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  • CopperPlate_2
    CopperPlate_2 Posts: 1,508 Forumite
    Bargainboy, Martin is referring to the new Halifax/Bank of Scotland cashback cards that are available:

    http://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/cashback_3.asp

    http://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/cashback_4.asp

    http://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/cashback_2.asp

    http://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/cashback_1.asp

    There are small differences, I believe, in these other than the obvious one where some cards offer 1% CB on everything and a 10% rebate, and the other card that offers 2% CB on food and fuel shopping and 0.5% on all other spending.

    Have a look - it might be worth cancelling your current card - or at least phoning Halifax to see if you can apply for one of the above as a current customer, etc.

    I held the Halifax Platinum Cashback card until they reduced the CB rate from 1% down to 0.5% and left them. I recall they cut the rate again down to 0.25% so you obviously have had this card for a while.

    If it was me, I'd ditch it and take out one of the new cards which appear to offer far superior deals to your current offering. Typical though - never tell you about a better deal do they!?
  • verloren
    verloren Posts: 19
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
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    dov wrote: »
    eker - you still get the rebate for all the money from 0 to £3500 but only if you spend >£2400, or more accurately you generate >=£12 of cashback. So they should just add at end 'No cashback if rebate < £12' or something to that effect.

    I don't know if this is right - the t&c say that "No rebate payment will be made..." It's not clear from that whether you don't earn any cashback (as you suggest) or whether you earn it, but they won't actually send you a check (or however they do it) until you've got above £12.

    Just to confuse things further, the website currently says:
    After the first three months you’ll earn up to 1.5% cashback, depending on how much you spend on the card. Spend under £3,500 in the year and earn 0.5% cashback. Spend between £2,501 to £10,000 and earn 1% cashback. Spend over £10,001 in the year and earn 1.5% cashback.
    So first there's a discrepancy between £3,500 and £2,501. There's also no mention of marginal rates - a perfectly straightforward reading of this says that if I spend, say £5,000 in the year I'll make 1% cashback on all of my spending. I don't believe that's how it works, but it's certainly how it reads.
  • eker
    eker Posts: 8 Forumite
    It's a good question, verloren. Unfortunately the answer is that the sub-£12 rebate amount would be forfeited permanently - American Express have confirmed this to me when I recently asked them for clarification.

    Regarding the wording, the discrepancy appears to have now been corrected on the American Express website - I can't see any mention of "£2,501", nor did I notice this figure when I originally looked (a couple of months ago).

    The Key Features currently reads, "After the first three months you’ll earn up to 1.5% cashback, depending on how much you spend on the card. Spend under £3,500 in the year and earn 0.5% cashback. Spend between £3,501 to £10,000 and earn 1% cashback. Spend over £10,001 in the year and earn 1.5% cashback."

    I agree that this leaves the [false] impression that, for your example of £5,000 spending, you'd get 1% on the whole £5,000, which is, of course, not the case.

    However, in their defence, there is a tiny "1" superscript that accompanies the statement, referring the reader to a note below that reads:

    "No rebate is payable in any month in which the minimum payment is not received by the due date. No rebate is payable on cash withdrawals, interest, fees, balance transfers, amounts subsequently re-credited to your account due to refunds, or expenditure in any one month exceeding the amount of your Credit Limit. No rebate is payable if you end the agreement before the relevant Card Anniversary date. A rebate of 5% will be payable to you by us on all transactions made in the first 3 months up to £4000 and applied at the same time as any annual rebate. An annual rebate on the aggregate amount of all transactions (other than the exclusions stated above and any introductory offer) will be payable to you by us and calculated at the following rates, 0.5% for aggregate amounts up to £3,500; and 1% for aggregate amounts from £3,501 to £10,000; and 1.5% for aggregate amounts in excess of £10,001. No rebate payment will be made if, in the 12 months preceding your Card Anniversary Date, the amount of rebate earned totals less than £12."

    This explanatory note is much clearer about the tiered rates.
    Eking out the cards we are dealt :)
  • verloren
    verloren Posts: 19
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    Great clarification, eker, thanks. I'd still criticize American Express for the wording in the footnote though - they seem to be relying on the word 'aggregate' to help explain things, but as it means 'total' in this context it's not that helpful ("1% for total amounts from £3,501 to £10,000" is no clearer, imho).

