Tesco drops the Tesco Premium Credit Card

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• Alan says:

  14 Jun14 June 09:59

  Yeah, you should have received the Horizon card letter by now.

• Alan says:

  14 Jun14 June 10:00

  Glad Tesco have done the right thing re charges although I think they should be apologising for charging in the first place, not for ‘confusion’!

  • Sandgrounder says:

    14 Jun14 June 10:19

    I am amazed people are surprised. If Curve didn’t allow ATM transactions on credit cards, then fair enough, but this is clearly a tool which allows you to borrow cash interest free, contrary to the terms and conditions. Fair play for refunding the charges, but I fail to see why they should allow this practice to continue in the future.

    • Rob says:

      14 Jun14 June 10:23

      Tesco gets a fee for this, remember. It doesn’t get a fee if you withdraw cash on your debit card from your HSBC account or wherever.

      • Sandgrounder says:

        14 Jun14 June 10:45

        They also issue Clubcard points, which you later swap for rewards they need to pay for. They must have found Curve was costing them money to bring the charge in. I agree with the refunds, Curve didn’t really fit the description in the warning letter. I personally hope they reverse the policy, as I have the product and have used it to withdraw cash myself! As usual though, once the goldrush starts, the opportunities for earning tend to disappear!

      • Lumma says:

        14 Jun14 June 11:05

        From Tesco’s point of view, withdrawing £200 via curve and paying your credit card bill with it is no different than making a regular £200 purchase on your credit card and using cash from your bank account to settle your previous month’s bill surely?

        • Rob says:

          14 Jun14 June 11:20

          I get a feeling that Tesco thinks their losing out, but they can’t quite work out how, but they’ve decided not to take a risk on losing out anyway!

      • Sandgrounder says:

        14 Jun14 June 11:20

        The difference is, this is ‘manufactured spending’. You are earning clubcard points for recieving a free loan. You are also not likely to pay interest on this money, which, let’s face it is the way credit card companies really make money. Why did fees for balance transfers come it? Because people were abusing the system and banking the cash for the offer period, earning interest. £200 a month is not a lot, but it adds up if the abuse is widespread. Especially when you offer very long interest free periods for new customers! I think Curve will have to drop the cash from credit cards, or share information, maybe by using a separate MCC, eventually.

        • Rob says:

          14 Jun14 June 12:09

          I agree, that would be a sensible conclusion, allowing card companies the option of whether they charge for cash withdrawals via Curve.

      • Lumma says:

        14 Jun14 June 12:54

        But it’s Curve that’s allowing you to do “manufactured spending”, by allowing cash withdrawals to be charged to an underlying card as a purchase. From Tesco’s point of view it’s a £200 purchase on your credit card.

        There’s also been many comments in the past about Curve blocking accounts if the only transactions are the £200 a month cash withdrawals, so I can’t see it being a widespread issue that’s costing Tesco thousands – especially for 25 clubcard points a month, just open a new clubcard account for the wife/children/cat and fill some more Tesco views surveys in instead

      • the real harry1 says:

        14 Jun14 June 15:40

        @ Sandgrounder – that’d be a decent way round it, albeit limited to £50/ transaction, otoh not limited to £200/ month, I can see determined people hitting Lloyd’s £7000 spend target in a week if they felt like it 🙂

• Ken says:

  14 Jun14 June 10:07

  I have had the Tesco Premium card for several months now. It is easily my most valuable credit card. I really can’t understand all the negativity that the card gets. I live close to two large Tesco stores and all the main shopping is done at one or the other. I don’t use much fuel, but what I do need I buy at Tesco. With this I get close to the £5000 yearly spend to qualify for the bonus. Whenever I need a non-Amex card for other shopping I use the Tesco card. This gets me 0.6 Avios per pound. I tend to fly business class (using air miles) so I do not need the lounge access that goes with the Platinum Amex card. This makes the insurance package that the Tesco card offers a really attractive deal. But for me, getting nearly 5 Avios per pound spent at the supermarket is the real clincher (2.4 with the credit card + 2.4 with the ClubCard). This very quickly adds up.

  Last time I mentioned this card, I was pounced on by several people who said that opening bonuses are the important thing. I agree that they are important. I get them whenever I can. However, there just are not enough of them in the UK to collect.

  • the real harry1 says:

    14 Jun14 June 10:14

    I don’t think people in your situation are negative about the card – it’s people who have a different set of circumstances who can’t really see the point. So I prefer to buy our food at one of the European delis – quality is better for much less money and the nearest Tesco isn’t particularly close so factor in diesel. I’m also a ‘shop fresh every day’ sort of shopper, which makes the journey onerous. The nearest Tesco pfs is even further away! And with Direct dying a death, I can’t see our Tesco spend going much higher than the Amazon MOC discount trick and Xmas Saver 🙂

    • RK says:

      14 Jun14 June 10:44

      Hi TRH1

      I read your comment yesterday re: Xmas saver and pardon me for being thick… but could you explain further I don’t get it

      Also what is Amazon MOC?

