Cheap money @ 1.9% annum interest rate (MBNA)

Member Name: Skoda119

Product:	MBNA
Date:	03/11/02 (912 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Extremely low interest rate, Listened to customer needs carefully, Prompt efficient service

Disadvantages: Risk of getting into high interest payments if loan is not paid back, Short term arrangement only, Could encourage some people to create further debt instead of resolving current ones

Unfortunately this review was, in error, first posted on the HSBC thread

We have had a credit card, in various guises, from MBNA for over a decade and our current one is a Visa Platinum Plus. For our retail use we tend to use Tesco Platinum because of the generous points/awards scheme.

In the days when we were a little poorer MBNA was always a useful source of money to pay other cards as you could then issue a credit card cheque and there was no handling charge - now there is unfortunately. The handling charge can be avoided though if you don't issue a cheque and telephone MBNA to request funds are transferred to your bank.

Over the years MBNA have increased our credit card limit to a useful amount. In fact it is substantially more than the overdraft limit on our current account holder Lloyds/TSB with whom we are very long standing customers

Some funds from a property transfer have been delayed and we needed some bridging cash to complete the purchase of our new car.

We contacted several sources of finance and the best deal we have is from an MBNA credit card that we don't use for retail purchases.

£15950 from the MBNA bank at 1.9% per annum until March 2003 must be the best short term finance on the market.

Anyone know better.

What a brilliant helpful setup too - just a phone call, explained my needs and the money was transferred in four days to my current account with no handling charges at all.

Well done MBNA

WARNING

Someone has asked me how MBNA can offer this low rate. Here's the reason.....

The promotion is really intended to get people to transfer debts from other credit cards and is for a time limited period to each customer (in my case until March)

MBNA would profit from many customers who were unable to pay the money back after the period of low interest - the loan would revert to their standard rate.

Obvio


usly with a heavy loan the customer might also be clocking up debts on the normal use of the
credit card which would be at the usual crippling interest rates.

That's what is in the promotion for MBNA.

Summary: