Zinc Card

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brainlessareus

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If I apply for a Zinc card, how long would it take Ulsterbank to respond to me?
 
zinc

from my experience Ulsterbank would not be the most prompt in responding to you. If you need the card in a hurry I wouldn't like to be depending on it.

That said - there should be something about how long it takes to get a card issued in the terms & conditions listed on the back of the application form. If you are near this time, give them a call and ask them when you will get your card.
 
Re: zinc

Hi, I'm applied for my Zinc card a couple of months back, as far as I remember it was about 2 wks before they got back to me about it. I rang them in the meantime to find out if it had been approved, it was, then they had to post me something which I had to send back before I got the card. 2-3 wks I'd say all in all.
 
I got my Zinc card in January. It took three weeks in total.

I switched my balance over from AIB VISA (€2k) with no bother and now have six months to pay it off interest free. Aiming to pay off €500 per month.

What I like about the Zinc card is that you can just go into any Ulster Bank and pay amounts off with the card, which you cant do anymore with AIB
 
It took eight weeks for me to get a response from them, so I told them to stick it as it wasn't a very good first impression. That was after I had phoned them and they had told me it would take two weeks.
 
anybody know if you can check your zinc card balance online somehow? Do they have a website/online facilty?
 
Why do you specifically want a Zinc card? PTSB Ice card and MBNA gold both have better rates just to name two.
 
Maybe they want to avail of the 9 month 0% interest on balance transfer offer? See the best buys list in the section. Bear in mind that such 0% interest balance transfer offers generally require that you don't execute any further transactions while there is any of the balance outstanding otherwise interest charges kick in immediately.
 
Nope you can't check your Zinc balance online. They have a telephone balance cheque facility though, not that it's much consolation!
 
ClubMan said:
Bear in mind that such 0% interest balance transfer offers generally require that you don't execute any further transactions while there is any of the balance outstanding otherwise interest charges kick in immediately.

Really? I was never aware of this before.
 
That's the way it works with most or all of the se 0% balance transfers. As long as any of the transferred balance is outstanding further transactions immediately incur interest charges. What this means is that, in practice, to benefit from these offers one must transfer the balance, pay it off bit by bit and not make any further transactions until it is totally cleared. As ever, check the detailed terms & conditions of any specific card for details on this in case some are different.
 
Ok, so is the balance transfer element treated separately from the new purchases?


E.g. I have a balance transfer amount of €1000. I pay off €250 per month to clear the balance transferred within four months and do not pay any interest as a result.

Each month I have a bill for €200 for transactions taken on the new credit card. I pay this off in full within the 56 (or whatever) day period and pay no interest.

However, if I do not clear the €200, I pay interest on the €200 at the introductory rate of (say) 2%.

So my minimum payment (to avoid interest altogether) is €200 per month, until month six, when I have to pay €1200 to avoid interest on either the balance transfer or my purchases for the sixth month.

Is this accurate, i.e. the new cc provider will first offset any payments made against the purchases for the first six months, with the excess being offset against the balance transfer?
 
Each month I have a bill for €200 for transactions taken on the new credit card. I pay this off in full within the 56 (or whatever) day period and pay no interest.

However, if I do not clear the €200, I pay interest on the €200 at the introductory rate of (say) 2%.

No - in many cases these transactions incur interest charges immediately that they are executed (possibly at the full rate) as long as there is any of the transferred balance outstanding - i.e. you don't get the benefit of the normal credit period for transactions and you may not get the benefit of any introductory low rate.

Is this accurate, i.e. the new cc provider will first offset any payments made against the purchases for the first six months, with the excess being offset against the balance transfer?

I think that is correct. Again the terms & conditions of a specific card agreement would be the thing to check.
 
Why do I want a zinc card? 0% on balance transfers for 9 months....is there better than that for balance transfers??? Not that I have seen.
 
Clubman,


Having just re read the previous threads I am confused - surely if i transfer a balance from another CC lets say of €1,000, 0% interest is charged for the 9 months regardless of what other transactions I undertaken. If I undertook another transaction of say €500 surely that would be subject to the normal interest rate (say 12.9%) and the other €1000 would remain at 0% interest???

Otherwise the CC company is encouraging me to take out a CC with them, transfer a balance (say €1000) and not use the CC until I pay of the transfered balance - that doesnt make any sense to me?

Mourinho
 
Mourinho said:
Having just re read the previous threads I am confused - surely if i transfer a balance from another CC lets say of €1,000, 0% interest is charged for the 9 months regardless of what other transactions I undertaken. If I undertook another transaction of say €500 surely that would be subject to the normal interest rate (say 12.9%) and the other €1000 would remain at 0% interest???

As far as I know this is correct. My point is that in many cases the new trasactions incur interest charges immediately and not just after the usual credit/billing period has elapsed.

Otherwise the CC company is encouraging me to take out a CC with them, transfer a balance (say €1000) and not use the CC until I pay of the transfered balance - that doesnt make any sense to me?

It makes sense for the CC provider. If you execute any new transactions and they incur interest immediately then the CC provider makes money. Many people don't seem to realise this.

Check the terms & conditions of 0% balance transfer offer cards very carefully.
 
I recently opened a Zinc card account which has 6 months interest-free for balance transfer and purchases.

I just checked the UB website and they're quoting a 9 month interest-free period again (though can't tell if that's for purchases too).

I rang UB to see if I could get the 9-month option, but no dice. The cs rep said the marketing dept. change the offer all the time, so if you're planning on spending with the new card, ask for a suitable deal when you apply (I didn't ask--that's just the way they set it up).

Although if you've a big enough balance to make an interest-free card attractive, you probably shouldn't be making any new purchases...

J.
 
Thanks Clubman, that's very useful. I will be sure to check the card's ts&cs carefully (BTW it's the AIB Platinum card I'm thinking of and P.S. everybody I'm not interested in hearing why the ptsb, mbna or UB cards are better:) ).

So there is no way to avoid interest charges if you continue to make purchases while there is a balance transfer remaining to be cleared?

By the way, why do you think that you wouldn't benefit from any low introductory rate if making purchases while there is a balance transfer o/s-is this a standard t&c?
 
Scotty said:
I recently opened a Zinc card account which has 6 months interest-free for balance transfer and purchases.

That's interesting. Is it clearly stated in the terms & conditions that 0% applies to transactions carried out while any of the transferred balance is still outstanding?
 
Is it clearly stated in the terms & conditions that 0% applies to transactions carried out while any of the transferred balance is still outstanding?

Yep, and this was confirmed by the cs rep when I called.
 
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