Hi all
Being somewhat old fashioned, credit is not in my life plan (except morgage).
But I like the idea of the purchase insurance associated. If I am to take on a credit card solely for security purposes, intending to pay off the debt before interest is due, is there a card that the group would recommend please?
Thanks
Phil
Quite a few cards allow you to colled "points" to be used as a discount somewhere. eg M&S and John Lewis. There is a BT card which gives a discount on your phone bill and there are a number of charity cards where the 'points' collected are paid to the nominating charity.
I doubt if there is much to choose between the cards otherwise.
In message , TheScullster writes
Not really:-)
I have B. card and a Trustcard from LloydsTSB.
They both allow direct debit settlement so there is no risk of interest.
I use one for business expenses and the other for personal.
I think Lloyds are now pushing a tie-up with AMEX to offer air miles as a spending inducement.
I tried searching for a card with all the usual bells and whistles but giving cash back instead of Nectar points etc. but decided to stick where I am.
regards
The right way to use a credit card. We have one for internet purchases with a low credit limit, and resist any attempt they might make to increase it.
A cashback card is generally a good deal. The way to work it is to buy everything on the credit card and pay the balance off at the end of the month - so you have some level of protection on everything you buy and you get a minor cash flow advantage of paying your bills a few days/weeks in arrears. We have recently changed to the Capital One credit card as this seemed to be the best long term cash back deal around (apart from Amex who pay more cashback but gouge the retailers so they are not popular nor universally acepted). As always, I am not a financial adviser so please check places like Which? and money saving sites. e.g.
entire operation has been sold to Barclaycard. For ex-Egg customers the 1% cashback continues. A quick look at their website indicates they offer a similar product to new customers.
Peter Crosland
In message , TheScullster wrote
I use my credit card for all types of purchases and pay off the bill in full each month. My card pays back 0.5% of what I spend (historic terms and conditions and not available to new applicants)
If you are going to pay off completely every month you probably want one with the best bonus deals such as money back (rare) or shopping vouchers (club-card points etc.) rather than the lowest rate of interest or best rates on transferred debts.
Companies such as American Express have some money back deals but be aware they are not as universally accepted as they would have you believe. Possibly stick with the main two (branded) cards.
Take a look at
You might want to google Visa chargeback which helps with smaller amounts.
True but it helps in case some bugger gets hold of your details.
In message , Peter Crosland wrote
I have a cashback Barclaycard but only as a result of the card company being taken over by them. The terms and conditions, with respect to the cash-back, have changed - for the worse - since they took over.
My experience with Egg in general that they offer high headline rates of interest to attract new custom and then slash that rate to below the competition when you have signed up. Egg is not a company that I would recommend.
I used to have a Lloyds TSB card but hardly used it. When I did I got hit by interest although I had Direct Debit set up. Turned out that the DD was stopped if the card was unused for a year for "security". I rather suspected other wise and cancelled the card - just use the Nationwide one now.
They'll also wriggle out of it if the total is >£100 but made up of lesser amount, so buying parts for a computer might come to several hundred pounds but only the display will qualify.
Some cards are Visa based, others use Mastercard.
My preference is to use online banking to schedule the payment, that way there is no direct link between my bank account and my credit card.
It is nice if you can arrange for monthly due date to be a few days after any regular income is paid into you account.
Nationwide used to be very reasonable for foreign purchases. They also have a UK based call centre.
Avoid MBNA - though they did send me my first mobile phone FOC.
I think that some Visa based debit cards already offer some form of online purchase protection.
Shouldn't matter. Fraud is the card company's problem not the customer's.
It's not really a wriggle. The law states the item has to be worth more than £100. It also helps if you only pay for part of an item worth more than £100 on the credit card.
A good credit card company will often help below the threshold IME.
One further thought. I never let anyone have a continuing authority on my credit cards. They are far more difficult to cancel than a direct debit.
Apart from My Capital One Card I had an Egg card which was recently taken over by Barclaycard. Looks like I was not the only one whose account got screwed up by Barclaycard.
isn't that part of the problem? The customer should help to minimise fraud.
That is harder to do than it sounds when the credit card company asks you impossible to answer security questions, and will honour reruns of historic authorised one-time transactions up to six years later!
Best one I have ever been asked was "name a hotel in Chester that you stayed in last year". The "correct" answer was Lumley Castle, near Durham. It came up as "Chester le Street" on their screen (truncated).
"Name a road that connects to your street" wasn't much better. They didn't like A19 as an answer. Minor roads here do not have names.
With the level of fraud on credit cards being what it is I would never link a CC via variable direct debit to a bank account. Something appears on your CC and unless you check the statement quickly and put things into dispute the money whizzes out of your account. I find you get far more response from companies if they think you owe them money rather than letting the have it then trying to claw it back from them.
If the OP really is going to pay off the balance in full every month going for a card with the best kickbacks (cash back etc) rather than lowest interest or interest free balance transfer period is the way to go.
I have cards from Visa and Mastercard. Mastercard has never given me any trouble. The automatic fraud detection on my Visa has been triggered several times, only one has been genuine. The others have been triggered either by an "out of the normal transaction" or by the system itself.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.