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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
Sheesh - seems like ages since I've been here. So many changes, business up and running - bred my f...
Sheesh - seems like ages since I've been here. So many changes, business up and running - bred my first litter of labs - moved house - guess I had better work on catching up now!
Member since:20.03.2001
Reviews:275
Members who trust:170
MBNA was the first credit card I held, and has remained steadfastly tucked in my wallet ever since. On their main silver accounts they had rubbish interest rates and no loyalty packages, but did offer interim incentive periods at very low interest rates for balance transfers.
I was going to close both my accounts with them, when RBS refused me a special rate on a balance transfer, so I elected to contact MBNA who offered me 1.9% fixed for 6 months and 15.9% thereafter. I discussed with them the possibility of upgrading to a Platinum card as I fulfilled the criteria, yet they said no. I challenged this decision, and within two weeks, received my new card, cheque book and pin number, together with an increased credit limit, a special rate of 1.9% on cash advances and balance transfers, with 15.9% thereafter.
The card itself is standard fayre, offered in both Visa and Mastercard, and not exactly dynamic looking, you have probably seen the ads bouncing around on Ciao.
You can apply for the card on-line, but unlike most of the competition, you will not receive an instant answer, and will have to wait 7-10 days for one, this is because they carefully assess
a whole list of areas rather than relying on a computerised credit scoring system, which means you are actually dealing with a human being. However, if you decide to apply through their call centre you will these days get a fairly instant decision, or you can complete one of the many leaflets to be found in magazines, Sunday papers etc or the numerous direct mailings they send out.
WHAT DOES IT COST? There is no annual fee, and you can have up to three additional card holders on your account at no extra cost, risky I guess if the kids are at Uni.
Interest as I have already said is: 1.9% (Fixed for 6 months) for cash advances and balance transfers (+ a 1.5% commission charge for using a credit card cheque. They used to be one of the few that didn't charge, but I guess financial climates dictate) and 15.9% variable thereafter - I don't know yet whether they will continue offer preferential rates and payment holidays to existing customers, but judging by their previous service, I guess they probably will.
UPDATE JUNE 2003: Payment holidays seem to be a thing of the past, however, they are still encouraging balance transfers at seriously competitive rates for around 6/7 months at a time.
INTEREST FREE PERIOD Interest Free period is up to 59 days if you pay the balance off in full by the given date on the statement, if you check around this is actually considerably more than the likes of Egg (45 days) and Marbles (c.51 days).
Minimum payment is 2.25% (Yes, strange isn't it) of the oustanding balance or £5, whichever is the greater.
INCENTIVES & LOYALTY REWARDS Well, um, there aren't any, but they do claim to offer special rates on:
Flower deliveries
Chocolate purchases
Holidays
RAC Membership
Home insurance
if you book through the numbers provided on the literature - I must confess I have never tried to find out.
They do however, seem to look after, and try to retain their customer base, exercising a relationship marketing strategy aimed at keeping them rather than just getting them, and then leaving them go once the the honeymoon period is over.
CHARGES (as laid out in their T&C's) They will charge £18 if your payment is:
a) Later than one day after the due date b) Any time a payment you make to the account bounces c) Every time you exceed your credit limit
BE WARNED: If you are changing from a Silver to a Platinum account, all the indications are that you will be able to miss a payment because of the transfer, this is not the case, you should make the payment as normal to your old card account - I got caught out here, and my payment was late, to be fair, their customer service advisor agreed to waive the late payment charge and it was recredited immediately to my account.
CUSTOMER SERVICE I cannot say enough for this company - they are one of the few Credit Card Companies still offering freephone calls - they provide automated balances, and will always advise you, if waiting to speak to a representative, when queuing time is likely to be more than around 5 minutes. They do not however, unlike the competition, accept Switch/Delta payments over the telephone, and are a little slow at crediting Home/Mobilebanking payments to your account, so make sure you leave a little time in making payments to ensure clearance and avoid penalties.
I have been with them since they hit the UK market, purely because their advertising arrived in front of me at that moment when I was considering a credit card, and their interest rates have dropped considerably in light of the new UK competition.
I have heard a lot of people complaining they get bombarded with literature about the company, I must confess I have not found this to be the case whatsoever, with literature being confined to inclusion inside the monthly postal statement.
INTERNET ACCESS (UPDATED JUNE 2003) The site is now far more reliable than it used to be, and the range of facilities on offer have improved considerably - if you hold more than one account with them, these can be viewed through a single sign on (Something highly sought after in Education), and you can view:
Your last 6 months statements,
Your current balance and transactions,
Transfer balances on-line.
Make Payments (new feature)
You can also amend personal details, considerably easier than telephoning, they even accepted mine on-line without my postcode - YES, RESULT.
You do get free purchase protection on most items costing between £50 and £1,000, providing you pay for them in full on the card.
PAYMENT PROTECTION costs 68p per £100 of outstanding balance.
HOW CAN YOU GET ONE? Answer one of the many adverts you see in magazines and papers, or apply on-line at www.mbna.co.uk, respond to one of their direct mailings or call them. You must be over 21, and have a minimum salary of £25K. Credit limit is up to £50K.
BE AWARE OF THE FOLLOWING: SEPTEMBER 2002
As I have pointed out MBNA offer existing customers balance transfers at extremely preferential rates - however be careful - I took advantage of an excellent rate of 4.9%APR to transfer a balance of £700 from an existing card - I did however already have a balance on the card. I had a sizeable chunk of money and decided to reduce the MBNA balance - only to discover that those balances carrying the lowest interest rate are actually cleared first - i.e. the amount I repaid was higher than the £700 and therefore any benefit to me was lost and I am still paying interest on the remaining balance at 14.9%APR - I therefore suggest if taking advantage of a preferential rate with MBNA Platinum that you clear any other balances first or you will get stung.
UPDATE: JUNE 2003 I wanted to retain two Platinum cards as they definitely earn you respect in hotels when travelling and the jury has been out for some time as to whether I should retain this or Capital One - however, the recent advent of the BMI Platinum card through MBNA has made my decision for me - in addition to the normal 'benefits' (!), this will allow me to accumulate points towards money off BMI and BMI Baby flights and also a range of international hotels - and you get the same interest free period, interest rate and balance transfer incentives etc - can't really fault it. Sue
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Sorry about the lower rating. The review is good but this company is now phoning us up to 3 times a day. They are OK whilst you can keep up the payments but their customer relations is exceptionally bad if you ever need them. Therfore I felt that this review wasn't a true reflection of the real company.
caro1717 17.11.2004 16:25
I'm sure what most of this person is true. What I cannot understand is their assertion to use 'Platinum cards as they definitely earn you respect in hotels when travelling'.
This is nothing but complete rubbish, even for the date they said (2003). Platinum cards are, and have been for at least ten years, utterly useless. The Capital One card (for instance) had an earnings qualification of £10,000 in 2003. There is another 'Platinum' card around (MBNA???) that you only have to earn £5000 - ie State Benefit Level to get.
We junked our American Express platinum when we were offered the 'black' Centurion Card. Now that really does earn genuine respect, especially in the USA. We are automatically upgraded to suites in hotels, even when we've booked a simple room. Unbookable restaurants become available. And of course have the exceptional ability to double our BA exec miles so that we can fly anywhere (including Concorde before its sad demise, was a fantastic 'free' trip courtesy Amex
jane35 27.07.2003 23:41
very good op ,between my husband and myself have about 4 credit cards with mbna they are a good credit card company compared to most.
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
Nov 17th, 2001
(Jun 28th, 2003)
very helpful by (97%):
helpful by (3%):
