New card offering 15 months 0% on spending
Tesco has revamped its Clubcard credit card to claim top spot in the credit card tables.
Having recently had a little boy, I can honestly say that my spending has gone a bit haywire of late. Whether it’s baby milk, nappies, dummies or new clothes, there’s never any shortage of things for me to be chucking cash at.
If you’re in a similar situation, with some big spending on the horizon, then it makes sense to snap up a card which offers 0% interest on your purchases for an extended period of time. That way you can spread out your payments, paying off the debt in stages without having to worry about interest mounting up.
15 months free from interest
Over the past couple of years, Tesco has been a leading player in the purchase credit card market with its Clubcard credit card. It was the first to move to a full year of 0% interest, then moved to 13 months once other providers started to match the offer.
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However, since February it has taken a backseat to Marks & Spencer, who launched an amazing offer of 15 months interest-free purchases on the Marks & Spencer MasterCard.
Now however, Tesco has risen to the challenge, upping its own offer to match that of Marks & Spencer.
The top ten purchase cards
So now we have a new card sharing top spot in the best buy tables. Let’s take a look at the ten cards which offer the longest 0% periods on purchases.
|
Card |
0% period |
|
15 months |
|
|
15 months |
|
|
13 months* |
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13 months* |
|
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12 months |
|
|
12 months |
|
|
12 months |
|
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10 months |
|
|
9 months |
|
|
9 months* |
*For current account holders.
As you can see, six different providers offer cards of at least 12 months free from interest. So if you have some sizeable spending coming up, and would like to spread the payments, you have a fantastic range of options at the moment.
More than just a 0% card
I have had the Tesco Clubcard credit card for a couple of years now, so my 0% period has long since expired. However, I haven’t moved to another card because I believe I’m still getting great value from the Tesco card. That’s because it’s far more than just a 0% card.
With the Tesco Clubcard credit card, the spending you do – no matter where you do it – helps you to accrue Clubcard points. For every £4 you spend, you receive one Clubcard point.
For dedicated Clubcard point collectors like me, this is a fantastic deal. I do all of my shopping in Tesco anyway, but thanks to the credit card I’m still racking up points even if I’m spending money in Sainsbury’s or Asda! By putting as much of my monthly spending as I possibly can on the card, I really give my Clubcard account a boost.
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See the guideAnd I can then use my Clubcard vouchers to pay for my shopping, convert them into Airmiles, or use the vouchers for a wide range of days out.
When 15 months isn’t long enough
Of course, for many of you, the most important thing about a credit card like the Clubcard credit card is the 0% period. And for most people, 15 months is more than enough time to pay off whatever large spending you may have in the pipeline.
However, if you have some serious spending ahead, then perhaps you could do with even longer to pay off that debt before you start getting whacked with interest. In which case, it might be an idea to spend on your existing credit card, and then move that debt over to a specialist balance transfer card. That’s because the current top balance transfer card offers an incredible 20 months of 0% interest on transfers, an almost ludicrously long period!
Check out the ten longest balance transfer cards in the market today:
|
Credit card |
0% period |
Transfer fee |
|
20 months |
3.2% |
|
|
18 months |
2.8% |
|
|
18 months |
2.8% |
|
|
18 months |
3% |
|
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18 months |
2.9% |
|
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18 months |
2.88% |
|
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18 months |
2.89% |
|
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17 months |
2.9% |
|
|
17 months |
3% |
|
|
17 months |
2.95% |
Of course, the fee you have to pay when transferring debt should also play a big part in your decision when picking a balance transfer card. While the Barclaycard Platinum is streets ahead in offering 20 months free from interest, the fact that it also charges the highest fee of the top ten means that for some borrowers it may not be such a great choice. Find out more in The top balance transfer credit cards.
More: New cheapest 0% balance transfer card | Why shopping at Tesco will cut your energy bill
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Comments
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Tesco are offering existing CC customers 0% interest to November 2011 on balance transfers. If you are sitting on other CC debt paying 1.5% or so a month and can't repay it soon, you would benefit from paying the transfer fee and transferring the debt to Tesco until November. All this emphasis on 0% interest offers assumes that you will be successful in your application for a new card. However, banks are being very cautious, so you have to be pretty confident of success, otherwise if you are declined, the refusal will sit on your credit record for years, with potentially severe effects on your ability to obtain a new mortgage or loan. It is akin to having points on your driving licence, damaging your insurance rating. Of course the CC companies make it impossible for you to know in advance if you are likely to be successful, so oddly the very people most likely to be accepted are also those least likely to need a new card, because they have good incomes and pay off their CC bills every month. I suspect I would be unable to apply for such a casd; I've found myself running into problems with obtaining mortgages too for the least year: depsite running a business with a turnover of £1 million and profitability of £200,000 a year, I can't get a mortgage because a) I'm self-employed, and b) I don't take an income or dividends out of my business. I prefer to re-invest the profits, avoid debt and grow my business; my domestic income comes from a small letting business I have on the side, which gives me enough to live off (about £22,000 gross a year). I've been to numerous brokers and none of them can find me a mortgage. Apparently what I am meant to do is pay myself a dividend of, say, £100,000 each year, and this will count as a "good income" even if I don't spend a penny of it but simply re-invest the whole £100,000 back into the business! Why are mortgage companies so financially illiterate as regards the self-employed?
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Hi there, totally understand about loyalty to cards. I have the same feeling with sky all the new deal are aimed at new customers not the old faithful. I am seriously considering cancelling sky and putting in my husbands name to take advantage of the special offers. then change it back when the next one comes along. In this day and age it appears that loyalty does not pay and that it is mistaken for a dummy.
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Yes but, if you already have a Tesco credit card, they don't allow you to have this interest-free one as well. I applied for it last year, as I like to have an interest-free card to spread the cost of large expenses, holidays etc, but was refused, as I already have a Tesco platinum card, which I pay off every month.
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10 June 2011