Banking Without Borders
00:16:41 · Jan Watermann, Jonny Pease
[00:16:41] S1: Right. [00:16:41] S0: So it's not gonna be exceptional, um, but there is, yeah, there could potentially be fees to pay. Shall we discuss you know what the alternatives are? You know, we've kind of poo-pooed personal loans quite heavily, and I I I think, you know, I wouldn't want people to think there is no answer, you know, to debt. I mean, I I I definitely don't think people should be taking on debt to make a purchase that they can't necessarily afford. But if you have existing debt, you know, there has to be answers on how you service that. [00:17:13] S1: What's the most efficient way to deal with it? A credit card, potentially, right? A credit card that um offers 0% of interest in the first year. Um, they're plenty on the market. If you qualify for them, maybe that's a good solution.
00:17:24 · Jonny Pease
[00:17:24] S0: You're talking about like a 0% purchase card, right? Like there is gonna be some limitations on how much you're gonna be enabled to borrow. Maybe that's a good thing. You know, that's not gonna pay off necessarily an existing debt. But if you are someone that's being very tempted by a purchase, yeah, this is the way to go with it, right, Jan. I mean, I know I know what you're gonna say. You're gonna say don't do it, but let's just let's just consider human psychology for a moment. Like human beings, we are incredibly weak-minded creatures, and I appreciate that you have to just appreciate for for a moment that some people are really pressured by like social conformity, like you know, Instagram, TikTok, all of these things just coming at them all the time, and they're thinking, I want to try to at least I don't know, show a life that maybe I cannot afford, but people will think I have. I'm not condoning that, but like don't do a personal loan to fund that. Your best bet is doing if there's something you really have to buy is a 0% purchase card, like Jan mentioned. TSB Platinum, for example, are offering 0% up to 26 months, up to Yan. That should be stressed though, because that, you know, depending on your eligibility, that might change. I'm just gonna say it, mate. I don't think it's good advice, but I'm gonna say it look, if you want to buy something, you'd use that card, and then over the course of the 24, 26 months, however long you get, you'd have a strict budget in place and you'd have a direct debit and you'd be paying that purchase off every month. All right. And never, yeah, and just last thing I'm gonna say, never go beyond the promotional 0% period, because after that, the fees may. I think TSB are 24.95% after that 26 month window or whatever window you get.
00:19:00 · Jan Watermann, Jonny Pease
[00:19:00] S1: Yeah, 24.95%, still less than what you can get with some personal loans if you're unlucky, right? If your credit score just doesn't allow for it. Um yeah. [00:19:10] S0: That's true. Fascinating, isn't it? That's true, isn't it? In fact, who were the worst, worst offenders? Was it Zopa? [00:19:17] S1: I think Tesco was was the highest I found. What was that? 30 four percent. [00:19:24] S0: 34.5. [00:19:25] S1: 34.5%. Wow. Festival. [00:19:28] S0: You know what? Anybody in the comments that has a personal experience of personal loans, I'd love to hear from you. I really hope that you know it didn't cause you any hardship, but I think your experience could be really useful for the comments section for people to read about. Um, I'm sure some people will be watching this who are considering taking out a personal loan. Like what rate did you get? How did you did you get it paid up okay? Did you end up paying more interest than you anticipated? What was the experience like? You know, what was the lender like? [00:19:54] S1: Yeah, besides that, other options. Money transfer cards, that could be a good alternative, and uh balance transfer cards potentially, right?
00:19:54 · Jan Watermann, Jonny Pease
[00:19:54] S1: Yeah, besides that, other options. Money transfer cards, that could be a good alternative, and uh balance transfer cards potentially, right? [00:20:01] S0: Money transfer cards, you know, Tesco Bank have the all-round card or a credit card essentially, where you're basically taking money off the credit card and you're putting it into a current account, say, to pay off an overdraft, for example. That can be quite good, Jan. You'll pay a 3.99% fee on however much money you take out. That's not something you have to pay immediately either. That's just added to the balance. And yeah, the balance transfer card, I think, is probably the most well known, isn't it? And that TSB offer, how many months? Sorry, remind me, what's the platinum offer on the balance transfer card? It's actually 38 months, I believe. Enough time to set up a strict monthly direct debit budget to pay off the balance. There is a fee of 3.49%, I think, and you have to make the transfer within 90 days. Importantly, if you do do that, as soon as you open that card, that window has begun, that time has started. So you've got to act quickly. Be ready to make the balance transfer, be ready to set up the direct debit to start paying that off.
00:20:52 · Jan Watermann
[00:20:52] S1: That's right, Jonny. And for shorter periods, I think buy now pay later also deserves mentioning. Let's say your your washer breaks, you can't afford to buy a new one this month, but you know for a fact that you'll be getting money next month and you'll be able to afford it then. You probably don't have to take out a credit card or um look for a personal loan. Maybe you can just go ahead and uh find a buy now pay later provider that offers 0% interest. Klarna, for example, I believe they have 60 days free, um, if I'm not wrong, and it could be a solid choice that's potentially free, solid alternative.
00:21:23 · Jonny Pease
[00:21:23] S0: Buy now pay later providers can impact your credit score. Applying often uses a soft credit check, which won't obviously affect your credit score. However, they will report the repayment data. So if something goes wrong there, then that'll be reported. If something goes well or you pay it off properly, that'll also be reported. So it can be positive. But I think that's important, Jan, to bring up, isn't it? Because you know, if you if you go down the card route, for example, there are certain ways to do it properly, aren't there? Like checking your eligibility first, you know, doing the soft searches first, TSB. They both have checkers in place. So you can check to see if you'll be accepted before. Having anything impact your credit score, whether positive or negative. That's yeah, that is crucial. You're absolutely right. A couple of other crucial things, I suppose. You know, never take cash out on these credit cards. I think that's obvious. Um, and also clear it before the deal ends. I already mentioned that once, but I want to stress that a lot of these cards, a lot of these balance transfer cards, and buy now pay later products as well. If you don't clear them, the interest will start to kick in and in some cases increase, get worse. You'll end up having to pay more and more and more off. You've got to be very calculated about this if you're gonna do it. If you're gonna borrow money, you must be able to pay it off. You must be strict about that. Tattoo it to your hand. Must pay off. It might cost money as well. Please. Yeah, that might cost money. Don't put that on the credit card. So, what if you have to take a loan out, Jan? What if you've got to do a personal loan? What if you've got to go through Revolut, Monzo, Santander? Are there any things that we I you know, I think we've been relatively balanced in this episode and try to because I understand that some people have to do it, some people have no other choice. So, Jan, what if you are someone that has no other choice but they need a personal loan?