I applied for one recently but didnt need to use it as my husband took enough cash as he too thought it sounded too good to be true.
I have friends who have used them and thats why I decided to get one.One drew £700 out of an ATM and was only charged 90p as she paid it straight off on returning home.
She also used it in restaurants and said she got a favourable rate of exchange when he invoice arrived.
I applied on line as when we visited a Halifax branch the girl was quoting interest rates of 12% so my husband wasnt interested.

Jean has one we used it in Malta, like all credit cards there was a local charge at point of sale, but no secondary charges from the Halifax

Do you have to already have an account with the Halifax, or is it like a Thomas cook cash passport where you just load it up with the money you want to use ? (Still desperately trying to find a safe way for DS to take money to Magaluf without taking his bank card or too much hard cash, so will consider any option)

Doe

We havent an account with Halifax and its just like other credit cards except they dont charge for taking money out of ATMs,only a small interest charge which if you pay it off on return is only a small amount.
My husband didnt believe it so wasnt interested in having it so I applied on line and got it in a couple of days.

Check for online reviews such as on MSE. I got one of these cards for my holidays last year but did not use it as I had enough cash. I got it to withdraw cash , I don`t use a credit card for purchases abroad, and as I understand it you won`t pay a fee for withdrawing money but are charged interest from when you withdraw . You should clear your bill as soon as possible . Interest 12.9 apr variable which is not ott. in my opinion.

'My friend was advised by Halifax' - to take out one of their own products. :-)

As immediately above, MoneySavingExpert is the place for the advice you need.

WomBatt wrote:

'My friend was advised by Halifax' - to take out one of their own products. :-)

As immediately above, MoneySavingExpert is the place for the advice you need.

That's why I was checking here first If no-one on Ht had experience then I'd go for a nosey on MSE but I respect, and know our members here too and value their opinion

Jay your husband sounds like me. I repeated so often to the Halifax girl 'so you are lending money on holiday with no daily interest rate?' That she started to doubt it herself and went to double check with colleague

If it is correct Doe then it maybe ok for your son

We always use one. You do pay interest on cash advances, as with any credit card, but the Halifax don't charge any withdrawal fees or foreign transaction fees. The interest charged is very low, one of the lowest around.
As we also have a Halifax current account, they pay us £5 every month for paying in over a certain amount, so the interest charges are more than offset.

Plenty of info on their website
http://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/low-rate-no-fee/clarity-card/

doe wrote:

Do you have to already have an account with the Halifax, or is it like a Thomas cook cash passport where you just load it up with the money you want to use ? (Still desperately trying to find a safe way for DS to take money to Magaluf without taking his bank card or too much hard cash, so will consider any option)

Doe :sun2

No preloading allowed. It is purely a credit card, but anyone can apply for one.

Interesting that they specifically won't let you build up a credit balance because most credit cards do allow you to do this - they probably assume that so few people will do this that they don't need to ban you from doing so! Their terms and conditions seem designed to encourage you to use this card to withdraw cash from ATMs on it so that they can start charging you interest immediately - even if you pay off the balance in full each month you will still pay interest on such cash withdrawals. So while I initially thought that this would be a useful card to have I'm less sure now that there would be any point - I'll probably stick to using a debit card when necessary even though there is often a transaction charge but it is a fixed fee on mine regardless of the quantity withdrawn.

I was interested because credit cards are more widely accepted in Cuba than debit cards so a friend regularly loaded up a card that he knew was OK to use in Cuba safe in the knowledge that a cash withdrawal on it if needed in an emergency would not start attracting interest from the moment he withdrew it from a bank. He still of course had to pay the transaction fee but until this new card, that would have happened anyway. If he didn't need to draw on it he just ran down the credit balance when he got home by using it for ordinary everyday purchases.

I recently had a credit balance on a credit card too because I set-up a new direct debit on one but wasn't sure that it would be activated in time by the next due date so rather than run the risk of being charged for a late payment I made the next payment anyway when it was due. Again, I just ran down the credit balance over the following month. Yes, no one would routinely carry a large credit balance, in effect an interest free loan to the credit card company, but I'm not aware of any one that specifically doesn't allow it before this. Not as good deal as I first hoped!

SM

I've never had a credit card that will let you preload, not that I would want to anyway, as I prefer to keep hold of my money as long as I can :rofl. We buy everything on the Clarity, and the balance is paid automatically by direct debit when it's due.

The idea of a credit card is just that, you are buying on credit. If it was preloaded with your own cash you wouldn't be using credit, but different cards have different terms and conditions.

I'm aware you can't use a Mastercard in an ATM in Cuba, but you can in the banks and cadecas (non US affiliated of course).

