On the whole MBNA provide a fairly decent VISA card service. The apr is competitive, there are no annual fees and have given me the largest credit limit of any of my other cards.
However I do have an issue with their late payment charges. If you make your payment even one day late then an £18 penalty is imposed automatically. I understand this may be common practice in the industry but its a bit steep.
If you do get hit unexpectedly with this charge it is worth your while calling to discuss this with them. Granted you may be on hold for ages, as MBNA's 24 hour helpline is constantly jammed, but its worth it if the £18 fee can be waived.
I managed to get the fee refunded on 2 occasions, once when I had simply forgotten and spoke nicely to the person on the other end of the phone and another time when a balance transfer from another bank had let me down.
So although its nasty if you do get the late payment charge, do not just accept it. It pays to give them a call, discuss your circumstances and they do seem to have discretion to act.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
I would like to have seen more written about the card for a higher rating, E.G. APR, cash advances, on-line facilities if any, interest free period etc.
Sue
babsbaby 30.06.2001 14:20
Thank you for an excellent tip. I got stung by the late charge on my fairly new MBNA card. As you advised I phoned them and got the charge refunded. You have saved me £18 and I am very grateful. Thanks again.
petersmyth1 30.06.2001 13:27
Owen, I presume?, I use this credit card and so far my payments have always been on time but you never know so this bit of information about the charge and the fact that it might be negotiable was very useful to me hence the VH but if I'd not owned this card your op. tells me very little about MBNA credit cards. What exactly does Co-branded mean? Cheers, .....Peter
May 14th, 2001
very helpful by (36%):
helpful by (55%):
somewhat helpful by (9%):
