May 07, 2001 11:09 AM
3702 Views
Background:
In today’s world where 90 percent of your buying power is linked to your credit history if you don’t have some sort of credit card your spending power is extremely limited. As a result I chose to apply for this card after American Express turned me down. To my pleasure I was promptly accepted and given a credit limit £500. This I thought was a manageable amount for a first credit card. About ten months after the issue of the card there was one month where I could not pay the full balance off. When the bill came in I was shocked to find the amount of interest was almost thirty per cent of the actual payment to be made. As a result it took nearly six months to clear the balance. As a result I terminated the account and am now quite happy with my Royal Bank of Scotland Advanta card.
Appalling expensive for those who cannot make the full payment even for one month but if managed correctly this card can really help improve both your credit rating and more importantly teach you the discipline to manage your virtual money as it were. I certainly am happy to recommend the card if want to use it to these ends.
It presents a real danger to low income families who may not even begin to be able to think about making full payments as they will get into trouble using this card ridiculously quickly. It could really compound the problems they are already facing so I would definitely warn them off.
Customer service:
The customer service team for this card seem to have got their act together as whenever I rang they were polite, helpful and most of all knowledgeable about the product. Too often you will contact the customer service team after 15 minutes in a call queue to be greeted with the prospect of being transferred to a specialist team for the individual problem which if you are anything like me is rather frustrating.
As a result of my experience I would have to warn anybody considering using this card that it is a wolf in sheeps clothing.