    I think the credit card companies' desire to make things complicated (because complicated = fees) does let them down here; they're trying to give us money (sort of) and they still make it tricky! The Halifax card is similar, offering 1% cashback plus a bonus after the 13th month. That seems clear enough, until you try to work out if they just mean for the first year, whether it's a rolling year or a calendar one, if it's a calendar one does it run Jan-Jan or start date to start date, etc.

    Finally (already!) the typo has been fixed, but I promise I didn't imagine it! Oh, and lest anyone think I'm somehow biased against either institution, I have the US version of the Amex card, and a Halifax bank account :)
  • ler01kjh
    ler01kjh Posts: 164 Forumite
    Hi,
    I currently use the Nationwide credit/debit card abroad, which is great for no weighting on the exchange rate, no fees etc., but they removed the cashback awards.

    Is there any other card which offers the same, but with cashback too?
  • Hi all, I am interested in the AMEX platinum. I applied for this a few months ago and it was rejected. I have moved house in the last year and wasn't on the electoral roll at the time so I was wondering if this affected it. I have signed up for the electoral roll today.

    I've had an AMEX corporate card with work for over 4 years and in that time I'm afraid I've made 2 late payments a few years ago simply through forgetting. Do you think this will prevent me getting accepted even though I'm now on the electoral register.

    I've had another cc for years and no late payments. Earn £25 000 and bought a flat last year. No mortgage defaults or other debts except a student loan which I'm still a below the repayment threshold for. Got an overdraft facility at my current account which I don't use.

    It would be really good for me if I could get it because I use AMEX at work to pay for my expenses which are several thousand a year, so I could just use the cashback one instead and get some kind of return. Do you think it's worth reapplying?
  • Llyllyll
    Llyllyll Posts: 870 Forumite
    dov wrote: »
    eker - you still get the rebate for all the money from 0 to £3500 but only if you spend >£2400, or more accurately you generate >=£12 of cashback. So they should just add at end 'No cashback if rebate < £12' or something to that effect.


    I've had this confirmed as well (asked before I found this thread).

    Looks like I'll be cancelling my card soon then as I only had it for the introductory offer (last year). I'll never get near spending £2400 with only 3 months of the year left...
  • Picasso7
    Picasso7 Posts: 4,038
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    I moved from the Amex Plat to the Shell CitiCard as that gave me far more cashback. Rang Amex to cancel the card (thinking that I might reapply for it in a year or so to get the 5% introductory offer). Amex asked why I was cancelling, I said I'd got a better offer and they immediately offered me 3 months at 3% cashback for everything. Small print implies I'd lose some of it if I cancelled the card after the 3 months and before getting the annual cashback, but that seems to be the only possible pitfall.
  • Hi guys, I've been using the forums and site for months now and have saved a packet, but have never posted before. I'd really like to thank all off you who post and contribute to the site! :T

    I'm a student in a gap year and plan to go traveling through South East Asia, Austrailia, New Zealand and Fiji. However this does cost quite a lot, around £6000 in total. I have savings, but feel it might be better to pay the cost with a credit card, not all in one go but over the course of a couple of months, paying off the debt as it accumulates every month.

    I am booking with a gap year travel company, STA Travel, and think that with the current circumstances a credit card would protect me financially if anything were to happen with the company. I also need a credit card to take with me in case of emergancies but it does not have to be the same card I might use to pay for my travels.

    I could not find anything in the forums regarding this, so just wondered if anyone could advise me and people in a similar situation about funding my adventures with a card.

    What the best card would be to pay off £6000 in around 4 months?
    And what would the best card be to take with me abroad?

    Thanks very much! and sorry this is such an essay! :cheesy:

    Slightly
  • Llyllyll
    Llyllyll Posts: 870 Forumite
    Llyllyll wrote: »
    I've had this confirmed as well (asked before I found this thread).

    Looks like I'll be cancelling my card soon then as I only had it for the introductory offer (last year). I'll never get near spending £2400 with only 3 months of the year left...


    For info, just phoned to cancel card (Amex Platinum cashback) and close the account because of this change in T&C and was put through to 'cancellations'.

    They firstly just tried to convince me to keep the card as a backup then when I reiterated that I wanted to close the account I was offered £20 credit on my account for 'being a valued customer and managing my account well.'

    So for now I will keep it.;)
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