a matter of interest (Capital One)

Member Name: anwar7

Product:	Capital One
Date:	03/05/04 (2436 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: see review

Disadvantages: see review

Established in the U.S.A in 1953 and in Europe in 1996,Capital one now has around 46 million customers worldwide. So what do they offer and how do they shape up?

The Products
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capital one are probably best known for their credit cards , as that what their .php?advertising campaigns are aimed at selling. There are several different types on offer, so if you are thinking of taking out a credit card with capital one, look at each one carefully and read the terms and conditions.

1. The no hassle platinum master card
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This one offers 5.9 % APR (variable) on purchases and all balance transfers. Note this is a variable rate and will change if the base rate alters. There is no annual fee. To qualify for this you must have an income of at least £10,000. It is possible to have a credit limit of £25,000 dependant on your income.

2. The platinum MasterCard
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This card offers 0% for the first 6 months for purchases and 3.9% for the life of a balance transfer if made in the first 6 months of taking out the card If you transfer from another card after 6 months you will pay a much hig
her interest rate! This card advertises 10.9% for purchases, again a variable rate. Although the small print tells you that the actual rate you will pay on your purchases will be 13.21% after 6 months, sneaky eh? Cash advances attract a whopping 20.5% interest, so my advice would be don?t! This is the card I have.

3. Premier masterCard *******************
This card offers 6.9% for the life of balance transfers if made in the first 6 months. The rate for purchases is 0 % for 6 months and then 14.9% variable. A credit limit of £4.000 is possible with this card so it is aimed at those with a lower income than the other two.

4.classic MasterCard
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This card charges a very high interest rate and is aimed at
those with a poor credit history who wish to repair it. I would suggest that if you are interested in this card then pay it off in full each month if you can, and apply for a better deal after, say 6 months.

With all capital one credit cards you will be charged £20 for a late payment. I suggest you set up a direct debit so this does not happen! If you do end u
p missing a payment for some reason then it is worth speaking to an adviser to make your excuses and ask to be viewed sympathetically. I did this when I overlooked a payment and they agreed to refund the fee.

Capital one offers several choices of design for their cards including a fun leopard print one!!

Customer service
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Capital one boast that they were recently voted as one of the top 50 places to work (by the Sunday times). I wonder if this included the capital one call centre in India or was it based solely on the centre in Nottingham?! One of my real hates is dealing with foreign call centres. If you take out a capital one.credit card then you will almost certainly have to deal with their call centre in India. I was recently given incorrect information by a capital one employee based in India, who clearly misunderstood my question, had a poor knowledge of English (he addresses me as mrs Ann)! I like many others, want to talk to someone who is fluent in English and has had a high level of training . I do not blame the employees in Asian call centres, as often they are on low wages and work long hours. In the quest for higher profits more financial companies are choosing to use call centres in Asia and many customers are unhappy with this move. However I digress!
I have found capital ones customer service sadly lacking on numerous occasions. Although friendly, their staff o
ften appear confused about products on offer. I recently received a mailing offering me a low rate of interest for the life of a balance, transfer, if I agreed t
o transfer money to
capital one. I phoned the call centre to find out more. I was told initially that this offer did not exist! I quoted the number from the mail shot and was told a manager would phone me within the next hour to sort this out. After a wait of several days I phoned again and was then told I could transfer my money at the advantage interest rate-great! But then when my statement arrived I discovered the transferred money had been charged at a higher rate than that agreed! I won?t bore you with all the calls I had to make to get this put right. It took weeks of arguing to get confirmation in writing , as apparently capital one don?t write other than standard letters! I would urge that you check your statements carefully to ensure you are paying the correct interest rate and get everything confirmed in writing, in addition to the employees name who gave you the information in the first place. On a more positive note calls to capital one are free, and when I had my card stolen last year capital one were quick to put a stop on the card and I was not charged for any of the fraudulent transactions made. Capital one has a no Internet liability clause should your card be used without your knowledge.

Capital one offer other financial products which as I have no knowledge of I have chosen not to review. If you are interested then I suggest you take a look at their website for more information.

Overall capital one offers competitive rates, which mitigate for their appalling customer service in my book. With all credit cards it pays to check the interest rate you are paying regularly. Manycards offer 0 % for 6 months or better so move your debt to one of these if you can.

Finally Capital one bank is regulated by the financial services authority. Any complaint you have which can?t be resolved can be put to the financial ombudsman service at www.financial.ombudsman.org.uk. Tel 0845-080-1800



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