Paying off car finance agreement with a credit card – any experience?

[Mark Peterborough]

My finance agreement with Kia is due to end in a few months and I have a £5500 final payment to make , which I was going to pay by direct debit .I then started thinking about free points .

Kia will accept a credit card payment for this but their website states that my card provider may charge me for this . Has anyone had any experience using a Virgin Atlantic + card to pay off a car loan ? Will it be treated as a cash advance ? Curve is not an option for me

Thanks in advance.

[NorthernLass]

Which finance company is it (most lease agreements are with a finance company, not the car dealer)? I’ve made card payments for lease vehicles for years without being charged extra, so I can’t see they would suddenly do this for a final payment as long as it’s within your credit limit, of course. I’m planning on doing this myself in April on our SUV, half on the Virgin card and half on HH Barclaycard.

[Mark Peterborough]

NorthernLass wrote:

Which finance company is it (most lease agreements are with a finance company, not the car dealer)? I’ve made card payments for lease vehicles for years without being charged extra, so I can’t see they would suddenly do this for a final payment as long as it’s within your credit limit, of course. I’m planning on doing this myself in April on our SUV, half on the Virgin card and half on HH Barclaycard.

The finance is through Santander.

[Andrew.]

They *should* charge you for it, and I’m sure their T&Cs state that they will treat payments to finance companies as a cash advance.

However, the Clydesdale’s T&Cs are one thing but their systems aren’t exactly up to delivering all that they are supposed to.

[HelenM]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread. @Mark Peterborough – how did this go in the end?
I have just purchased a Kia on PCP due to the extra incentives and was considering paying it off in full within the 14 days withdrawal period with my Virgin card. Were you able to do this and did it go through as a purchase?
Thanks

[Mick S]

I made a lump sum payment to my finance company about three weeks ago – used Bendy without fronted enabled. It went through with no issues, with HSBC WE as the underlying card. Points were awarded as normal.

However, I would add, since this transaction I then received the generic email (like many others) about the changes. Its probably wise to do a small transaction to ensure you don’t get hit with a cash advance fee and even worse, get nothing from it.

[NorthernLass]

I paid a £12k balloon payment to Santander in April split between Virgin and Barclaycard avios. No need for Curve. Got full points and companion/upgrade vouchers as a result and wasn’t charged any fees. Similarly I pay the lease payments on our other car by Amex or MC monthly to Alphabet without any issues.

[HelenM]

NorthernLass wrote:

I paid a £12k balloon payment to Santander in April split between Virgin and Barclaycard avios. No need for Curve. Got full points and companion/upgrade vouchers as a result and wasn’t charged any fees. Similarly I pay the lease payments on our other car by Amex or MC monthly to Alphabet without any issues.

Does Santander take Amex as well, or just MC and Visa?

[HelenM]

NorthernLass wrote:

I paid a £12k balloon payment to Santander in April split between Virgin and Barclaycard avios. No need for Curve. Got full points and companion/upgrade vouchers as a result and wasn’t charged any fees. Similarly I pay the lease payments on our other car by Amex or MC monthly to Alphabet without any issues.

I am guessing its probably no longer possible with Virgin now they have started charging cash advance fee for payment to financial institutions – has anyone done this for car finance since the charges came in in June this year?

[NorthernLass]

@HelenM, no Amex, or I would have used it!

I made my July payment to Alphabet with the Virgin card and it didn’t incur any fees.

[HelenM]

Thanks NorthernLass – do you know what the MCC code was when you paid to Santander with your Virgin card? I just want to check its not one of the codes that has recently changed.

[NorthernLass]

No idea I’m afraid. Would it be on the statement, I can have a look in the app if so?

*Just had a look, there don’t seem to be transaction codes on statements. To be honest I’ve only noticed them when using Curve. How do you see them when paying directly with the credit card?

[JDB]

HelenM wrote:

Thanks NorthernLass – do you know what the MCC code was when you paid to Santander with your Virgin card? I just want to check its not one of the codes that has recently changed.

As this is an issue evolving on a daily basis, you are best to make a test transaction and see what emerges. Nobody can give you definitive advice applicable to your combination of cards, merchant and circumstances.

[HelenM]

NorthernLass wrote:

No idea I’m afraid. Would it be on the statement, I can have a look in the app if so?

*Just had a look, there don’t seem to be transaction codes on statements. To be honest I’ve only noticed them when using Curve. How do you see them when paying directly with the credit card?

Thanks for checking

[Mark Peterborough]

HelenM wrote:

Sorry to resurrect an old thread. @Mark Peterborough – how did this go in the end?
I have just purchased a Kia on PCP due to the extra incentives and was considering paying it off in full within the 14 days withdrawal period with my Virgin card. Were you able to do this and did it go through as a purchase?
Thanks

Sorry for the late reply , I’ve only just seen this well after the 14 days that you needed an answer in .

In the end, after going to Kia , they made me a great offer for the car as a part exchange and I ended up with another PCP on a bigger car . I used a debit card for that as I wasn’t confident with cash advance charges on my credit card .

[HelenM]

Thats ok @Mark – I actually had a few delays from the dealer and so only took delivery on the 5th Oct – so I still have a week if I want to cancel/withdraw within the 14 days – however – my Virgin reward Plus anniversary is in Dec so I am contemplating doing some in Nov and getting my voucher, and then paying the rest off in Dec once my anniversary date has passed – and will qualify immediately for my voucher, or will do just below 10k and then only complete the 10k spend later in the year when I want to generate the voucher. I will end up paying interest for a couple of months but may well be worth it to get the spend in for the voucher.

Mark Peterborough wrote:

HelenM wrote:

Sorry to resurrect an old thread. @Mark Peterborough – how did this go in the end?
I have just purchased a Kia on PCP due to the extra incentives and was considering paying it off in full within the 14 days withdrawal period with my Virgin card. Were you able to do this and did it go through as a purchase?
Thanks

Sorry for the late reply , I’ve only just seen this well after the 14 days that you needed an answer in .

In the end, after going to Kia , they made me a great offer for the car as a part exchange and I ended up with another PCP on a bigger car . I used a debit card for that as I wasn’t confident with cash advance charges on my credit card .

[peckishpassport]

Has anyone been able to pay off the balloon payment on a BMW Finance with Amex or other cc?

I’ve been making the monthly payments with Amex via the automated payment system, but don’t see the option for a balloon payment.

Their FAQ says We regret we are unable to accept payment by Credit Card for any final balloon or settlement payments. but I’m hoping there is a way around this.

[NorthernLass]

You probably need to speak to someone in the payment processing department as they often have more knowledge of which, if any, credit card acceptance than the general sales staff.
If they are adamant no cc’s, but will accept a debit card payment, try Curve?
If bank transfer only, you’re a bit stuck, though most companies these days seem to at least take debit cards.