Don’t let Black Friday create years in the Red for you.
If you’ve splashed out today and piled a load of Black Friday ‘bargains’ onto your credit card, take a moment to ensure that you won’t be paying for all those deals you got today, for years to come. If you have the money and will pay off your credit card bill in full next month; great. If not, consider taking out a Conquer Loan to avoid high fees and APR rates from credit card companies.
Have you ever checked your credit card bill to see when you’ll pay off the full amount outstanding if you just pay the minimum monthly payment?
Here’s a real life example of a credit card bill with an outstanding amount of €3,230 and a representative APR of 22.1%
The minimum monthly payment requested by the credit card provider is €81.00 for month 1 and if the minimum monthly payment is adhered to each month the final payment date is stated as being 2045, which calculating from 2017 is 28 years away.
With a credit card bill, once you pay the minimum monthly payment demanded, that payment amount will reduce each month thereafter.
If you do this; it will mean that it may end up taking you approximately 28 years to pay off the original credit card bill amount of €3,230 (22.1% APR), assuming you do not use that credit card again in the 28 years in which you are paying off the original bill value of €3,230.
If you take out a Conquer Loan with us to cover the full outstanding credit card bill amount of €3,230, it has a representative APR of 10.4%, the monthly repayment would remain €81.00 each month, however, the final payment date would be 2022 which from 2018 is 4 years away. There would be a total of 49 monthly payments of €81.00 each and the total amount repayable would be €3,933.92. Your total cost of credit would be €703.92.
Figures are correct as of Nov 2017 and are based on a Conquer variable loan rate of 9.9%, representative 10.4% APR.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF TAKING OUT A CONQUER LOAN AS OPPOSED TO NEVER CLEARING YOUR CREDIT CARD BILL?
> No unexpected fees, finance or transaction charges.
> You can lower the credit limit on your credit card to prevent balances rising again in the future.
> You can decide to get rid of your credit card altogether and just use a debit card going forward.
> Eligible members will have their loans insured by the Credit Union’s Loan Protection Policy. This cover is available at no extra cost.
> Pay off your loan early, make additional lump sum repayments or increase your regular repayments without penalty. Other lenders may charge you extra for paying them back faster.
> Interest is charged on your reducing loan balance, so you only pay interest on what you owe.
> The amount you can borrow is not based on the value of savings you have in your account.
INTERESTED? HERE’S HOW TO GET STARTED:
> Firstly, if you don’t already have one with us; you need to open a credit union account.
> Next, gather together the most recent copies of all your bills and credit card statements for us.
> Calculate how much you can afford to repay taking into account priority payments such as your mortgage, rent, food, childcare and utilities.
> Work out how much you need to borrow to cover your credit card, loans, car finance or any other forms of credit. The goal is to pay off the loan quickly.
> Finally, speak to a member of staff who will help you get started with your Conquer Loan application.
You’ll get a monthly payment that you can afford and it should also free up some disposable income for you, as well as shortening the time in which you pay it back.
> You can contact us by phone on 056 -772 2042, email (loans@stcanicescu.ie) or just drop into your nearest branch.
> We can run the numbers for you and you can see if a Conquer Loan is a good option for you.
Changing the terms of your loan may result in paying more interest over the life of the loan.
Terms & Conditions and normal lending criteria apply.
If you do not meet the repayments on your loan, your account will go into arrears. This may affect your credit
rating, which may limit your ability to access credit in the future.
St. Canice’s Kilkenny Credit Union Ltd. is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.
