Tesco - Excellent Online Fraud Protection (Tesco Clubcard Credit Card)

Member Name: paulpry118

Product:	Tesco Clubcard Credit Card
Date:	23/03/08 (1012 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Clubcard Points and Excellent Fraud Protection

Disadvantages: None - If you pay your bill in full at the end of the month

The Tesco Credit Card is an excellent way to top up your club card points for Tesco. They offer extra points when you use the card in Tesco or on Tesco online and points when you use your card anywhere else.

It is a Visa credit card through the RBS group which includes the Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest Bank and the Ulster Bank.

They are currently offering 0% interest for 13 months on balance transfers and Tesco purchases and for 3 months on all other purchases. With an interest rate of 16.9% APR, which I would say was about average for a credit card, after this initial period.

Application Process

The Application is all done online at www.tescofinance.com and from what I can remember when I applied 3 years ago is is fairly easy, and subject to the normal credit checks.

Clubcard Points

You get 5 clubcard points for every £4.00 spent on your credit card in Tesco or online at Tesco. On an average spend of £100.00 per a week on Tesco Shopping thats 125 points x 52 for a year equates to £65.00 a year in club card vouchers

They also give you 1 point for every £4.00 spent in any other retailer. We normally end up with around £170.00 in vouchers to spend in Tesco. These vouchers are sent out every three months or you can leave them until November. Vouchers can be spent in store or on clubcard deals where your vouchers are worth upto 4 times as much and can be used to buy yearly subsciptions of magazines, day trips out or even holidays through Virgin Travel. I am saving mine to pay for my Mums laser eye treatment through Optimax, for £200.00 of Tesco vouchers these can be exchanged into vouchers worth £800.00 to spend at Optimax. A Great saving.

Payments

Payments can be made by direct debit or online or via cheque in post or banks. There are charges for non or late payment but we pay be direct debit so I have no idea what they are. A minimum payment is expected of about 3.5% every month.

Online Services

They offer online banking services where you can log on and make a payment, do a balance trasfer or check your balance and transactions since your last statement. You can get you statement online, they email you to advise that your statement is ready for viewing or printing. Registering for the online service is easy via their website. You have a user name, internet pin and internet password. They then send you a MAC code about one week later. You can set up text message alerts, if you are near your credit limit or to remind you when a payment is due. You can also add another card holder or request for an increase for your credit limit.

Fraud Prevention.

This brings me to the reason of writting this review. They have excellent fraud prevention. Recently I was a victim of online fraud with my card. Even though I check my statement every day Tesco actually picked up the fraud the moment it happened. They text me to contact them urgently and had already cancelled my card. They asked me if a list of transactions were mine and when I said no they transfered me to the security department. Within a week I had received a new card. They transferred all my information to my new account including the direct debit and my club card details. One thing they do not do is if you pay your Sky account through the card, you have to give Sky your new card number. All I had to do was sign a form for them to send the information onto the Police. They do offer Card Protection Plus but I have never taken this out.

Purchasing.

You use a pin number when you purchase in any shops. If you use your card online some websites come up with a pop up box from Tesco asking for some extra information as part of their online fraud protection. The card can also be used abroad but they charge 2.75% on top of the transaction amount. They also offer cash advances but they have charges of 2.5% on top.

Extra Charges

There is no yearly charge on this card however if you do miss a payment they do charge an amount and also if you go over your credit limit they charge.


I would say all credit cards are about the same but if you do your regular shopping in Tesco it is well worth applying for this card. As with all cards the best way of getting the most from your Tesco Credit card is to pay your balance in full. Then use your Tesco points to purchase something from their clubcard deals to make the most out of your yearly use.

This review may also be found on other review sites.

Summary: Piece of mind with online fraud protection