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The Halifax credit card cashback offer - it may not be your best option
The Halifax credit card cashback offer – it may not be your best option
The Clarity credit card from Halifax is recognised as one of the most attractive ‘plastic’ deals on the market, and this week Halifax launched a promotion where new customers can earn 2% cashback (maximum £60) for balances transferred to this card.
The Clarity product is popular because there are no charges for overseas transactions, cash withdrawals or balance transfer fees, plus all transactions are charged at a very competitive 12.9% typical APR.
Whilst the chance to pocket some cash for switching your balance from another card may look appealing, it may not be quite as good as it first appears, mainly due to the fact there is no introductory interest free option for balance transfers. I’ve crunched some numbers just to highlight my point.
If you switched £3,000 to the Halifax card and paid off 5% of the balance on each of your statements for 17 months, you would pay £385.59 in interest at 12.9%, and once you’ve taken the £60 cashback into the equation your net outlay would be £325.59.
If you were to switch £3,000 to the Barclaycard Platinum credit card, you’d have to pay a 2.9% one off balance transfer fee of £87 (discounted to £67 up to 28 February) but no interest charges for the first 17 months.
If you’re planning on switching an existing £3,000 card debt to Halifax Clarity with a view to clearing the balance in full within the first four months then it is still a viable option, however if you intend on taking more time to clear the balance, then a longer term 0% balance transfer card is a cheaper option.
Published: 14/02/2011
The information in this article was correct at the time of publication and contains time sensitive data and links, it may not be accurate at the time of reading.