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Natwest, to their credit, looked at my very good credit history and offered me a credit card with the same limit as my current one. Great I thought. I can transfer my balance, pay it back over 6 months at a 0% APR and everything will be rosy.
I was Wrong!
I never accounted for how ... Read review
Advantages: Low income friendly Disadvantages: poor payment options
...been directed only to a Natwest branch, however living in Scotland this is not exactly easy, as they are not on every high street. You may think as RBS own natwest there would be some kind of tie in, but you'd be wrong!
d) Unbelievably in this day and age, paying over the phone by debit card is NOT possible! Unlike virtually ALL their competitors etc they do not offer this service and leave me and others like me with the unfortunate ... ...I'm saying NO to recommend the card generally; I DO however acknowledge that credit cards can sometimes be difficult to obtain for some people. They are sometimes necessary for travelling abroad etc. and in this instance then Natwest may be a good option if other card providers refuse.
... more
----Background----
As a student on a low income it can be difficult to take advantage of credit cards. I had a student card from HBOS (where I normally bank). I basically had it for travelling purposes and online shopping. I had a fairly low credit limit, reflecting my income, which I was happy with. I paid attention to a few financial advice programs and articles and I realised that I should look to take advantage of 0% apr balance transfers to maximise the limited funds I have. I discovered it can be difficult to acquire a new card, even with a low credit limit when you’re on a low income.
Natwest, to their credit, looked at my very good credit history and offered me a credit card with the same limit as my current one. Great I thought. I can transfer my balance, pay it back over 6 months at a 0% APR and everything will be rosy.
I was Wrong!
I never accounted for how difficult it is to pay the bill! I don't mean they have extortionate minimum payments or have conned me over the 0% APR. NO, these things are very reasonable. The balance transfer was perfect; the minimum payment is only a minimal amount, and the APR for new purchases sit at around a fair 17%. All very good.
----Product & Service----
The problem lies with their payment options. I'll examine them below:-
a) I don't subscribe to direct debits. I often wish to pay more than the minimum, and I don't want any charges should the money not be in my current account. I prefer to make my own payments, as and when I budget for.
b) Cheque by post. I don't HAVE a cheque book. I much prefer to use plastic or cash, I assume like a significant number of people.
c) Directly at the bank with the giro slip supplied with bill. This is my ONLY option, believe it or not. But what happens when somewhere along the way, the system fails and I fail to receive a bill (which has happened twice), or I receive my bill very close to the payment date (which has also occurred)? I was informed after waiting in a long telephone queue that I could pay at the bank by taking my card along. So I did this only to find I should have been directed only to a Natwest branch, however living in Scotland this is not exactly easy, as they are not on every high street. You may think as RBS own natwest there would be some kind of tie in, but you'd be wrong!
d) Unbelievably in this day and age, paying over the phone by debit card is NOT possible! Unlike virtually ALL their competitors etc they do not offer this service and leave me and others like me with the unfortunate lottery of wither or not you receive your bill and then the headache of having to go to the bank by the specific date.
NOT very convenient!
In their favour, they have in response to my complaints, prevented any charges being levied against me as a result of their failure to send me bills or advise me properly on payment issues. So full marks for that area of their service.
The telephone service is fairly slow although not significantly worse than their rivals, this is however NO excuse.
They do have reward scheme in place, but it’s not particularly varied and seems to be directed at specific people. They offer Air Miles, which would take an age to mount to anywhere near a useful amount. I’ve received flyers about exclusive wine club offers etc, but what if I don’t fly regularly or drink wine. NOTHING!
----Overall----
You have the option of a VISA or MasterCard, which are both virtually universally accepted.
The APR is reasonable around 17%.
Minimum payments are minimal at around 2%. The 0% APR balance transfer for 6 months is a good feature.
Their selection policy for credit customers appears to be consumer friendly, when compared with their rivals such as the Halifax, or Nationwide etc.
The reward schemes are fairly useless.
Their payment options are diabolical.
The charges are standard. £20 for late payment etc
The phone service is slow, but on a par with everyone else!
The choice of card designs was non-existent, but is unimportant to me.
I'm saying NO to recommend the card generally; I DO however acknowledge that credit cards can sometimes be difficult to obtain for some people. They are sometimes necessary for travelling abroad etc. and in this instance then Natwest may be a good option if other card providers refuse.
