Pounds means points ! (ipoints.co.uk Credit Card)

Member Name: ultras67

Product:	ipoints.co.uk Credit Card
Date:	24/05/01 (104 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Gives ipoints, above average features, well known card issuer

Disadvantages: still a high rate of interest if balance isnt cleared, putting all eggs in one loyalty basket

By applying online for and using a Visa card issued by Halifax you can also earn free ipoints ( a web loyalty scheme ).

A fairly decent return of 100 points is on offer for succesfully applying for this and then you receive 1% of your spending back in points. After a year if you spend £2500 you will get a further free 100 ipoints. This would tend to suggest that either the ipoints business plan is sounder than others or that Halifax is just desparate for business.

The credit card is a fairly standard offering with the option to transfer your balance from another credit card ( but no points are awarded for this ). 3.9% APR introductory rate for 5 months on transfered balances, 17.9% APR after that. There is a good addition of free purchase protection to cover some items against theft or damage.

Credit card cheques are also issued for purchases that you could not normally use a credit card for. But there is a handling fee of 1.5% up to a maximum of £20. Not quite the bargain you might first think.

Because it is issued by Visa it has all the normal Visa advantages -acceptable in thousands of places in the UK & worldwide, cash advances and so on.

Ipoints works by giving you ipoints for visiting various web sites each day / week / month, as loyalty points when making a purchase, by registering on various linked sites. Web Sites purchase a supply of ipoints to give you some as an inticement to visit their site.

Like other schemes of its type, this is a slow albeit free way of collecting money ( if you were a scrooge and didn’t buy anything ).

When redeeming the points, 101cd ( the sole choice for getting DVDs ) doesnt have a wide range, it doesnt yet have X men included in its range and virtually all new releases cost £22.39 when 275 points redeems a DVD up to the cost of £21.59 - handy eh ! ( am I the only cynical one at this point ? )

Relatively speaking, getting high street vouch
ers is expensive as well, costing 80 points for £5.00

At the moment, with other reward schemes going bust or looking as though they will, everyone has to face a choice - save for a big reward ie the formula one experience for 52350 points and run the risk of losing everything or take little and often. Being the realist / pessimist ( delete as you think appropriate ) I will go for the little and often and get my DVDs and books as and when I earn enough points.

It would be a shame for ipoints to fail as it does work ( at least for the punters ).

As for the credit card, yes it is a good one with a not bad rate of return of points and above average facilities and certainly if you dont mind putting all your eggs into one loyalty scheme then it is one to certainly think seriously about.

Summary: