Advantages of credit cards
• Credit cards can work out cheaper than a short term personal loan.
• Credit cards can offer a high degree of loan flexibility i.e you can pay the minimum amount or the whole debt.
• No redemption penalties for early repayment of loan.
• Many credit cards offer an interest free period.
• Credit cards offer online purchasing power.
• The key benefit to credit cards is really the added protection you enjoy when making purchases.
• Many credit cards offer enticing additional benefits such as insurance cover on purchases, cash back, air miles and discounts on holidays.
Disadvantages of credit cards
• Cash withdrawals via ATM can be very expensive.
• Credit cards offer readily available credit which can entice you into purchases you really can’t afford.
• Credit cards do have weaknesses in terms of potential fraud, particularly when used online.
If you have a bad or adverse credit history then this card might be worth a try. However, you really are going to be paying through the nose with an APR of 39.9%.
Typical APR
Typical 39.9% APR variable.
APRs
29.9% to 49.9% APR variable for Classic on purchases.
Credit limits
Initial credit limits range from £250 to £2,000.
Interest rates
Typical interest rate 2.84% (monthly) 39.94% (annually) for purchases and 3.22% (monthly) 46.19% (annually) for cash and cheques.
Interest calculation
Interest is generally charged from the date of all transactions or other amounts charged to your account, until repayment in full. Interest is charged on the daily outstanding balance on your account and debited to your account at the end of each statement period. At statement date, we will add the interest we charge to the outstanding balance on your account. This means that you will generally pay interest on interest.
Interest free period
Up to 56 days interest free on purchase transactions only, where you have paid off two or more consecutive current statement balances in full and on time.
Minimum monthly repayments
Gold 3% of your balance or £10 whichever is the greater.
Classic 5% of your balance or £5 whichever is the greater.
Frequency and method
Choose to make more than one payment a month by Direct Debit, by cash or cheque over the counter at a bank or post office, by Debit Card over the phone or post. The reverse of your statement shows full details.
Allocation of payments
Payments you make will be applied in the following order:
Interest, Fees, Default charges;
Balance transfers and Promotional rates;
Purchase transactions;
Cash/Cheque transactions.
Annual fee
There is no annual fee.
Charges
Cash/Cheque advance fee of 2.5% or £2.50, whichever is the greater. Foreign transaction fee of 2.75% of the amount of any non-sterling transaction made abroad.
Default charges
Late payment and over limit fees are £12.
Returned payment fee of £12 if a Direct Debit or cheque is not honoured.
Closed Branch Advice Voucher is a piece of paper or receipt generated by BACS when a payment instruction is recognised as being destined for a closed sorting code ( i.e with an identified redirection in place). The voucher is forwarded to the originator through their Bank and shows the new details that should be used for future payments.
This is a very handy service that assists customers when transferring their Bank/Building Society accounts. It does this by electronically transferring Direct Debit and Standing Order information to the organisation your switching over to. This can also be known as the rather long winded Acronym ToDDaSO.
For students looking for credit you may want to take a look at the Capital One Classic Visa Card.
• No Annual Fee.
• Between £200 and £2,500 in spending power.
• Credit limit increase - simply use your card, stay within your credit limit and make your payments on time and we increase your initial credit limit on your 4th statement.
• A FREE choice of card design.
• Spread your payments.
• Typical 34.9% APR variable.
As always Credit Card Cool recommend caution to all students taking on debt via credit cards. Be weary and be sensible.
Credit Card Cool award a *** ranking out of a potential ***** star ranking for this Credit Card.