I don't think their T&Cs encourage you to withdraw cash on it. They're just pointing out that by doing so you don't pay any fees other than the standard cash advance interest, which isn't very much as it's charged at the same rate as for other transactions. Lot's of cards charge a higher interest rate for cash withdrawals.

Most debit cards also charge an exchange loading fee, which is built into the exchange rate they give you when it appears on your statement, as well as charging for withdrawing from an ATM abroad. For what the interest costs it would probably work out less than being charged for both.

There are lists on MSE showing the charges for all debit and credit cards.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/overseas-card-charges#debit

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/overseas-card-charges

I called in our local Halifax today as wanted to pay in some money. I spoke to the girl on the desk about this card and she immediately said that you pay interest on any cash withdrawals but not a transaction fee, the same applies apparently to purchases. She said she uses hers for purchases abroad simply because of f raud, she said that although both her debit and credit cards are covered with protection she didn't want her personal details being compromised.

Thanks everyone for your input

As it is a credit card, it does incur interest charges on cash withdrawals, whether in the UK or abroad, but as long as you pay the full amount by the due date, it does not incur any interest charges on purchases, either in the UK or abroad. Their other credit cards do charge a non sterling transaction fee, but not the Clarity.

Sunaddict wrote:

doe wrote:

Do you have to already have an account with the Halifax, or is it like a Thomas cook cash passport where you just load it up with the money you want to use ? (Still desperately trying to find a safe way for DS to take money to Magaluf without taking his bank card or too much hard cash, so will consider any option)

Doe :sun2

No preloading allowed. It is purely a credit card, but anyone can apply for one.

Thanks I was thinking about it last night and realised it probably isn't going to be what is needed.

Will investigate these cash passport type cards. I think even Tesco is doing one now.

Doe

My friend withdrew £700 last month and when she came back she paid it straight off including the interest which was 90p.

Glynis HT Admin wrote:

apparently if you withdraw cash abroad you aren't charged daily interest.

Whoever advised you of this was wrong.

As has been said in previous posts, interest is charged on cash withdrawals from the time the money is withdrawn until it is paid back. However if you get their best rate of 12.9%, this only equates to 1% a month or 0.5% if you paid it off after returning from a 2 week holiday, assuming you withdrew the cash on the first day.

There are no transaction or withdrawal fees and you get the full Interbank rate on cash and purchases making it one of the best card to use abroad. Most other credit cards loading their rate which means that you pay 2.75% more than you would with the Clarity card.

The only cards that beat it are the Metro bank, only available by visiting a branch in London, and Norwich & Peterborough.

The pre-paid cards give a much poorer exchange rate, especially the ones from travel agents.

I had 54 transactions and a cash withdrawal on the Clarity last month. I saved £55 on the difference between the rate I got and what I would have got using other cards. On the cash withdrawal I only paid £0.05 as I paid it off while I was still away.

Oh, and they pay my £5 a month if I spend £300 a month on it.

luci HT Mod wrote:

Glynis HT Admin wrote:

apparently if you withdraw cash abroad you aren't charged daily interest.

Whoever advised you of this was wrong.

As has been said in previous posts, interest is charged on cash withdrawals from the time the money is withdrawn until it is paid back. However if you get their best rate of 12.9%, this only equates to 1% a month or 0.5% if you paid it off after returning from a 2 week holiday, assuming you withdrew the cash on the first day.

There are no transaction or withdrawal fees and you get the full Interbank rate on cash and purchases making it one of the best card to use abroad. Most other credit cards loading their rate which means that you pay 2.75% more than you would with the Clarity card.

The only cards that beat it are the Metro bank, only available by visiting a branch in London, and Norwich & Peterborough.

The pre-paid cards give a much poorer exchange rate, especially the ones from travel agents.

I had 54 transactions and a cash withdrawal on the Clarity last month. I saved £55 on the difference between the rate I got and what I would have got using other cards. On the cash withdrawal I only paid £0.05 as I paid it off while I was still away.

Oh, and they pay my £5 a month if I spend £300 a month on it.

Glynis HT Admin wrote:

I called in our local Halifax today as wanted to pay in some money. I spoke to the girl on the desk about this card and she immediately said that you pay interest on any cash withdrawals but not a transaction fee, the same applies apparently to purchases. She said she uses hers for purchases abroad simply because of f raud, she said that although both her debit and credit cards are covered with protection she didn't want her personal details being compromised.

Thanks everyone for your input :tup

Yes I found this out yesterday as mentioned above. Thanks for the rest of the information Luci will let my friend know that you recommend the card.

It was recommended on the Martin Lewis Money TV show a few weeks ago.
He said it was the best card to use abroad.

Thanks Jay