Finance Choices
Marbles Credit Card
The Marbles Credit Card
Marbles were one of the first credit card offers to appear online and their credit card is still as popular today. The Marbles credit card is underwritten by HFC bank and still has one of the best offers in the UK.
If you have a balance on your current credit card you could utilize the Marbles' introductory 0% balance transfer option to start saving instantly, or there is the 0.5% cash back on everything that you spend, saving you money again.The offers do not end there, with regular discounts at selected partners, which are updated regularly, you will regularly save money on various items. Also, we must mention another very important point about the Marbles credit card which is the low apr that it offers, if you don't clear your balance every month then typical apr is only 11.9% variable, among the lowest apr's for a credit card with so many benefits.
There are additional benefits of the credit card which most notably would be free internet fraud guarantee and also free internet delivery insurance. This means that you can shop online or offline with complete confidence.
Summary
Marbles were one of the first credit card offers to appear online and their credit card is still as popular today. The Marbles credit card is underwritten by HFC bank and still has one of the best offers in the UK.
If you have a balance on your current credit card you could utilize the Marbles' introductory 0% balance transfer option to start saving instantly, or there is the 0.5% cash back on everything that you spend, saving you money again.The offers do not end there, with regular discounts at selected partners, which are updated regularly, you will regularly save money on various items. Also, we must mention another very important point about the Marbles credit card which is the low apr that it offers, if you don't clear your balance every month then typical apr is only 11.9% variable, among the lowest apr's for a credit card with so many benefits.
There are additional benefits of the credit card which most notably would be free internet fraud guarantee and also free internet delivery insurance. This means that you can shop online or offline with complete confidence.
Summary
- 0% balance transfers for 6 months
- 0.5% cash back
- 11.9% typical APR variable
- Discounts available at Fitness First and I want one of those
- Also discounts for music downloads and also film hire.
- These offers are updated and changed regularly
- Marbles periodically run competitions and promotions
- Internet delivery insurance - Free
- Internet fraud guarantee - Free
- Choice of 'marble' colours to choose from
posted by Barbara Gordon at 8:38 AM
Marbles Credit Card
12 Comments:
I can honestly say that my Marbles Mastercard is the best credit card I have ever had and I will not be switching to another provider, even when my 6 months grace period ends next month. Marbles is a trading name of HFC bank based in Birmingham, which is an affiliate of HSBC. Marbles offer a good rate of 0% for 6 months on balance transfers, after which the rate jumps to between 11.9 and 14.9%APR (just over 1% a month). Marbles is perhaps better suited to purchases rather than balance transfers - the card comes with a whole host of benefits, including discounts on motor, home and travel insurance and special deals on other 'experiences' such as rally driving. A special discount is also given on RAC membership. The level of customer service I have receives so far has been excellent, but I haven't had any cause for complaint so far. You can service your account over the phone or on-line and you will still receive a paper statement through the post each month. Initial credit limits seems to be high and, if you manage your account well, Marbles will consider increases every 6 months. My credit limit was increased by £1,400 just recently. Charges (for exceeding your limit, failing to make a payment, etc.) seem to be low, or no higher than other providers. Another advantage of this card is that when you make a payment online using a Debit card, the amount is credited to your Marbles account very quickly, it takes no more than 2 days and sometimes may payments have gone through the next day. There are very few disadvantages to this card in my opinion. If I were to be strict, the IDs Marbles send you in order to set up your on-line account are very complex, although if you save them to your computer and set up your own Internet Password, it'll make life a lot easier! It took me a very long time to finally get my online account up and running, but this was due to a technical problem Marbles were experiencing with their web site at the time. Since then, I have had no problems in being able to service my account on-line. Their web site is extremely easy to use and you can do virtually everything online, including changing your statement date (there is a fee for this service), making payments, checking balance, available credit, etc.) Secondly, you cannot transfer balances on to your Marbles card from other credit cards owned by HSBC, which includes of course HSBC credit cards and First Direct. Thirdly, if you are looking to transfer a balance/s, there are cards out there which offer 0% for 9 months; this card is really ideal for purchases, but there's still a good transfer offer available. Finally, Marbles are only introducing Chip and Pin very slowly and I still haven't received my new card, but I am still able to use my existing card until they decide to switch over. Overall, however, an outstanding credit card which I would strongly recommend, especially to younger (25-35?) customers who would probably be most interested in the discounts and offers available through Marbles' loyalty scheme.
