Fishing for a new credit card??? (Goldfish Credit Card)

Member Name: ordy

Product:	Goldfish Credit Card
Date:	11/10/01 (1819 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good points scheme, great service

Disadvantages: Not great APR

I have had the Goldfish card for about 3 years now (at least!) I must have been one of their first customers, and have been on the whole extremely happy with the card. There are a number of key areas that should be mentioned :-

APPLICATION PROCEDURE :-

Generally smooth and efficient. One problem with Goldfish is that they are very risk averse. If you have a poor credit history you will be rejected. Even if you have a good credit history you may also be rejected. I know this as they have a very good recommend a friend scheme, and I recommended many friends who got rejected despite having very good credit histories.

This is surprising as the Gold Fish card is issued by HFC Bank, who normally lend to higher risk customers.

The other problem at this stage is that even if you are accepted they will generally give you as lower credit limit than many other cards (e.g. MBNA gave me 10k, Goldfish only gave me 3k!). This was a pain when I moved hose and put a lot of items on my credit cards. I would have preferred to use Goldfish for the points, but quickly reached my limit.

The card is also available in Visa or Mastercard and there are different card designs that you can choose ? Two fish facing, , Fish Bowl, Scales and a few others. All are very attractive, and you have to choose them on application. On application there is also a choice of statement dates, which I like!!

RATES :-

There are 2 key points here that must be stressed :-

1. The Goldfish has no annual fee!!!!!

2. The Goldfish has no annual fee!!!!!

Now I know that strictly that is only one major point, but it is such an important point that I felt I should mention it twice for the benefit of the people still living in the 1970?s who pay a fee for a credit card!!!

It has, what I would consider an acceptable APR of 18.9% with minimum monthly repayments of 3% or £5 whichever is the greater. The APR for cash withdrawal
s is slightly higher pluis a cash-handling fee for each withdrawal of 1.5% or £2.50 whichever is the greater.

Like most credit cards there is a 56-day interest free period on purchases, although this does not apply to cash withdrawals or balance transfers.

There is payment protection insurance that can be added to your card and this works out at 74 pence for every £100 of your balance each month. I do not like these insurance policies however as they are generally expensive and people rarely make a successful claim on them.

On application you can trasfer a balance from an existing card and get an introductory rate of 4.9% for 6 months ? much better value!!

LOYALTY PLAN :-

I think it is the loyalty plan that makes the Goldfish so popular. It is run in conjunction with British Gas and a number of other partners.

For every pound spent on the goldfish (excluding cash withdrawals and balance transfers!!!) you earn a point. These points are then redemmed for prizes ? well money off vouchers actually!!

Points can be used in the following manner and places :-

British Gas bills - one penny per point, max 7000 points per annum

John Lewis ? my favourate - 1000 points for £10 voucher

Boots - 1000 points for £10 voucher

ASDA - 1500 points for £15 voucher

TV Licenses - 0.8p per point

Marks and Spencer ? another of my faves- 1250 points for £10 (not such good value compared to the others!!)

Dixons - 1250 points for £10

AA Breakdown cover - 1250 points for £10

There is also a refer a friend loyalty scheme - if you refer someone successfully you and that person get 500 bonus points added to the card. As I mentioned earlier I have done a few of these.

Now I like this scheme mainly because of the psychology ? when I get the vouchers I feel like I have got a genuine present of some value. Cynics could correctly argue that a better
scheme is a cash back scheme like Egg as cash is a more universally accepted currency than gift vouchers. True, but it is not as much fun!!!

Another drawback is that points are awarded for each transaction in whole pounds. This means that if you have 2 transactions at £9.99 you will only get 2 lots of 9 points not 1 lot of 19 points. Subtle but significant, as it decreases the rate of return on point redemption slightly. If you make lots of small purchases this can be significant. Also the points are only valid for 5 years.

Point redemption is really really easy. Phone up a special no. 24 hours a day ? I always get straight through ? choose your vouchers ? and they arrive usually a week later. Very very slick!!!


CUSTOMER SERVICE :-

Their phone service is very good good. There is an automated system which prompts you for your card number, and cardholders month and year of birth. Once successfully though this security you can automatically hear your balance, available credit and number of points accrued to date. You can also speak to an operator, who are always polite, helpful and responsive to problems.

SECURITY :-


I travel a lot, usually to dodgy countries. Goldfish ofetn phone me to query unusual transactions on my card. Whilst my card has never been used fraudulently, it gives me comfprt to receive such calls ? they are clearly very vigilant.

Goldfish also includes a "Safe Shopping Promise" - if your card be used fraudulently for on-line purchases and transactions, they will reimburse this cost. Getting common these days, but important nevertheless!!

WEBSITE :-


The Goldfish website www. goldfishcard.com looks good, but being honest I have never bothered to register for the online service. I imagine it is slick though and will do it soon and update this profile.


CONCLUSION :-

Generally Goldfish run a slick operation with a good lo
yalty scheme. True cash back schemes are probably more valuable to many but the Goldfish scheme is certainly more fun. The APR is not a market leader (egg is much better) and they are very risk averse for new customers, but I am very happy with my card and shall be keeping it for a few more years to come.

Summary: