# Tescos Credit Card anyone?



## Muffinb (19 Jun 2008)

Hubby has just ordered one of these as BOI tooo expensive and you get points for using the tescos one in store etc so can build up points to get deals on travel etc..

( can you imagine BOI giving points when you use your card at the ATM!! )
Anyone know if its any good regards charges, interest etc??

I am reading the contract that arrived in post today and TBH I wouldnt know if its all standard stuff or not

Anything I should be aware of before he signs it??


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## bacchus (19 Jun 2008)

*Re: Tescos Credit Card anyone??*

See here
Laser Cirrus cards are accepted in many countries, defo in all EU countries. No problem getting cash abroad.
Preloading CC is a good idea to avoid immediat interest if using CC at ATM


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## NicolaM (19 Jun 2008)

*Re: Tescos Credit Card anyone??*

Tesco charges a cash advance fee even if the account is in credit. Maybe better off not to pre load credit for cash withdrawals as it will cost you extra money
See here 
Nicola


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## homebird (26 Jun 2008)

*Re: Tescos Credit Card anyone??*

Check what credit limit they are planning to give you. We had built up a large limit with our bank. The credit limit offered by Tesco was very small in comparison. We need a large limit about once a year. We have now ended up with 2 credit cards. This was not the intention.


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## ClubMan (26 Jun 2008)

Muffinb said:


> Hubby has just ordered one of these as BOI tooo expensive


Manage your _CC _properly as a cashflow management tool and not as a source of borrowing per se (i.e. clear the balance before interest charges kick in) and any _CC _is largely* the same as another regardless of the interest rate charged. 


* Well - there can be some differences such as on non € zone forex margins, when interest is charged on cash advances etc.


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## homerjay (1 Jul 2008)

The Tesco card charges interest on all purchases made from outside Tesco outlets from the day of purchase so you dont get any days credit to pay off your bill 

Any purchases made in  tesco outlets attract interest after the due date of the bill

Not good unless you only plan to use it in Tesco IMO


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## fandango1 (1 Jul 2008)

Disagree with homerjay on that last point.
Have had a tesco CC for years, and only get charged interest if miss the payment date or don't clear the full balance (as with any other CC). Definitely don't get charged interest immediately on 'non-Tesco' purchases.

As homebird said, the only issue we have is that the credit limit is quite low and so have additional AIB card too for the big purchases.


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## Crunchie (1 Jul 2008)

homerjay said:


> The Tesco card charges interest on all purchases made from outside Tesco outlets from the day of purchase so you dont get any days credit to pay off your bill.



This is definitely not true.


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## minion (4 Jul 2008)

Had Tesco card for years.
Never ever been charged interest, as i pay it off straight away.

When travelling to US, Europe, Asia, i preload the card and have never been charged interest there either.

They'll push up the limit after about 6 months if you phone them.


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## my2leftfeet (4 Jul 2008)

I got a tesco credit card recently.  The bill arrived when I was on holidays and on my return there was not enough time to get payment to them by due date. I rang and explained reason for payment being late and ask them not to apply interest.  Customer service agent agreed without hesitation ... I was very pleasantly surprised ... but did wonder if it would actually happen. Next bill arrived this week and sure enough - no interest added.  So far so good!


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## Kiddo (5 Jul 2008)

We've had one for a couple of years. The inital limit was quite low but we've had it raised twice. We use it for almost all our household expenditure, holidays etc. No problems at all with Tesco and the quarterly vouchers are a nice bonus


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## yop (10 Jul 2008)

What is the limit on this card guys? I have a 10k limit on my MBNA card which i have used a number of times in the last few years, I wonder would they give me a straight off limit like that?


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## purpeller (10 Jul 2008)

*Re: Tescos Credit Card anyone??*



NicolaM said:


> Tesco charges a cash advance fee even if the account is in credit. Maybe better off not to pre load credit for cash withdrawals as it will cost you extra money



I have one for specifically pre-loading when travelling - I've never been charged a cash advance fee and I've had the card for 3 years.


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## pansyflower (16 Jul 2008)

Tesco Card 1.5% (Min €1.90) 
Bank of Ireland Card 1.5% (Min €2.54)

I paid my June cc bill in early July, then I pre-loaded my BOI card. However, my pre-loaded cash went towards my June purchases and so I was charged €2.54 for each cash withdrawal. 
Will know better next time.


