MBNA Priority Club Visa Credit Card

...BEING RELEASED, BUT NOT THE MBNA CARD. IN MY OPINION, THIS CARD IS NO LONGER WORTH HAVING - Cheers, Andy


**Green shoots**
If money is the root of all evil, can it be co-incidence that Banks have lots of branches? To strain this metaphor well past breaking, credit cards must be the leaves (they appear from out of the branches, you see…). Oh well, like 'em or loath 'em, credit cards are a fact of life and maybe a necessary ...
...Credit Card is issued by MBNA Europe. The ultimate parent is the Bank of America. MBNA started as a subsidiary of a small bank in Maryland, USA and grew to become one of the worlds largest issuers of credit cards by a policy of creating 'affinity' cards for groups, be they doctors, lawyers or supporters of a particular sports team.

As to why you might want to collect Priority Club points, as stated before you can earn free hotel nights, ... more

UPDATE MAY 2008 - THIS CARD NO LONGER ALLOWS YOU TO COLLECT PRIORITY CLUB POINTS - WHICH WAS ITS ADVANTAGE, BASICALLY. THERE IS A NEW PRIORITY CLUB CREDIT CARD BEING RELEASED, BUT NOT THE MBNA CARD. IN MY OPINION, THIS CARD IS NO LONGER WORTH HAVING - Cheers, Andy

**Green shoots**
If money is the root of all evil, can it be co-incidence that Banks have lots of branches? To strain this metaphor well past breaking, credit cards must be the leaves (they appear from out of the branches, you see…). Oh well, like 'em or loath 'em, credit cards are a fact of life and maybe a necessary evil. So if you're going to use one, you might as well get something back.

Some of them offer points you can convert to anything from money off a new car (GM) to money off electrical equipment (Sony) to actual money back (various) - this one offers points you can use to get free accommodation in the world's largest hotel chain, the InterContinental Hotels Group, which includes brands like Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn

**So much choice…: So why this one?**

A fair question. This is a Visa, very widely accepted (more than 20 million outlets worldwide and nearly 2/3rdsof a millions ATMs), you can apply on line and get an instant decision, it is sent quite quickly, the security is good, they are generous with their credit limits (is that entirely good? Not sure) and you earn points wherever you spend, whatever you spend on, at an easy-to-understand 1 point for £1 spent.

**Two more questions - who issues this card and why do I want Priority Club points?**

Priority Club Rewards Credit Card is issued by MBNA Europe. The ultimate parent is the Bank of America. MBNA started as a subsidiary of a small bank in Maryland, USA and grew to become one of the worlds largest issuers of credit cards by a policy of creating 'affinity' cards for groups, be they doctors, lawyers or supporters of a particular sports team.

As to why you might want to collect Priority Club points, as stated before you can earn free hotel nights, free meals and other stuff - for more detail, please see my survey on the Priority Club (Priority Club loyalty program for InterContinental Hotels).

**How do I get my Priority Club Rewards Visa Credit Card?**

DO apply on-line. And DO make sure you go to the Priority Club home page and follow the link from there to apply - if you go that route, when you are accepted and use your card, you will get a 10,000 point bonus added to your Priority Club account, in other words the number of points you would normally have to spend £10,000 to earn.

Application is easy and you are guided through the process, although there is a phone line and email support if you find you need it.

1) go to http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/pc/1/en/home and follow the link, fill out a form which took ten minutes and was not difficult at all.

2) You get immediate confirmation that you have been accepted, then a letter through the post.

3) If you have supplied a mobile number, you will get a text message when everything is about to sent out - a nice touch, this

3) You will receive your Priority Club Visa Card in the post and you make a quick call to activate it: Also receive the PIN under separate cover.

4) Get the opportunity to take advantage of the interest free option for balance transfers

This does depend on your being accepted for a card of course!

**Rates, minimum payments and all that**

One bad thing about this lot (from my perspective) is that they won't give up on trying to get me to transfer any outstanding balance from another card to them, or get me to pay another bill and draw the money from the card - in other words, to owe them money: Now, I am not naïve - I know something about how CC companies make their money - but once I have said no four or five times, they should begin to understand that what I mean is no!

Anyway (rant over), if the balance shown on your statement is £25 or less, it will be the total amount of the statement balance; or if the balance shown on your statement is more than £25, it will be whichever is the least of 3% of the statement balance or the total of any Payment Protection Cover charges, interest, handling fees and default charges plus £5, provided that it will always be at least £25.

There is no annual fee and the typical APR on purchases is currently 15.9%, 27.9% on cash advances. You have an interest free period of up to 56 days on purchases, if you time it right.

For all you rate-tarts out there, you have 0% p.a. on card purchases for three months from account opening (0.0000% monthly), 0% p.a. on balance transfers and credit card cheques for twelve months from account opening (0.0000% monthly) provided you operate your account within the terms and conditions.

Charges you should be aware of include £12 if you go over your credit limit, or miss a payment, £3 minimum or 3% for using a credit card cheque, £3 or 3% for cash advances and 2.75% commission for foreign current transactions. There is no annual fee.

You can manage your account on-line, including seeing 6 months transactions.

You can set up automatic payments, either of the minimum amount or of the whole balance (one way of making sure you don't get a missed payment charge!). If you set it up to clear the whole balance every month, you need not pay any charges at all!!

**Security and fraud**

You will not be liable for theft, loss or fraudulent misuse of the card, as long as tell the supplier as soon as you are aware the card is missing or as soon as you become aware of suspicious transactions.

**Customer Service**

Easy to get hold of, everything in plain English and a free phone number for queries and support. This company make this look easy - so why do some companies struggle with these basics so badly!

**One more time - with feeling**

May I reiterate?
0% for 12 months of balance transfers
0% for three months on new purchases
Variable APR, typical 15.9%
Accepted in over 20 MILLION outlets
No annual fee
Automatic payments every month if you want them
No complicated forms to fill in
Instant decision

And a wonderful 10,000 Priority Club points to boost your balance (or get it off to a flying start, if this is new to you). 

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