Frequently Asked Questions

This is the window of time in which you can make purchases without the balance attracting interest. Once the purchase promotion period has ended, any further purchases should attract interest. Purchases completed within the promotional period should continue to be interest free until the end of the interest free period.

What counts as a purchase depends on your credit card provider. However, a purchase is generally anything you can buy in a shop or online. Some impose a lot of restrictions, and others are more relaxed, but most card providers won’t classify a cash withdrawal or transactions made abroad as a purchase for the purposes of the interest free period. Check with your provider before using your card for any non-standard transactions.

Once the 0% period is over, any remaining balance from the interest free period will start to accrue interest. This is why it is a good idea to pay off any balance before the interest free period ends.

As long as your purchases are within the interest free period for purchases, and they are classed as purchases by the card provider, they should be interest free for the promotional term. However, if you fail to make a repayment on time, you can lose the interest free period, so make sure that you always keep up repayments.

It is important that you make your monthly repayments on time every month, as failure to keep up repayments can have severe consequences on your credit rating, making it very difficult to obtain credit in the future. If you are unsure that you will be able to keep up with repayments, you should think very carefully before applying for any form of credit.

Yes, your rights under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act are unaffected by interest free periods. However, this is only applicable to qualifying purchases of £100 or more. If in doubt, get in touch with your credit card provider.