      TIA

      RK

    • the real harry1 says:

      14 Jun14 June 10:53

      1) See: Jimbob says:
      13 June 2018 at 22:29 & the answer.

      2) Using T money off coupons (eg spend £80 get £12 off, they send these by post) to get a decent discount on your Amazon spend, I’m running at about 12.5% average discount on everything I buy there 🙂 (or other giftcards)

    • Genghis says:

      14 Jun14 June 10:55

      Quite. The key is (was) the £5k spend requirement at Tesco for the Brucy. If you could do it, great. If not, and you still shop in Tesco, then the free Tesco debit card (same ongoing earnings) is better as paying £150 for the 5k ccs and the travel insurance is not a great deal. Different strokes for different folks, of course.

    • Kenneth Middleton says:

      14 Jun14 June 11:00

      Some very valid points, Harry. Tesco is definitely not for everyone. And, a lot of people have to use the stores that are close by, which may not be a Tesco. For anyone with a family of maybe 4, that live close to a Tesco, that want a lot of air miles, it might be ideal. As for Tesco Direct? I have never used it, so it is not an issue. I use Amazon a lot and buy the gift cards at Morrisons (5x points). That effectively gets me 2.5% off everything I buy at Amazon, though I have to spend it at Morrisons. To pay for this (and other business expenses) I use whatever Amex card I have at that time.

  • Rob says:

    14 Jun14 June 11:02

    If you are a regular Uber user in the UK, one argument is that – because you can turn the sign-up bonus into £150 of Uber credit which nets off the annual fee 100% – you are getting the card for “free” for 12 months whilst benefiting from the travel insurance and the decent earning rate.

  • Kenneth Middleton says:

    14 Jun14 June 11:04

    For me it works, really well. At least for one year. The bonus pays the fee. I can cancel any time and get a pro rata refund. That is what I was told when I rang to ask the question. I asked them to check whether what they were telling me was correct. they checked and confirmed it. Next year I may use the debit card.

  • Alex W says:

    14 Jun14 June 12:48

    The 1 cc per £1 on the free debit card is only guaranteed until 1 Apr 19.

  • Genghis says:

    14 Jun14 June 15:51

    @Alex W Which is probably longer than the Prem card will still be around to existing customers. No guarantees in this game.

• Alan says:

  14 Jun14 June 10:13

  Yeah, neither my wife nor I were offered any bribes to stay as customers but I think we’ll keep it to replace our Clarity cards for overseas spend

• Tom Murray says:

  14 Jun14 June 10:56

  My Tesco Premium card is called just that on my Tesco ‘phone app but online it’s now called “World Mastercard”
  Is yours?

• Geoff says:

  14 Jun14 June 10:58

  Slightly OT re Curve: I have been unable to access the Curve app for a few days now. Keep getting a ‘connection error’ message. Is it just me or are they having problems?

  • Rob says:

    14 Jun14 June 11:01

    Just you I think ….

    • Michael Jennings says:

      14 Jun14 June 17:54

      It’s working fine for me.

      • Geoff says:

        15 Jun15 June 12:20

        Thanks both. It seems that the Curve app doesn’t like running on an iPad. On an iPhone it seems solid.

• Matt says:

  14 Jun14 June 11:37

  Is the Amex Gold companion credit card dead? I was thinking of applying to net 5000 bonus points but can’t find anything on the website.

  • Hsergio10 says:

    14 Jun14 June 12:21

    Yes you can . I just got a new Gold companion CC linked to my Amex Charge card

    • The Lord says:

      14 Jun14 June 14:21

      Did your bonus points post yet? I have been waiting a while for mine but nothing yet.

      • Louie says:

        14 Jun14 June 20:59

        There are a number of comments on yesterday’s bits article about that. Up to sixty days for them to post as I remember.

    • Matt says:

      14 Jun14 June 16:47

      Hey you don’t have a link do you? I’ve trawled google, Amex website and old HfP article links but none lead me to it. I can find the platinum companion credit card easy.

      • Louie says:

        14 Jun14 June 20:48

        Here you go https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/content/gold-companion/#GoldCreditCardbenefits

• N says:

  14 Jun14 June 11:37

  Completely OT, but does anyone know if Marriott Memories packages get discounted in the days before an event?

  • Rob says:

    14 Jun14 June 12:03

    Very occasionally I have seen it happen. Sometimes the London hotels get offered unclaimed O2 seats to offer to guests or staff.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.