Changing Credit Card

N

naidster

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Hi there

I am thinking about changing my credit card from AIB to MNBA as the interest rates are cheaper and also for the 6 months interest free. Will i have to pay the 40euro goverment charge again if i change now or should i wait until april?
 
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If you switch accounts after 2 April 2005 you should pay the stamp duty to old Bank/Card Issuer on closing the account. It will be requested in your final statement. Your old Bank/Card Issuer will then issue you with a Letter of Closure. This letter will confirm that you have paid the stamp duty for the period in question. You should present this letter to your new Bank/Card Issuer, who will not bill you for stamp duty for that period.
 
Ulster bank offer a 0% APR on balance transfers & purchases for 9 months if that's any good to you though their rate thereafter is higher than MBNA. [broken link removed]
 
I've just done the switch-over from AIB to Ulster Bank credit card. If you qualify for the ulster bank zinc card, the rate for purchases is 12.9% which is better than MBNA at 13.9%

This morning I called AIB to find out my final balance before I close the AIB card. When I mentioned that I would be closing the account the customer rep asked me did I know what rate I would be paying after the 9 months and was i aware of any hidden/extra/annual charges etc.
She then tried her best to sell me a different card. I said I would only stay with them if they would give me an interest rate on my balance for 6 months (after all they are offering that to new customers) but she said they wouldn't do this for existing cutsomers - of course that's partly how they manage to make approx 1 billion euros profit every year!
 
hullabaloo said:
I've just done the switch-over from AIB to Ulster Bank credit card. If you qualify for the ulster bank zinc card, the rate for purchases is 12.9% which is better than MBNA at 13.9%
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MBNA gold has a 10.9% APR and Permanent tsb has an APR of 9.9% on its Ice card ( need to be earning 25K to apply )
 
I'll probably be slated for pointing this out again but the ideal way to use a credit card is to clear the balance each month before interest charges kick in thereby rendering the rate charged irrelevant. Credit cards are generally a very expensive and inappropriate form of medium/long term borrowing.
 
If you have a big balance maybe you should clear it with a load and be more prudent in future with paying it off.
 
I've had credit cards with most of the banks here. My favourite is MBNA. I ring them up every 6 months or so and ask for a reduction in interest rate and they always give it to me. Think i stated on +14% with them and now have it at 11%. None of the others would budge on their rates at all and never even asked why i closed my credit cards accounts with them. Bring on more competition!!
 
If you are habitually keeping your balance unpaid at 11%-14% for months at a time then no wonder some credit card providers are eager to keep your business!
 
ClubMan said:
I'll probably be slated for pointing this out again but the ideal way to use a credit card is to clear the balance each month before interest charges kick in thereby rendering the rate charged irrelevant. Credit cards are generally a very expensive and inappropriate form of medium/long term borrowing.
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I would agree with you Clubman.
Pay the credit card off in full every month.

I have an MBNA Card myself and thats what I am intending to do from this month on.
 
AFAIK MBNA introductory balance transfer rates for irish customers are 1.9% for the first 6 mths and not free as original poster thinks. AIB offer 0% on balance transfers for 6 months.
 
In an ideal world, yes I agree. But things happen and credit card balances increase. In my experience, banks were unwilling to allow me amalgamate my credit card balance elsewhere ontol a personal loan with them. 'Why should we take on someone else's debt' is what I've been told over the phone on several occasions. Recently I've been topping up personal loans and reducing credit card debt accordingly but it takes time and i don't know how many more 'home improvements' I can come up with for the bank. In the meantime, it pays to shop around for the best interest rate for the credit cards.
 
bb12 said:
In an ideal world, yes I agree. But things happen and credit card balances increase.
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Things don't just happen. The card holder is the one that runs up the balance. Using a CC for ahything other than cashflow control and short term credit (ideally before interest charges kick in) is not very prudent. Anybody who finds themselves habitually running up outstanding CC balances should either address the underlying spending habits that cause this situation to arise or get rid of the card(s). Or both.
 
I have had a credit card for about 7 years ago now and up to December 2005 paid a total of well under €5 interest over that period. However I had a lot of very heavy expenses from late December until Early January. for personal reasons I have seperated my Childrens vhi/bupa from my policy and pay one sum annually to both companies. I had a family wedding in late December. dcu campus also required their 2nd semester scud of over €1700. all in all I needed just over €3000 over about 10 days.Just was not possible to meet all those whammies without having to resort to credit card. However what I like about mbna is that you can pay off what you can afford in any post office by just bringing in your card and paying off any amount you like as often as you can. you dont have to wait for the bill or statement. I am now down to just over €500 outstanding and it will be clear before end of month.. I know I will pay interest but sometimes its just not possible to keep clear, and thats from someone who always kept it clear. Those mbna cheques are handy, just keep an eye on them and pre load if possible.
 
Yes - that's why I specifically mentioned people habitually incurring interest charges. Doing it the odd time is no harm if it's part of a well thought out cashflow management strategy. And there's no harm in paying (in the form of interest charges) for such flexibility as long as there isn't a more cost effective alternative. The problem is the many people who can't manage their credit card spending and run up and maintain large credit card balances and use it as a medium/long term form of credit - not those who sometimes incur relatively small interest charges on outstanding balances which are cleared fairly quickly.
 
But even if you only incur interest charges the odd time, then surely the rate is relevant?

If all other things are held equal, the lower interest rate the better.
 
CC the interest rate is important of course. I should have been clearer. I didnt need the credit card for the whole €3000 (all those bills were expected, I just didn't have enough time to get it all gathered ) around €900 on the credit card and it didnt seem worth the hassle of applying for a loan for this amount when I knew I could clear it the end of the month. Normally I wouldn't dream of paying credit card company's anything but I thought CM summed it pretty well.
 
Two friends of mine got MBNA to come down to 10.9% from 14.9% and 18+% respectively). The first friend had to make one phone call to MBNA to avail of the lower rate, the second had to make two phone calls. Given the amount of easy money they were making out of the second person I'm not too surprised it took two phone calls (which reminds me he still owes me a pint for the advice).

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?p=91956#post91956

For anyone carrying any debt on their MBNA card, this phone call should be their first step. Once they realise how easy it is to save money they may want to change cards altogether.

MBNA must love me.


Murt
 
Over a year ago I had a high balance on my MBNA credit card (easy access to money in a new house that needed everything!).

I called them and they reduced my rate over the phone from 14.9% to 11.9%. They said they couldn't go any lower as it was a Platinium card and there was a very comprehensive travel insurance with it? (once the holiday/tickets are paid for with the card).

They also advised that I could avail of their transfer balance facility. Basically I cleared the credit card using my overdraft, then I negotiated a 6 month loan with them whereby they transfered the same amount into my current account at a rate of 4.9%. Only snag was I had to repay the loan in six months - if I didn't I could do the same thing again with my overdraft. I think that is the cheapest finance you can get outside a mortgage.

Cleared the credit card and have used the facility since as a cheap source of credit - also the cash advance fee does not apply.

By the way does anyone know just how comprehensive the travel insurance is with an MBNA Palatinium card?
 
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