Low APR credit card or 0% on purchases?

I know but I’m going to have it for a long time so it’s nice to get it as low as possible then it’s there if I really need it too :slight_smile:

You are better off ignoring the APR as you will be paying the card off each month and going for something like the Halifax Clarity Card or the Barclays Reward one which have no f/x fee.

If you want a fintech one, then you can switch to something like Jaja once they are widely available and your credit record is better

If you don’t currently have a Visa card it would be worth considering a Visa credit card. This would be useful to have in your wallet if there is ever a problem with the Mastercard network or if you ever encounter Visa exclusive offers.

I don’t know if there are any low APR (less than 10%) Visa credit cards but there are several which provide no foreign exchange fees which is useful to have if you ever want to put a foreign currency purchase on a credit card instead of on your Monzo card. Using a credit card is often preferred or required instead of debit card with hotels and rental cars. Visa cards with no foreign exchange fees include Barclaycard Rewards, Nationwide members card, and Jaja.

Blimey, that’s a bit heavy. (Misquoted you Phil, for comic effect :face_with_raised_eyebrow:).

Seriously though, there’s much sound advice been shared tonight, the most pertinent for you being, don’t get stressed over cards.

If you don’t need a loan, don’t go searching for the optimal way to secure one. Meanwhile, pay off what you owe in the measured way you have been.

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I might be way off, but I thought credit utilisation had nothing to do with you paying it off, but just your balance being reported to your credit file every month:

eg. You have a credit card with a limit of £1,000. You spend £225 that month and the card produces your statement. That balance is then reported to the CRA which logs it. The next month you spend £230 but during that statement period your direct debit pays off the £255, so a balance of £230 is reported to the CRA at the next statement. And so on.

I have always thought that’s what credit utilisation is and you don’t have to begin borrowing long term and worry about paying more on interest. In any case, that’s what I do.

By the way, and I do know this to be true, if your card has an interest free period (usually 56 days – some cards, such as TSB, don’t) paying in full every month is the only way to keep it interest-free. If you don’t pay in full, transactions in the second statement period attract interest from the date they appear on the statement.

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Me too.

Karma = 640 out of 710 (up 32 points since November) = “Good”
Experian = 990 out of 999 = “Excellent”
No bad marks in credit history, other than historical proof that I’ve effectively navigated from large debt to little debt. Which makes me eligible for every loan I have recently tried to take out (to test the credit system)

Monzo won’t offer a loan or an overdraft. I am completely #fullmonzo and have been for over a year, but use only a Joint Account.
My financially-linked other half has a better credit rating than me… I can’t meake any sense out the lack of loan/overdraft :man_shrugging:

Maybe it’s the Joint Account bit?

It could be who you are financially associated with affecting your ability for a loan/overdraft. If they haven’t already get them to check their credit report.

Also worth checking if you have old financial associates in your report and ask the CRAs to disassociate from them.

Already checked (we keep on top of finances daily)

Sorry missed that bit. What about :point_down:

None.

It’s as clean as a whistle other than historical debt which has been substantially reduced over time.

EDIT: The mysterious part is the fact that every loan/remortgage/credit line I’ve applied for in the last 10 years has been accepted without question - even when I/we had substantially more debt than we have now.

EDIT2: It’s got to be the Joint Account. It doesn’t even show in the CRA’s. So my (and my financially linked other half) have Monzo shown in the credit report - our Personal Accounts both at a value of £0, which is correct because we don’t use the PA’s, but on paper looks like we have no transactions going on at all.

Personal account will show as £0 unless you are in your overdraft. The report only shows credit that you are using

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Thanks, the PA’s have no credit history at all (no overdraft on either) so that explains the £0 value.

I seem to remember a discussion about Joint Accounts not being reported, I’ll have a search.

EDIT: Found it;

So while it isn’t a bad thing that the JA isn’t on our credit reports, that means we should be even more attractive to lenders - with Monzo being the exception. There is something here that isn’t following the usual ‘rules’, ‘guidelines’ or other ‘algorithms’

You don’t have to carry your balance. You can have credit utilisation recorded and still pay it all off

What I do is wait until my statement is generated (which is reported as I’m using my credit line) then the next day pay it off (which will then be reported in the next reporting cycle)

I assume loans and mortgages don’t count because they’re a fixed sum so doesn’t show you won’t go mad with free to spend credit

Either way the score doesn’t matter, your repayment history does. If you do want to start a credit card you could get a starter card with a low limit and use that - less risk of getting in debt

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Anybody recommend a good VISA credit card? I’ve already got AMEX and MasterCard ones but would like a Visa one for back up.

I have recommended some with no foreign transaction fees earlier…

The Barclaycard Rewards card also provides a small amount ofcashback (0.25%).
The Jaja card has some monzo-like features (e.g. instant balance updates (ignores pending status), transaction search) and I suspect will add more.

But do you want one with different perks/features?

There’s also Tymit which is a modern VISA like JAJA. Only recently launched.

I’ve been on their waitlist since October, and I’m still number 4681
(gone up about 300 places since signup)

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Tymit seem to be much further behind than Jaja with their card - at least their forum suggests so - and you can’t yet sign up on an android phone (though you can join the waitlist)

Jaja’s is quite reliable ime but still needs work on non core features.

On the plus side, Tymit already have a forum… though Jaja are also recruiting a community manager ATM.

I had thought it was properly launched now. Unless they were fast tracked. :thinking:

How did you find your wait number? Is that from downloading the app?

Yes, I did, and on android too :upside_down_face: