28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from 1/1/14]

[Flashback]

GPH- do you mean you are doing multiple cash advances here in the UK? Or that it worked somewhere else? Mine worked fine yesterday but I have not done multiple advances. I get all my cash in 1 go normally.

I did multiples just recently and no issues. Card was in credit (as it needs to be for this to work).

 

[Deleted member]

GPH- do you mean you are doing multiple cash advances here in the UK? Or that it worked somewhere else? Mine worked fine yesterday but I have not done multiple advances. I get all my cash in 1 go normally.

We tried to do cash advances. No luck

Moreover the ATM sign ( for the two that did work) said NO transaction fee. But we got slugged $19.00 per transaction.
After that we couldn't get any cash. Very disappointing.

 

[Deleted member]

I did multiples just recently and no issues. Card was in credit (as it needs to be for this to work).

As was ours , very mysterious.
Will try again in NZ in September.

 

[Baysider]

I did multiples just recently and no issues. Card was in credit (as it needs to be for this to work).

Ditto, multiples in Turkey with zero transaction fees.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

some information i gained today may be of some use to someone... it concerns the new 'fairer payment' rules introduced in July 2012.

background: the following explanation assumes you have paid off you account in full each month and are accruing no interest.

old rule:

let's say you paid off your previous statement in time, but have since made $1000 of purchases. these are, of course, interest free. you then make a cash advance of say $500 on 1 May. on 3 may, that cash advance shows on your temporary transaction account and you pay it off. payment was applied against the $500 and you accrued 2 days of interest. fair enough.

new rule:

same scenario... $1000 in purchases and make a cash advance of $500 on 1 may. the cash advance appears in your transaction statement on 3 may, and so you make a payment of $500 same day.

the new rules however do not distinguish between cash advances and purchases for UNSTATEMENTED items. so there is no 'pay off the highest rate first' provision.

the $500 you pay off on 3 may will now be applied first to the $1000 of outstanding purchases you have made, and your cash advance will continue to accrue interest.

what does this mean?

it does not mean your interest free period for purchases has been waived. they continue to be interest free. it simply means that for UNSTATEMENTED items, they are paid in a first on, first off, manner. (this can be manually adjusted by the call centre but you have to do it each time and is not really worth the effort)

it means essentially if you don't want to put your account in credit (against the rules), then it becomes a 'pay as you go' card.

lets say you take out cash once a week while you are overseas. you would need to pay all purchases AND the cash advance in order for the cash advance to stop accruing interest, otherwise any payment you make will come off whatever has hit the account first.

the relevant provision is #17 of the 28 degrees terms and conditions. that talks about the order in which payments will be applied to your account, but they use the word 'statement'... so payments are only applied towards cash advances first if those appear on a statement. otherwise, everything else is considered unstatemented and paid in order it is posted (although you can only work that out by deduction, not because it's clearly spelled out).

I'm not entirely sure I agree with the way in which 28 degrees has interpreted the new provisions but not a lot I can do about it while I am overseas. it is something I'll take up in due course... but thankful I found out about this now before taking out $10k of cash over the next few months.

 

[Pushka]

So the bottom line is that if you have $2000 in credit, then take out $1000 cash and then $1500 in cc purchases then those purchases might be taken from your positive balance first meaning that your cash withdrawal will accrue interest?

 

[brucebrad]

Mel. Your summary seems to be inconsistent with the information I found (see post #1312). Did 28 degrees customer service tell you that?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Mel. Your summary seems to be inconsistent with the information I found (see post #1312). Did 28 degrees customer service tell you that?

unfortunately it is wholly consistent.

the text you have quoted applies only to items that appear on a statement...not to unstatemented items (a statement means the published once-a-month statement... not your transaction history that is updated daily)

the quoted text in #1312 mirrors that of 28 degrees in their terms and conditions... highest first, provided it is on a statement. and any balance in accordance with the terms and conditions of the card itself.

in this case, the terms and conditions of the card state that any overpayment is applied to items not yet appearing on a statement. but it doesn't say highest interest items first.

that's why I said it was confusing... you could be led to believe that 28 degrees would treat any excess payments in the same way they do for statemented items... but that's not what it says.

this was my second call to 28 degrees, both calls were over an hour and both entirely with australian based staff and supervisors. I also have a background in credit cards from a job during uni... so we were able to discuss this issue at a competent level.

I said before I wasn't sure about 28 degrees following the letter of the law... but now I see your post again I see they are.

 

[brucebrad]

highest first, provided it is on a statement. and any balance in accordance with the terms and conditions of the card itself.
In this case, the terms and conditions of the card state that any overpayment is applied to items not yet appearing on a statement. but it doesn't say highest interest items first.

True, but the terms and conditions don't say _anything_ about the order of application for unstatemented items. Hence, one would expect the previous clause in the legislation would apply (which says the order is highest interest first). I know I was quoting the explanatory legislation rather than the legislation itself, but if I end up paying interest on my current advances I'll be taking this further!

 

[Cynicor]

True, but the terms and conditions don't say _anything_ about the order of application for unstatemented items. Hence, one would expect the previous clause in the legislation would apply (which says the order is highest interest first). I know I was quoting the explanatory legislation rather than the legislation itself, but if I end up paying interest on my current advances I'll be taking this further!

But the rates are the same for cash advance as for purchases on this card, I believe?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

True, but the terms and conditions don't say _anything_ about the order of application for unstatemented items. Hence, one would expect the previous clause in the legislation would apply (which says the order is highest interest first). I know I was quoting the explanatory legislation rather than the legislation itself, but if I end up paying interest on my current advances I'll be taking this further!

hmmm... you would 'expect' it to be applied in the same order... and that's why I've called because it wasn't. I got higher finance charges than I was expecting.

the thing is... you can call 28 degrees and tell them... 'that $500 payment I just made, I want it to come off the cash advance component of unstatemented items rather than the purchase element'... and they can manually do that. but you have to do it each time.

it certainly is a case that needs further examination.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

But the rates are the same for cash advance as for purchases on this card, I believe?

yes but... if you have paid all your balances in full then technically additional purchases are at 0% (for 55 days) and cash is at 20.99% (instantly)... so you would expect the cash to be paid first.

 

[oz_mark]

True, but the terms and conditions don't say _anything_ about the order of application for unstatemented items. Hence, one would expect the previous clause in the legislation would apply (which says the order is highest interest first). I know I was quoting the explanatory legislation rather than the legislation itself, but if I end up paying interest on my current advances I'll be taking this further!

It doesn't. The National Consumer Credit Protection Act only specifies that payments against the last statement balance are against transactions with the highest interest rate. (133BQ Application of payment against last statement balance, with higher interest debts to be discharged first)

The clause does not apply to unstatemented items.

 

[brucebrad]

Reading the Act itself, I now agree (it's clearer than the summary of the act I posted a few pages above). The unstatemented items must be applied in accordance with the credit contract. As far as I can see, the order is not specified in the contract, so it looks like 28deg can apply in any order they want! (Unless you seek an agreement with them as per Mel's comment above).

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Reading the Act itself, I now agree (it's clearer than the summary of the act I posted a few pages above). The unstatemented items must be applied in accordance with the credit contract. As far as I can see, the order is not specified in the contract, so it looks like 28deg can apply in any order they want! (Unless you seek an agreement with them as per Mel's comment above).

but that is not an arrangement you can set up as a recurring matter... you need to call them each time to have a payment credited to a cash advance rather than purchases. time consuming.

of course all this is solved by just having the card in credit... (although not allowed)

 

[cove]

I was miles away from the Sydney apartment care of the Sydney train system into western Sydney when I realized that I had left my cash stash behind. I had a 28 Degrees Card in a wallet. Did a cash draw out of the credit balance and did not have to return to my flat seeing I was 75 minutes away.
Card in credit is a winner even though someone may say you can lose 40 dollars (before tax) per thousand you leave in the card.

 

[curiost]

I apologise if this question has been answered before (but this thread is so long), but if you preload the card, go on a holiday and then don't spend it all, can you take out cash at an atm when you come home incurring any fees seeing as its from a positive balance?

Edit: I'm a noob with how credit cards work so please grin and bare with me on this one

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I apologise if this question has been answered before (but this thread is so long), but if you preload the card, go on a holiday and then don't spend it all, can you take out cash at an atm when you come home incurring any fees seeing as its from a positive balance?

Edit: I'm a noob with how credit cards work so please grin and bare with me on this one

Yes...just as overseas BUT in Oz need to do it from a Westpac ATM or Bank Teller.

 

[serfty]

Yes...just as overseas BUT in Oz need to do it from a Westpac ATM or Bank Teller.

QUOTE Absolutely, as always, no fees ...

Personally I have found it a bit weird pulling money out of an ATM in Oz with a CC, but no charges.

 

[Skrambled]

Hi, I called up to let them know I would be overseas and kind of got bullied into the insurance offering which I thought might be good incase I make any electronic purchases but I will probably cancel when I get back. Does anyone know if the 0.5% is for purchases made or the closing balance? e.g. what happens to an account in credit?