MBNA International Bank are best known for their wide range of credit cards. They do many "affiliate" cards such as alumni cards for staff and students of universities, as well as their own-brand Silver, Gold and Platinum cards.
I had a Silver card with them originally, and now have an MBNA Platinum card. In the time that I have been a customer of theirs, I have found that their staff are very helpful, my account has been run smoothly, and their automated telephone service is quick and easy to use, as well as being free (0800 number).
They usually offer very good interest rates for the first 6 months that you hold an account with them (e.g. 3.9% APR for the Platinum card) but after this time it reverts to a not-very-competitive 18.9%
MBNA can sometimes be persuaded to extend this for another 6 months, if you tell them that you can get a better rate elsewhere. If you carry a large balance on an MBNA card, it's worth phoning their customer service department to ask if they'll lower your rate.
Other advantages with MBNA are that there's no annual fee, and you get a "credit card cheque book", which makes it easy to transfer balances from other cards to your MBNA account, or even pay money into your bank account from the credit card account to get an instant loan. There's no charge for doing this, unlike getting a cash advance from most credit cards.
The disadvantages with MBNA are the uncompetitive rates after the welcome period runs out, and their lack of an Internet presence (although the telephone service makes up for this in part). A lot of people, especially those who pay off their balance every month, would be better off getting a card that rewards you for using it, such as the Goldfish card, Egg Card or Morgan Stanley Dean Witter card.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: MBNA are one of the most accessible banks around, and seem to want to please their customers Disadvantages: Balance Transfer Fee, poor points scheme
debcrane 04.05.2002 (08.01.2006)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of MBNA Platinum Card
Jul 28th, 2000
very helpful by (67%):
helpful by (33%):
