I've had an MBNA PlatinumVISA card for about 5 years now. The rates for retail purchases are average when compared to all the other cards; 15.9% is typical.
The credit limit is shopping-friendly without being silly. When you first get the card they appear to start you off on a low credit limit, and they increase it on your statements until you've had the card long enough and you notice that the credit limit is noticably more than you spend, but not so much that you'd abuse it and get into difficulties with the repayments.
I've had one or two fraudulent transactions on this card even though I never lost the card. No doubt, then, not MBNA's fault for not cancelling it (since I never lost it) but probably someone in a shop making a copy of my card or duplicating a receipt. This could have happened with any card so no criticism to MBNA. In fact, when I noticed the extra transactions on my statement, they had no problem at all crediting my account with the correct amount, which I was very impressed with.
A really good thing about this card is that recently they sent me a letter noting that I had not used their cash advance offer... I had not used this because I always considered "cash" from a credit card to be very expensive... You would imagine my surprise when I saw they were offering me a cash advance of up to my credit limit with only 3.9% to pay over the next six months! At the time I was looking at getting a short-term bank loan which was going to be around 7% so I promptly got myself a cash advance and bought my car using the funds from the credit card.
I recently phoned up their customer service to enquire if it would be possible to extend the six months of this offer, and they advised me very politely to call them back nearer the time when the six months was up and they would see what they could do. If they're willing to extend it for perhaps another six months then I might as well pay off my other loans (at high street banks) using the funds transferred from the credit card. It really doesn't sound true, but it is!
Very happy with the look of the card as well, even though cosmetic appearance obviously doesn't affect the spending power in any way. It's stylish though without being "hello I'm a platinum card" which I like. I even phoned them once to tell them that it was begining to look a little worn out and tatty, and they sent me a new one right away.
Well done MBNA.
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Good op - whilst their standard interest rates are not the best on the market, they do offer some excellent incentives to spend more with them on a regular basis to long term customers.
Sue
Advantages: Good customer service, frequent incentives to transfer balances at very low rates, one of the longest interest free periods on the market, Up to 59 days interest free Disadvantages: Payments are used to clear balance transfers first whilst any other spending accumulates at 15.9% APR
sue.51 17.11.2001 (28.06.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of MBNA Platinum Card
Advantages: Good intro rate, good customer service, Credit card chequebook Disadvantages: Poor "normal" rate, no incentives (e.g. cashback), no Internet presence
madwolf 28.07.2000 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of MBNA Platinum Card
Sep 28th, 2001
very helpful by (75%):
helpful by (25%):
