How to profit from Christmas spending
Samantha Owens, Head of Personal Finance at Moneyfacts.co.uk - the leading independent financial comparison site comments:
“Believe it or not there are only 10 weeks before Christmas. Looking round the shops, even now, you can see the decorations starting to dominate the floor. Shops are ready for the festive season, so why not prepare your own finances too? By making the most of the credit card deals available, you could even profit from your Christmas spending.
“You can make your money work for you and earn cashback on your spending. With a variety of credit cards in the market that offer cashback, it is just a case of finding the deal that is right for you.
“The highest rate of cashback is from Abbey, at 5%, but there is a restriction. The 5% is only offered on the first £1K that you spend in a supermarket until 31 January 2008, limiting the amount you can gain over that period to a maximum of £50. This deal is revolving so at the end of January a new cashback incentive will be launched.
“The card that could earn you the most amount of cashback over the next three months is from Capital One. This offers an impressive 4% cashback over the first three months, just enough time to cover your Christmas spend and the January sales. Spending £1K over this period will earn you £40, not a bad return for going about your day-to-day shopping.
“The beauty of this card is you can spend anywhere and there are no limits to the maximum cashback you can gain. After the initial three-month period, Capital One will continue to offer a competitive 1% cashback, meaning for every £1K spent you can pocket £10 in return.
“However, these cards will only truly benefit those that pay their balances off in full every month, as any interest paid on these cards could soon outweigh the benefits gained from the cashback.
“There are very few cards that will offer a 0% purchase deals in addition to a cashback scheme. Yorkshire BS for example offers 0% on purchases for six months and 1% cashback on up to £2K (0.50% over £2K). So be extra savvy and keep your savings earning interest over the six months until you need to pay the balance off, making sure of course that you meet the minimum payments each month.”
| Provider / Card | Cashback rate |
Min / Max spending limits |
Max Cashback |
Capital One Bank – Cashback with World MasterCard |
Introductory rate: 4% for 3 months |
None |
None |
American Express – Platinum Moneyback Credit Card |
Introductory rate: 3% for 3 months |
Up to £3,500 |
None |
Yorkshire BS – Base Rate Tracker Visa / Classic Visa |
Standard rate: 1% |
£1 - £2,000 |
None |
Egg Money – MasterCard |
Standard rate: 1% |
None |
£200 |
Smile – Classic Visa |
Standard rate: 0.50% |
None |
None |
Leeds BS- MasterCard |
Standard rate: 0.50% |
None |
Limited to credit limit |
Moneyfacts.co.uk – the money search engine |
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