Which Credit Card?

taby

I am currently a student and i was wondering if anyone could give me advice on the best credit card for a student. I am currently debating between AIB and bank of ireland.

Thanks.

:-)

Tzetze

I've just been looking through some credit card options myself. Both AIB's and BOI's options all seem to have high interest rates. The student cards in particular can be as high as 18% APR.

Take a look at the MBNA cards available. One in particular (the platinum) has an APR of just a little over 6%.

http://www.mbna.com/europe/creditcards/index.html

esperanza

Tadby,

What do you need a credit card for? If you need money, it's much cheaper to take out a bank overdraft as a student.

Look at the alternatives before becoming a sucker.

Tobias Greeshman

I went with AIBs low interest Master Card, I cant remember the rate on the card, I always pay each month so its not really a big problem.

esperanza wrote:

What do you need a credit card for? If you need money, it's much cheaper to take out a bank overdraft as a student.

Im guessing to buy stuff cheap online!

esperanza

You don't necessarily need a credit card to buy cheap online. In many mainland European countries you can pay by direct debit or by cheque.

It's only in Ireland, the UK and the US where capitalism has found its victims!

jm2k

If you're going to pay the card off in full every month it doesn't really matter what card you choose. If I were you, I'd choose the card of the bank you have your current account with, this makes it much easier to pay the bill every month online.

blorg

A credit card can be very useful indeed and are accepted far more widely than alternatives; 'direct debit or cheque' may help if you are a French person buying something in France but it doesn't if you are and Irish person buying something in France.

If you make sure that you *pay your bill in full every month* (and you would be insane not to, just get a loan and stick the loan into your credit card account if you actually need the credit) then they all work out much the same AFAIK and you should never have to pay a penny whatsoever (apart of course from the yearly €40 government tax.)

Imposter

If Ireland had gone with Maestro or some other international standard instead of Laser, credit cards wouldn't be needed near as much. Here is Austria very few have credit cards as they don't need them. If you do have one it works the exact same as a debit card, in that it's linked direct to your bank account. The only advantage is when you are abroad or purchasing from some websites it functions using the Visa or Mastercard networks.

esperanza

You don't need to be French to have a bank account in France. If you have spent time working there or as a student and then return to Ireland, don't close your foreign account. This allows you to transfer funds, FREE OF CHARGE, from your Irish bank account to your French or German a/c for example. This means you have access to most mainland European websites where payment by cc is not necessary. Very handy, indeed! Get fantastic deals on IT goods, books, travel etc.

Plus it's so easy to do! No worrying about paying cc bill at end of month or having to take out a loan!

Not closing your bank account abroad or notifying them of your change is address is, of course, against the law; but like everything else, as you already know without doubt, you can find ways around this!

esperanza

Hi Imposter,

Any idea as to why Irish banks didn't sign a contract with Maestro, apart from being too greedy to give more power to their customers?

Imposter

No idea. I'm sure others will know though.

BuffyBot

Some Laser card's now have Maestro functionality, and I'd imagine it's only a matter of time before they all do.

Still, would much rather if they issued Visa debit cards, much more widely accepted.

This allows you to transfer funds, FREE OF CHARGE, from your Irish bank account to your French or German a/c for example

Not nessecarily, I believe they charge 75c for the priveledge

Mohanned

I use Master Card and recommend it

vector

Mohanned wrote:

I use Master Card and recommend it

Indeed, but merchants prefer Debit Cards, because they are charged lose about 1.5-3.0% of every cc transaction to their provider.

That is why Aldi/Lidl take Laser but not Credit Cards

jhegarty

jm2k wrote:

If you're going to pay the card off in full every month it doesn't really matter what card you choose. If I were you, I'd choose the card of the bank you have your current account with, this makes it much easier to pay the bill every month online.

and if you don't plan to do this , don't get a credit card....