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## soy (17 Jul 2008)

pansyflower said:


> Tesco Card 1.5% (Min €1.90)
> Bank of Ireland Card 1.5% (Min €2.54)
> 
> I paid my June cc bill in early July, then I pre-loaded my BOI card. However, my pre-loaded cash went towards my June purchases and so I was charged €2.54 for each cash withdrawal.
> Will know better next time.



Are you sure about this? 
With BOI's 'Clear' or '2in1' cards, there is not meant to be a cash advance fee if the a/c is in credit. (unless you were withdrawing outside euro zone)


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## NicolaM (17 Jul 2008)

NicolaM said:


> Tesco charges a cash advance fee even if the account is in credit.





purpeller said:


> I have one for specifically pre-loading when travelling - I've never been charged a cash advance fee


Information re charges above is from Itsyourmoney.ie, so they must have made an error on their site.



pansyflower said:


> I paid my June cc bill in early July, then I pre-loaded my BOI card. However, my pre-loaded cash went towards my June purchases and so I was charged €2.54 for each cash withdrawal.





soy said:


> With BOI's 'Clear' or '2in1' cards, there is not meant to be a cash advance fee if the a/c is in credit.


I don't think the account was in credit though, because the 'credited amount' was used to pay off the previous month's bill, so BOI were entitled to charge.


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## banchang (12 Aug 2008)

I got one of these in May. I have had more aggravation with Tesco CC in 4 months than I had in 20 years with BoI

1. My limit with BoI was Eur19k. Tesco gave me Eur8k. After pleading they increased to 9k. Still completely inadequate. They have all my financial details, but no, they need 6 months history before they increase again

2. I asked for DD to be set up to clear whole bill. I'm in France last month & my card is rejected at the Carrefour checkout with me owing Eur300. I call them & they say I'm up to my limit as my bill hasn't been paid. Long story short, their customer service folk didn't realise that to set up an Irish DD requires a signature, & they had sent the DD to my branch, who quite rightly rejected it as no paperwork had been processed. It took them a while but they admitted it was their error. Notwithstanding this, they left me for 4 days without credit until my online banking payment of the bill came through - no temporary increase in limit. Appalling.

3. On last day of holiday, my card is stopped again in Carrefour Cherbourg. What is it now ? Apparently there was a limited of 10 transactions per day set on the account (wife had gotten the last clothes bargains that morning), despite the fact that there are 2 card users on the account - 5 transactions per day each. What a shambles. 

4. No online credit card statements for Eur customers, & no date when this is coming. Back to the 90s (80s?) What a joke.


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## advisor (12 Aug 2008)

As a matter of interest how long did it take for card to arrive after you sent back credit agreement form.  

Thanks


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## sam34 (12 Aug 2008)

took approx 3 weeks for mine- first of all i got a letter stating that application was being processed, after about 2 weeks, then i got the card a week or so later.

very poor limit though- 1800, even though ive a salary of 100k+


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## advisor (12 Aug 2008)

Thanks for that, Sam.  Was just curious.  Not too impressed with Credit limit though, I wonder if that's standard for them?


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## sam34 (12 Aug 2008)

i cant find the original letter now, but i remember something about them saying it would increase to 2500 (woohoo!!) over the first year "if i managed my account appropriately". not sure after that, presume theyd increase limit if asked. as someone mentioned above, i now have 2 cards as the tesco limit is too small, which was never my intention or plan.


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## banchang (12 Aug 2008)

sam34 said:


> i cant find the original letter now, but i remember something about them saying it would increase to 2500 (woohoo!!) over the first year "if i managed my account appropriately". not sure after that, presume theyd increase limit if asked. as someone mentioned above, i now have 2 cards as the tesco limit is too small, which was never my intention or plan.


 
2 cards meaning 2 govt duties to pay


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## bond-007 (12 Aug 2008)

When they say manage your account appropriately, is spending up to the limit and paying the min payment when due managing it appropriately? 

I had an interesting discussion with MBNA regarding this and apparently doing just that is against their terms and conditions.


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## sam34 (12 Aug 2008)

banchang said:


> 2 cards meaning 2 govt duties to pay


 
I know. tesco give you 40 quid vouchers when you open account so that makes up for govt charge, but thats only a once off from them


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## sam34 (12 Aug 2008)

bond-007 said:


> When they say manage your account appropriately, is spending up to the limit and paying the min payment when due managing it appropriately?
> 
> I had an interesting discussion with MBNA regarding this and apparently doing just that is against their terms and conditions.


 
ive really no idea what they mean by it. cant see how doing that is against terms and conditions though, as long as you dont exceed limit and make min payments then surely youre within t&c (altho attracting interest charges)


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