"Thank you for calling NatWest card centre, we are experiencing unusually high call volumes at present and as a result your call may be held in a queue, we do apologise for any delay this may cause but please be assured your call will be handled as soon as possible." This is the latest message you get when calling the NatWest card centre. They seem to be making it sound like it is unusual to be held in a queue. In the 14 years I have been a customer ... ...The Card ~~~
With a NatWest credit card you get a high APR or 19.4% on purchases and 21.2% on cash advances and there should be an annual fee on top of that. I've never actually paid the annual fee as they always waive it (what's the point in setting it if you then waive it?). The card is a good idea if you always pay your bills on time and never use cash advances. Its only a good idea to have one of these cards because you can claim British Airways ...
KathrynE 18.07.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Natwest Card
Advantages: airmiles. online banking. Disadvantages: high charges.
I have a NatWest Credit Card and i think its great! i am very dependant on it and it is accepted just about everywhere!
the online website is quite easy to use. their online facilty is great. i check my balance and trasfer, etc all the time on the website. i did have a little problem a few months ago but i was refunded in full. but other than that one time i have never had any problems with the card - no mysterious money missing
or unusual charges.
... ...would have done without my natwest credit card!
there is no annual card fee. Balance Transfer APR of 5.9% until the balance is repaid. Standard APR rates of 17.4% for Purchases and 19.2% for Cash Advances.
There is the ability to pay off your monthly balance by direct debit and u can get an extra card for a friend, partner or relative at no extra cost. (i personally wouldnt do this!) The initial thing that caught my eye and made me apply for this ...
randhawa 05.09.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Natwest Card
Advantages: Good idea, well layed out, very secure, GOOD BANK Disadvantages: Unbelievable painstaking, slow, unreliable
...review is not about the Natwest Card, but about Natwest Online Banking, a free service from Natwest that allows you to check your balance online and transfer funds.
Let me start by saying that Nawest is an excellent bank, and I have never questionned using them. It's online service however, is so unbelievably bad. When I first joined NWOLB (no not NOB) I thought it would be great to keep up with my account without going to the local. Signing up ... ...etc. I only have one Natwest account so I couldn't use transfer funds and I didn't need to sort out standing orders. My use was simple: how much money do I have.
Now Natwest has a 'new' system. It doesn't allow you to order new stationairy but all other features are there. It's now a pain to login though. It's VERY secure - you need to enter 3 (specified) random characters of your Pin and Password. This is good as if someone accidentaly gets at ...
murban 25.09.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Natwest Card
Advantages: Convenience of High Street bank credit card for payments and cash withdrawals. Decent online facility. Disadvantages: Poor loyalty scheme value, extortionate charges.
...over the net from your Natwest account. I prefer to do mine via direct debt. The website is good if not a little memory hungry. It used to be the case that you could only log on using one type of computer (being a Mac user this meant I couldn’t log on using a PC). I should hope the new website has resolved problems like this.
And that’s about all I have to day, this is a fairly standard card and better ones are available. I’m more wary of schemes ...
Briz_Hatchings 10.10.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Natwest Card
Advantages: Excellent on-line service, good for students, air miles scheme, helpful telephone service, sensible credit limits Disadvantages: High APR, high admin charges, trouble using it on certain websites
As the title suggests, you get a lot of positives and negatives with this particular credit card. I shall begin with what I see as being its most redeeming qualities, before explaining several factors that let Nat West down a bit on this product.
Firstly, as most reviewers have mentioned, you receive air miles - 1 mile for every £20 you spend, in fact. This is a good bonus for spending Nat West's money, although you have to spend quite a bit before ... ...I must disagree with certain reviewers on this issue, they have a very helpful telephone enquiry service. A particularly impressive example of this came when I had problems using my card on the Internet (a point which I shall come back to later). I received a call within hours of my card being rejected by a website, to verify that I was aware of what had happened. Fortunately, it was really me that had been using the card, but had it been anyone ...
stuartcorey 02.09.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Natwest Card
Competitiveness of APR
Product package
Quality of Customer Ser...
Reward Scheme
Additional Charges
Security and Privacy
Ease of Application
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