Get a vanquis credit card instead. Use it for a small purchase each month and pay off in full and it costs nothing in fees or interest.

Paul

Got one Paul. Just trying to do as much as I possibly can to improve my rating as quick as I can. I know it's a long slog but hate sitting around doing nothing. Really thinking of my mortgage further down the line. I was one of the infamous Northern Rock 125% club so want to move my mortgage from NRAM as quick as I can.

Odd thing I note about Vanquis is that I got the card before I was discharged. I note there have been others too.

It's all in the interest rate CIF!

As I understand it Vanquis lends large amounts of money that is never repaid.

That doesn't mean that they don't have a profitable business model though.

Yeah and I guess we shouldn't knock them too much, as they are offering a credit rebuild opportunity where others won't.

Key is obviously not to misuse it. The interest rate is scarier than some heavies coming to your door with a Doberman and a baseball bat[:D]

Vanquis may have high interest rates but I havent heard of them mis-selling ppi .Can the same be said of other lenders??

Paul

Just realised that you can qualify for an overdraft on this card. Has anyone managed to obtain one from them? If so, how long did you have to wait to get it?

Came into another email about this card tonight. They are offering payday loans[:(!].

It's only £50 on offer just now but this is not a welcome development. Something to think about for anyone taking up one of these cards. It's not something I had read previously, so it came as something of a surprise. Oh and the rate - a whopping £2 per £100!! A maximum of £25 days but this even puts the High St lenders to shame.

I have had the thing for less than two weeks as well and have only loaded the princely sum of £10 on it. Half of which has already gone on the monthly fee.

Hi CIF.

Is it correct that it's £2 per hundred borrowed?

That sounds a lot cheaper than most payday loans, though as we've often written, for a lot of people payday loans are a pretty bad idea irrespective of the precise cost.

I rarely try to generalise in statements ( honest ) but one general statement would be to avoid payday loans at all costs. Excuse the pun!

Mark

Hi TDA - posted that in a hurray. It's £2 PER DAY, so 25 days of a £100 loan = £150. Robbery with violence.

Still quite shocked as prepay cards are advertised as being the opposite - i.e. to help you manage money, promote paying in advance etc.

Actually I guess it's only fair to point out that they are offering Cashback. Signed up for this tonight and the list of websites is fairly extensive.

Hi CIF.

I suppose they can offer what they like, so long as it's legal and approved by their regulators.

Then it's up to each of us to decide whether it makes sense for us.

If you needed your boiler repaired three days before payday and it was the only way to do it perhaps it's not such a bad deal.

Got an email in yesterday from Cashplus, offered overdraft of £100 on the card which isn't bad given I have only been with them a couple of months.

Costs are an annual fee of £20 and cost of 50p per day overdrawn with a maximum of £10 in any one 30 day period. They say it will be reviewed on a regular basis too.

Bizarre that I won't qualify for an overdraft for my mainstream bank until my TD drops off though!

Just another small step to rebuilding the credit file.