems from the item marked B365 for £10.

What does this refer to ?

Reason being that it has been treated as a Cash Advance. There is a Cash advance fee of 2.5% resulting in the £0.25 charge, and you have been charged interest on this £10 from the Transaction Date.

If you can let us have some more details on what B365 refers to, we can advice further.

YorkshireBoy

NickX wrote: »

There is a Cash advance fee of 2.5% resulting in the £0.25 charge...

The current 'One' card has a 3% (min £3) cash advance fee though Nick, so if the same terms apply to the OP's card the charge for a £10 cash withdrawal would have been the £3 minimum.

B365 could be http://www.bet365.com/ and therefore a gambling transaction.

NickX

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

The current 'One' card has a 3% (min £3) cash advance fee though Nick, so if the same terms apply to the OP's card the charge for a £10 cash withdrawal would have been the £3 minimum.

B365 could be http://www.bet365.com/ and therefore a gambling transaction.

Well if B365 is a gambling transaction, then chances are that it is treated as a Cash Advance which would cause the confusion.

I didn't know about the 3% (min £3) cash advance fee though, this doesn't make sense with the statement. A £3 charge for a £10 transaction is robbery though, 30% charge - just shows why best advice is always to avoid Cash Advance Transactions, they are never value for money.

se_yp

b365 = bet365

yep. u guessed it. im not a gambling addict or anything it was just a one off thing. i basically opened a account at bet365 and deposited "£10 into that account"

a few days later luck went my way and after winning a few quid i decided to withdraw £10 out of my bet365 account and put it back onto my card. hence the payment of £10 made onto the card on 12 feb 07. if thats the reason then that explains the cash advance fee,

but im still not sure about the interest charge. 1st time its ever happened. i would ring halifax although i dont want them to fob me off with a silly story like "its a standard charge sir". if theyll be charging me 50p every month i may as well close the account and get a card elsewhere. bit drastic i know but i dont see why i should pay any interest if im always paying on time.

NickX

se_yp wrote: »

but im still not sure about the interest charge. 1st time its ever happened.

Yep, its down to the gambling transaction.

It is normal practice to be charged interest on such transactions from the transaction date (i.e. no 59 day interest free period).

If you pay the card off in full (possibly for 2 consecutive months) this should stop the interest accruing any further.

It sounds like you were lucky not to have got a £3 Cash advance fee, so perhaps not so unlucky on this one.

se_yp

hmm. wasnt aware of that. thanks

so how do i avoid these type of transactions. am i right in guessing that any site which processes the payment as a cash one (if you get what i mean) i will be charged?


eg,

sites which use a account whereby money can be deposited and withdrawn. does paypal fall under this as well?

NickX

se_yp wrote: »

hmm. wasnt aware of that. thanks

so how do i avoid these type of transactions. am i right in guessing that any site which processes the payment as a cash one (if you get what i mean) i will be charged?

Yes, there is a different merchant code which tells the Credit Card company that the transaction is a "Cash Advance" rather than a standard purchase. Recently more and more transactions are getting treated like this.

You could approach your card company and request a list of transaction types that would be treated as "Cash Advances". For example, there are recent reports that gift vouchers could be treated this way aswell although generally it is thought that if the gift vouchers were purchased with some other tangible goods, then the systems would not be able to single out the vouchers as "Cash Advances". It is also possible that sending funds to a paypal account could be treated in the same way.

missyg_3

I have a separate query but same card.

I've just set up my Direct Debit for minimum payment, have to admit it's the first time I've set up DD payments. Sorry for such a newbie question.

Anyway the next due date is 9 June, but the statement says the Direct Debit date is also 9 June? As it is coming out of a different bank, wouldn't they need to set it up to come out a few days earlier so it has time to clear? Is this normal?

When I do a manual payment via internet baking I do them at least 5 working days in advance to be on the safe side - they never arrive same day.

Thanks