Verdict: With the Barclaycard Financing Visa Credit Card, you’ll have the opportunity to charge pricey items from Apple — either in their stores or online — without paying interest on that purchase for up to 18 months. This sounds like a great deal. But the fine print that comes with this card is disconcerting:
It’s awfully easy for consumers to fall into a trap that forces them to pay interest on their Apple purchases. This isn’t good; the card comes with a sky-high purchase interest rate. Because of this, the Barclaycard Financing Visa, despite its arrangement with Apple, is not recommended.
Overview: By using this card, you can finance such Apple products as iPods, the iPad or laptop computers without having to pay interest from anywhere from six to 18 months, depending on the price of the product.
But be careful:
If you don’t pay your minimum required payment each month, you will be charged all that interest. And if you don’t pay off your Apple purchases in the allotted time period, you’ll have to pay all the interest that accrued on them. Depending on how much you charged, that can add up to hundreds of dollars in interest payments.
How This Card Works: The Barclaycard Financing Visa usually works as a typical credit card, albeit one with a high purchase interest rate. It’s only perk is its arrangement with Apple.
Travel and Shopping Benefits: With this card, you won’t have to pay interest for six months on any Apple purchase totaling under $900. For purchases from $900 to $2,500, you won’t have to pay interest for 12 months. For purchases of $2,500 or higher, you’ll be interest free for 18 months.
Fees: The fees are where this credit card fails, most notably the purchase interest rate. The Barclaycard Financing Visa comes with a purchase interest rate of either 20.99 percent or 22.99 percent, depending on your creditworthiness. On the positive side, there is no annual fee. Other fees are standard: Late and returned-payment fees run up to $39.95. Cash advances cost either $10 or 4 percent of the advance amount, whichever is higher.
Pros
- Can purchase expensive Apple items without having to pay interest for six to 18 months.
- No annual fee.
Cons
- High purchase interest rate, regardless of credit score.
- High late and returned-payment fees.
- One mistake, and you’ll be paying interest even on those initial Apple products.
