Plastic Cash (Credit Cards in general)

Member Name:

Product:	Credit Cards in general
Date:	05/08/01 (5 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Many

Disadvantages: none if used sensibly

After 64 years I have well and truly joined the 21st century. First it was a PC to take the place of my old Amiga and now for the first time in my life I am the owner of a credit card. If I carry on like this I can see me getting a mobile phone next or maybe even a video, but I would have to find a five year old to set it up.

Up to press I have very rarely bought anything on credit as I worked on the principle that if I couldn’t pay for something in cash or by cheque then I couldn’t have it. But in this day and age when you cannot use cash or even cheques for Internet purchases I was left with one of two options. Do without or get with it.

So on one of my rare visits to the Royal Bank Of Scotland I asked about getting a credit card for myself. The smiling young lady behind the bulletproof glass gave me a form to fill in, which I did on the spot and returned it. Two weeks to the day a letter arrived full of bumf and my piece of plastic, a Visa Card with a credit limit of ……. Nah I’m not telling you. All I will say that is sufficient for the time being but I won’t be able to use it to buy a car. The limit can be increased after six months.

Once I get a pin number for the card I will also be able to use it as a cash card in any machine that is Visa compatible. The bumf informed me that if I didn’t like the pin number, which will arrive by separate post shortly, I could ring a particular number and change it to one of my choice.

The card comes with Internet protection should someone get a hold of my number and buy stuff without my knowledge or consent. There is a 24/365 service for reporting stolen or lost credit cards. My Visa card also affords me some extra protection should I buy something that turns out to be a lemon and the shop stubbornly refuses a refund.

There were no charges for the card or the setting up of the credit account and it gives me the possibility of using the bank
’s money, totally interest free, for a period of up to 56 days. In fact the possibility arises that I could buy something on behalf of someone using the credit card, who then pays me the full amount in cash, which I stick in a bank account to gain up to 56 days of interest, which I then withdraw to settle my credit account. I could actually make money from my credit card. OK I know that’s going a bit OTT but the possibility exists and should the situation arise with my family I will explore that route. I would gain up to £9 on a £1,000 purchase. Not a fortune but!!!

I will get a statement every month which gives me the option of settling the full account before 25 days after the date of the statement and incurring no interest charges whatsoever or paying the stated minimum (no less than £5) and being charged at an interest rate of 0.319% per month for the balance. I can use my piece of plastic to, in effect, get a bank loan but even if I repay the loan within the required time period I will still get charged interest at 1.385% per month, so this is an option that I will not be taking up.

The RBS sent me a cheque book to use against my credit account but they will charge me 1.5% of the value of the cheque should I do so.

I don’t know what other deals there are for credit cards from other sources but the one that I got from the Royal Bank of Scotland seems quite reasonable to me.

Summary: