Changing Cr Card looking for List of Options

I

IrishGunner

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My credit card is up soon & at the mo with Ulster Bank but want to check what options the others offer

I know there is a list in the Indo of rates and % charge on purchases for first 6mths etc

Is there anywhere on the web where it compares all the major credit cards?
 
The best buys list also contains some useful info. Ideally the rate charged on outstanding balances should be of academic interest if you manage things so that you clear your balance before interest charges accrue and simply use the credit card as a cashflow management mechanism rather than a source of longer term credit. If you need longer term credit than the interest free period between purchase and billing then you should get a personal loan or some cheaper source of money.
 
One thing I will say is this: it's a good thing if you have a credit card where you can monitor your balance online. AFAIK, you need to have a current account with the card provider (except maybe MBNA???) in order to do this. I recently closed my BoI CC account and transferred to AIB (where I have my current a/c). I find that is also useful to be able to make transfers to your CC account quicker than you can if your current account is with a different financial institution than you CC provider.

Clubman:

I would agree of course that a CC should not be used as a source of medium or long term credit. But I don't know if there are necessarily better options for short (say, 1-6 months) term credit for two reasons.

1. The lower CC interest rates (e.g. AIB Platinum, One Direct Gold, ptsb ICE) are not far off overdraft rates. I don't know if you can arrange a personal loan for such a short period of time-but if you can, early repayment can go down as a 'black mark' on your ICB record?

2. Even overdrafts might be more expensive. Most have a €20 arrangement fee on top of the interest payable.



Anyway, I wouldn't advise anyone to run up balances on their credit cards, especially the 'standard' ones with higher rates. But sometimes I don't pay off the entire balance by the due date, I find this to be the case after Christmas, and maybe after the summer holidays. I've never got myself into any difficulties this was, and haven't paid a fortune (in € as opposed to %) in interest. But obviously you need to be disciplined in order to make sure that you don't allow the balance to snowball, and as such, this isn't a good idea for everyone.
 
Just checked out the best buys list and the TSB Ice card looks the best and I bank with them so it may make it easier

I clear my balance each month so no trouble there. However I am going to SA on a hol in the New Year so have to dig deep to see if there is any specials on purchases for the first 6 months.

Are all cards chip and pin now ?
 
Just to clarify, I closed my AIB account a few years ago but kept my CC with them, but I do have online access to my CC account. I can also use my EBS account online to pay the CC bill to AIB. As mentioned online access is very handy and imho essential in case someone gets a hold of your details. At least this way you can check frequently for any excess/dodgy payments.
 
I have an MBNA World Vision card. Everytime you buy something, a certain percentage goes to World Vision (they don't say how much). I think it's a convenient way to donate to charity without actually having to do anything except get the card in the first place.
 
elcato said:
Just to clarify, I closed my AIB account a few years ago but kept my CC with them, but I do have online access to my CC account.
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When I closed my BoI current a/c, I was still able to access my BoI CC online. But when I closed the standard CC account and changed to a Gold CC (both BoI cards), I lost access (i.e. they can't deny you access while the card is still active, but once you close it, you can't add your new BoI CC account as you don't have access to online banking anymore anymore). That was my experience anyway.
 
And if you are with Ulster Bank you can't check your credit card online at all. Grrrr.
 
Does anybody have experience with charge cards...ie amex or dinersclub ?

If you payoff your balance every month are these a better option ?
 
alligator said:
Does anybody have experience with charge cards...ie amex or dinersclub ?

If you payoff your balance every month are these a better option ?
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Amex Blue Card gives you 1% cashback - which is a fantastic facility. It's not quite as widely accepted as Visa/MC, mind you. I wouldn't have it as my only card, but it's defintely my preferred card.
 
RainyDay said:
Amex Blue Card gives you 1% cashback - which is a fantastic facility. It's not quite as widely accepted as Visa/MC, mind you. I wouldn't have it as my only card, but it's defintely my preferred card.
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Can you tell me the forex margin and if any annual fees are applied ?

thanks
 
CCOVICH says

1. The lower CC interest rates (e.g. AIB Platinum, One Direct Gold, ptsb ICE) are not far off overdraft rates. I don't know if you can arrange a personal loan for such a short period of time-but if you can, early repayment can go down as a 'black mark' on your ICB record?

What do you mean? How can early repayment of any type of loan go down as a black mark. Surely you are entitled to get a settlement figure for any loan and pay it off in full which would then be recorded as such with ICB - how can that be regarded as a " negative " in the context of applying for future credit facilities?
 

AFAIK, it can count as a 'black mark', strange as that may seem. I was on a credit analysis course one time, and early repayment was a 'negative' in the scoring system used by a major bank. One reason is that it reduces the interest the bank earns on the loan, and secondly (rather preversly if you ask me), it may indicate that you were under pressure at the time, and used excess funds to pay the loan off because you knew your future prospects weren't too good (loss of earnings etc.)
 
A more likely answer is that early payment is indeed a black (or maybe even grey) mark from the bank's POV, as they earn less revenue on your loan.
 
ubiquitous said:
That doesn't really sound credible.
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Fair enough. I'm presenting this as something I learned as an auditor in a Big 4 firm on an in house training course for the Financial Services group. If someone has facts that prove it's incorrect or otherwise, I'd like to hear them. But from my experience in financial services, banks hate prepayments.
 

I'm not doubting your bona fide experiences CCOVICH but like ubiquitous I find it bizarre that a financial institution would look adversely on a credit application because of prepayments on previous credit facilities. It's even more bizarre that NIB who are members of ICB promote their offset mortgage by telling us "Pay off your Home Loan early and save money in interest charges +++ ". Irony personified I would say.
 
I didn't think ICB did any credit scoring anyway, don't they just record accounts opened/closed, payment history, missed payments etc.?
 
Yes - ICB don't calculate credit scores they just record credit histories and lenders who access these records draw their own conclusions about credit worthiness and scoring.
 

I agree that NIB (and other banks) promoting offset mortgages is ironic indeed (if what I have said is to be believed), and I don't have an answer/opinion (at the moment) on their rationale for doing it. Maybe they make as much off having your funds (ability to lend more to others?), maybe they see it as a way to attract new business, maybe they feel they can sell you something else when you have your morgage paid off???? I'm afraid I don't have an answer to that that I can stand over.

But I have also seen analyst reports on lenders that have referred to the level of 'prepayment risk' facing certain lenders as being a negative factor on future prospects etc.

So bizaare as it may seem, it is in fact a reality (i.e. that the prospects of receiving a prepayment can lower the attractiveness of a potential borrower).
 
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