✅ Offer credit card 💳

this is another great opportunity - previously mentioned on the forum - for Mondo to get into schools and teach responsible finances to students and so capture the next generation of bank customers - I seem to remember a guy offering this opportunity to come to his school ?

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Sometimes it’s nice to have the credit card as back up. I’ve had months where too many large bills have come in at the same time and it’s been nice to offset one or more to the next month so I don’t need to go overdrawn.

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But this is my point really - the ultimate answer is not credit - it’s lowering those bills.

And encouraging an environment where you save and have a pot for anything unexpected - a free, no interest, personal overdraft if you will (except you make money off of it when you’re not using it in the form of interest - perfect).

Make banking work for you, not the other way around.

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As a customer who routinely uses two credit cards but pays everything off every month, this is a question I’ve started asking recently.

My reason used to be that the current account interest, small though it was, was something I’d benefit from by paying on a card and using the free credit for 56 days or whatever. The fact that current accounts no longer pay interest never factored into my thinking until this month when I realised that my methodology was now probably just a pointless complication that I could do without.

This was shortly followed by the realisation that I couldn’t transfer from credit card banking to current account banking in one go. I don’t have enough money to pay for this months purchases and pay off last months credit cards at the same time. Thus, I’m in a place of transition at the moment, spending my spare current account balance after paying off last months card spending and resorting to cards when that finance runs out. In a couple of months I hope to be off my cards completely.

Mondo happened to come to my attemtion at the right time, therefore, as I use it for current spending that would otherwise have been on another card out of habit rather than necessity.

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A credit card would be useful in time. Whilst overdraft can cover small expenses a credit card is useful for spreading the cost of a larger expense. I’m also of the view (until banks modernise and start sharing balances with their rivals) that it helps seeing your current/savings/ISA/debt in one place.

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CCA protection is the main reason for using my credit card. Just the peace of mind if anything goes wrong I am fully protected. Also AirMiles :airplane:️ had many free flights thanks to my Amex card

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We need to bring the same protection to debit cards then.

And nothing is free from credit card companies. Either you’re paying for those airmiles in fees and interest or someone else is on your behalf.

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Im not paying any annual/monthly fees or interest as I pay in full each month (guess I’m a bad customer :frowning: )
I guess they come from the card issuer when they get their share from the merchant service charge / interchange (same as what :mondo: gets).

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That’s why I also said it could be people on your behalf AKA the ones who DO pay interest and/or fees.

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I can see side benefits for enhancing the service you provide.

Once the bank is launched, most employees will get paid monthly. Mondo or it’s successor could detect when this occurred and prompt the user to flush any residual balance from the previous month against a credit card or into a savings account.

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For me the Consumer Credit Act is one of the most compelling reasons to use a credit card. The protection offered for purchases over £100 is guaranteed by law, whereas chargeback and other voluntary schemes (similar to what the Cashplus card offer) just do not offer the same guarantee.

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No because in my question I did say is there any chance of it happening in the future. PS Don’t be a smart arse especially when you did not read my question properly.

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Hi Tom, thanks ever so much for replying in this thread I am honoured!

Anyway to answer your question I would say all of the above. It’s a great way of getting up to 56 days of interest free credit.

The point is there is no bad financial product it’s just the way some people use them that is flawed.

The Consumer Credit Act protection you get on any purchases on product over £100 paid for in full or in part is unmatched by any other financial product. Even better is the fact if you buy something on a credit card and the retailer is giving you problems you can always take the credit card company to the small claims court to get your money back.

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Which is why I asked about the future. I am aware of that fact so much so that I included it in my question.

Given that credit cards aren’t listed in the road map, it’s safe to say that they’re more than a year away from being launched by :mondo:. Assuming that you don’t get a reply to this post from a :mondo: employee who wants to commit to a timeframe, my suggestion is you keep an eye out for Tom’s next blog post -

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Definitely, it’s just something to look at as I think it would complement
Mondo’s offering nicely. Thanks :slight_smile:

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I do use a credit card, but for all the wrong reasons. I’m trying very hard to get out of it, and am on an interest free balance transfer that is ending Aug next year. If it’s not all paid off, I will be doing another balance transfer. It is too easy to get a credit card in my opinion.

What I would like to know, however, is does getting one actually improve your credit rating? Even if you just get one and never spend on it at all?

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I feel your pain.

According to my bank 5+ years ago, yes, having one and never using it shows that you kept good enough control of your finances to never have to use it.

No it does not as the credit agency sees it as a unsecured borrowed amount
that is just there doing nothing which rings alarm bells. It’s not going to
affect your rating in a huge way if you have 1 credit card but the same
usage patten with say 3 cards will start to ring alarm bells.

Ok if you don’t believe me think of it like this. The credit agency still has the amount on your credit card credit limit noted down as unsecured debt.

If you don’t use it you are better off canceling your credit card agreement. (I am talking credit scoring wise.) If you feel you might need the credit card in the near future feel free to disregard my advice.

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I guess for me the reason I’d like one is because it helps build a credit rating. For some of us that have a bad credit rating or are maybe only just able to get credit it’s hard to get any type of credit because you have to build it but no one will give you anything to help build it which is the struggle I currently have. If say I could get a credit card but even with the smallest amount of credit to be able to build a credit rating up that’d really help. But that isn’t going to happen.

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