I had my card stolen and around £2000 was stolen. on reporting this Marbles gave me the money back. I used the card after that. But then they took the money back saying it was impossible that someone could take the money without the pin number. Its a well known fact to the police that this happens regularly yet I am now overdrawn with no way of paying them back. The woman I spoke to was impolite and I was made to feel like I was a criminal. I am in the process of getting a mortgage and they have sullied my good credit rating. I have an agreement with them to pay extra each month which I cant afford and to add insult to injury Someone phoned me up and said I was late paying. I had a go at him and he admitted it was their error and that I had paid.
I can't access my online account. I'm currently on my fifth password which (as with all the others) doesn't work.The people at customer services continualy assume I've entered the password incorrectly and send me a new one, it doesn't work and the whole frustrating debacle begins again. "Can you imagine the care I take when entering the new password?" I tell them. "Don't worry" they say "when we send you a new password it should definately work" and of course it doesn't. I phone, I relate the sorry story (again) to yet another person and slowly lose my marbles (ironic eh?). Has anyone had similar problems? Can anyone advise me on what to do next? I fear for my very sanity.
brookshank, can you login to any other Internet websites (ie your online bank?)
bruce wayne, yeah I have no problems at all login onto any other sites. My online bank for eg. This is strictly linked to marbles.
So it can't be a problem with your browser settings, although it might still be worth letting Marbles know the browser setup you're using to see if they may be a conflict somewhere with their website.
Marbles is another of those new breeds, the internet bank. I have to admit, I was sceptical at first, but now that I?m used to internet banking, I think it?s a good alternative to more traditional banking.
Marbles does send out paper statements though, unlike egg, and you can pay your balance either online using a credit or debit card, or through your high street bank or by post if you prefer.
There is currently no facility online to transfer balances though, this has to be done over the phone.
I have only phoned customer services once. They were helpful, although a little abrupt. However, there was only a short queue and the music wasn?t as annoying as some companies.
Marbles are a competitive bank, with low interest rate, 14.9% and a 0% for 6 months deal. I also had a lower rate for balance transfers, although that finished in March, and I?m not sure if every customer receives that rate, or if it was a special offer for certain customers. They also offer up to 52 days interest free credit.
Compared to some of my other credit card rates, Marbles have a relatively low credit limit, and I was told that I couldn?t increase this limit due to my credit scoring, whereas other cards that I didn?t use, the credit limit went up almost monthly! As before, I?m not sure if this is true for every customer, but this is my personal experience with the card company.
Marbles also have special offers from time to time. Recently it was cheaper weekend breaks from the Hilton group, and I have also had other offers from the bank. Their emails also have special offers or competitions from time to time. Some I wouldn't use, but ones like the Hilton breaks have been useful.
Marbles don?t have any gimmicks such as cashback or loyalty points. They do have some holiday related offers, such as travel insurance and special rates with Lunn Poly. They also offer traveler's cheques.
Overall, I would recommend marbles. The internet log in could be better, but you can do most things online, including paying online. They also offer balance transfer cheques, which I find handy for paying off smaller balances, as most cards only let you transfer a minimum of £100. It?s also a relatively low interest rate, compared to a lot of major cards, and also no annual fees.
Bruce wayne,
I contacted marbles for the umpteenth time informing them of my browser settings etc. The operative told me he'd refer my case to his manager and i could expect a phone call by the end of the week. Last week! So a full ten days later, having recieved no such call, I've decided to transfer my funds to another card. The operative offered to send me another internet password (this would have been password no7) I asked him if 7 was any kind of a record. He told me it wasn't and he knew of people who'd been sent 10 or more! I'm now banking online with egg. It took me around fifteen minutes to set up and runs wonderfully. I finaly lost my marbles and have no desire to find them again.
Glad you managed to get everything resolved brockshank and thanks for sharing your story with us.
It'd be interesting to know if any other Marbles customers have had similar problems.
Having got my Marbles card statement yesterday, there is a note that they are going to stop the cashback element of the card.
That was my one reason for using the card, other than a high limit, and got over £32 cashback on the account this month.
Just for info if that was a reason for anyone applying for this card.
Happy MoneySaving - but not with a Marbles card now!
I have had a Marbles card since August 2000 and closed it last week. Probably laziness on my part that I hadn't done this before.
I'd used it for cashback (0.5%) - best I'd come across before I discovered this website - but they have never offered me any good for balance transfer deals.
Their best try last week was 5.9% for 6 months with a 2% fee, max £50. Admittedly I've a credit limit of £12K, so it might have been worthwhile if I'd a large balance to transfer, but I only wanted £2K moved. They wouldn't budge on the fee or the rate.
Marbles have never offered me anything better than 7.9% for 6 months with a 2% fee. I have tried when there has been a balance on my card and also when it has been clear. So 5.9% for me would be an improvement on that for me.
How do I work out how much interest I would pay in a year if say I owed £2000 but I was paying it back at 5.9% and 7.9%. TIA.
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