Credit Card ripoff

ElvisP

got my statement from boi the other day. balance was 360 with a min payment due of 10. rang cc 'hotline' and asked them how long would it take for me to pay off the total by just making the min payments. was told it was impossible to work out (despite me telling them to imagine interest rates remain constant)!! am still waiting for the return call.
anyone out there venture a guess? i reakon i would actually never pay it off considering the diff between rates and min due.
don't get me started on the annual govt levy

when the revolution comes they'll be some of the first against the wall

godtabh

ElvisP wrote: »

got my statement from boi the other day. balance was 360 with a min payment due of 10. rang cc 'hotline' and asked them how long would it take for me to pay off the total by just making the min payments. was told it was impossible to work out (despite me telling them to imagine interest rates remain constant)!! am still waiting for the return call.
anyone out there venture a guess? i reakon i would actually never pay it off considering the diff between rates and min due.
don't get me started on the annual govt levy

when the revolution comes they'll be some of the first against the wall

How is that a rip off? You dont have to just pay the min payment

jester77

How is this a rip off? Just do the maths, if €10 is the min, then you'll have a balance of €350 and with interest usually around 15% pa then your statement next month would be around 354.50. Remember you pay interest on the whole amount (360) and not just the balance (350).

It would take about 4 years to pay off!

ElvisP

kearnsr wrote: »

How is that a rip off? You dont have to just pay the min payment

well i asked them how long it would take and how much would the total be and they refused to give me an answer.
its not that i object to paying the interest rate as i clear my a/c every time, its the fact that they only request 10 euros on a 360 balance which means the grand total will be huge in comparison

godtabh

ElvisP wrote: »

well i asked them how long it would take and how much would the total be and they refused to give me an answer.
its not that i object to paying the interest rate as i clear my a/c every time, its the fact that they only request 10 euros on a 360 balance which means the grand total will be huge in comparison

I pay my credit card in full every month. Not once have I paid interest in 6 years I've had a credit card.

You dont only have to pay the min. Thats all they expect. The rest is up to you

whippet

I gave up my two credit cards 18 months ago and havn't missed them since. Total false economy. With Laser now you can do just about anything that you needed a credit card for.

Apart from Hiring a car as I found out last weekend .. that is what the wifes card is for !!

the groutch

whippet wrote: »

I gave up my two credit cards 18 months ago and havn't missed them since. Total false economy. With Laser now you can do just about anything that you needed a credit card for.

Apart from Hiring a car as I found out last weekend .. that is what the wifes card is for !!

credit card is much better because if you have any issues (companies going under etc.) you can make a chargeback

also laser has a transaction fee every time you use it, credit card only cost you if you don't pay it off

godtabh

the groutch wrote: »

credit card is much better because if you have any issues (companies going under etc.) you can make a chargeback

also laser has a transaction fee every time you use it, credit card only cost you if you don't pay it off

I use my laser card rather than carry cash. The only transaction fee I may have paid is booking flights

But you do have a good point about the insurance. Big items I pay with the credit card so that I'm covered

Oryx

You can arrange to automatically pay a higher percentage than the minimum. I remember it being on the form ages ago when I signed up.

godtabh

Oryx wrote: »

You can arrange to automatically pay a higher percentage than the minimum. I remember it being on the form ages ago when I signed up.

You can also pay an amount greater the the min amount

ElvisP

Got a letter from the bank this morning:


Interest is calculated when the previous balance is not cleared in full by the due date and is calculated using the following formula:

(Average Daily Balance x Daily Periodic Rate x Billing Days)

---

100

= X

X + Reach back from previous month = Interest Applied

Where: Daily Periodic Rate = APR/365
Reach back is used to access Finance Charges on current activity one month in arrears if the account is not paid in full within the defined grace period.
Average Daily Balance = daily balance added together and divided by billing days within period (total of balances for each day/no of billing days)

eamonnf

In order to clear my credit card, and wean myself off it, I pay it off in full each month when I get paid. I then ring the bank and ask them to reduce the credit card limit by €100. Then I use the credit card up to the new limit this month. This is the only way I can clear it. Next month I reduce the limit by another €100. I'll be clear by christmas.

However, has anyone noticed recently that when you ring the bank with some enquiry, they suddenly 'notice' you need some other financial product and then proceed to sell it to you usually by a person with a dodgy american or indian accent)?

cashback

eamonnf wrote: »

However, has anyone noticed recently that when you ring the bank with some enquiry, they suddenly 'notice' you need some other financial product and then proceed to sell it to you usually by a person with a dodgy american or indian accent)?

They call it 'adding value'.

eamonnf

cashback wrote: »

They call it 'adding value'.

No adding any value to me!

Blue_Wolf

I would be very surprised if they even entertained you by calling back..

ElvisP wrote: »

got my statement from boi the other day. balance was 360 with a min payment due of 10. rang cc 'hotline' and asked them how long would it take for me to pay off the total by just making the min payments. was told it was impossible to work out (despite me telling them to imagine interest rates remain constant)!! am still waiting for the return call.
anyone out there venture a guess? i reakon i would actually never pay it off considering the diff between rates and min due.
don't get me started on the annual govt levy

when the revolution comes they'll be some of the first against the wall

Blue_Wolf

When you filled out an application form to get a credit card it asking you what minimum % you want to pay off every month. You clearly selected the lowest one and that's why it's only 10euro.

Cicero

OP- not sure what point you are making here but maybe I've missed something-

You have/had a debt of eur360
Interest rates on credit cards vary but currently are around the 13- 17% mark, depending on where you purchase your card and how favourable your credit terms are.

In answer to your question, " how long would it take for me to pay off the total by just making the min payments", the answer is simply this- NEVER- at EUR 10 per month, you will pretty much service annual interest repayments and a small amount of capital, but taking into account Govt levy through the years, there will always be something to pay.

At those type of interest rates, you are pretty much servicing the debt- but credit cards are for short term debt- not long term debt- paying off in full every month is the only way to go- you pay high interest rates for short term 'convenient' access to cash- if you cannot pay a CC debt right away, tear up the card and apply for a loan to clear the debt and benefit from reduced longer term interest rates- there is no 'underhanded' rip-off here unless like I said, I missed something in your original post

.G.

BOI personal loan rate is 12.4% for 6000.

My credit card rate is 14.9%.

Not much difference there if I bought something for 6 grand from my card rather than applying for a loan which I probably won't get in todays climate.