Lloyds Bank Ultra Credit Card review
- Representative example:
- Representative 18.9% APR variable. Based on assumed borrowing of £1,200. Rate of interest 18.94% p.a. (variable).
- Foreign transaction charge
- 0%
- Account fee
- £0
- Intro cashback rate
- 1p per £1 spent for 12 months
Our verdict
Hard to beat in year one... straightforward and low-cost thereafter. A strong and versatile addition to your wallet.The Lloyds Ultra Credit Card is one of a select group of just 6 credit cards on the UK market that don't charge foreign transaction fees and don't charge an annual/monthly account fee, but DO offer cashback.
Whether it's the best of those six cards depends on your spending habits. The Chase Credit card and the Santander Rewards Credit Card could potentially earn you more in cashback, but the devil's in the detail with those two cards, as only certain transactions qualify for cashback.
The Ultra Card is refreshingly straightforward. Cashback on basically all spending at home and abroad (cash transactions will always be exempt on any credit card), with no cap. In fact the only real catch with this card is called out upfront: the 1% cashback drops to 0.25% after a year. That's it. Cashback is only paid once a year – each January – which feels a bit slow, but you do get to watch it build up until that point.
And while some annual-fee-toting Amex cards are often best ditched after you've taken advantage of the intro rewards bonus, the Ultra is a card that you can keep in your wallet indefinitely, safe in the knowledge that it's not punishing you. That's provided you clear your balance in full each month, which you should do with any card that will otherwise charge you interest. And unlike some Amex cards, there are no luxury perks like airport lounge access or insurance – those perks are lovely, but they always involve an annual fee.
The Ultra Credit Card has an impressively low representative APR of 18.9%, which is great, but with a rewards/travel credit card you should be clearing your balance every month (the Ultra lets you set up a direct debit to do this as part of the application process). Like all UK credit cards, doing this means you won't incur interest. Provided that's how you use the card, the APR is neither here nor there.
If you previously swore by the Halifax Clarity, this credit card is its logical successor. And in fact, based on the perks and potential costs, we think it's better than the Clarity.
Pros
-
1% uncapped cashback on all purchases in first year
-
No foreign transaction fees
-
No monthly account fee
-
No cash withdrawal fees at home or abroad
-
Low APR of 18.94% on purchases
-
Add up to 3 additional cardholders (at no extra cost)
Cons
-
Cashback drops to 0.25% after first year
-
Cashback only paid once a year, rather than monthly or instantly
-
Cash withdrawals immediately accrue interest until repaid (standard on credit cards, but Lloyds highlights fee-free cash withdrawals worldwide as a perk)
Details
Product Overview
| Issuer | Lloyds Bank plc |
| Network | Visa |
| Representative APR | 18.9% |
| Annual/monthly fees | £0 |
| Balance transfers | 18.94% |
| Purchases | 18.94% |
| Purchases interest-free period | Up to 56 days |
| Money transfers | 18.94% |
| Cash advances | 18.94% |
| Maximum credit limit | Subject to status |
| Incentive | Earn 1% cashback for 12 months (then 0.25%) on transactions at home and overseas. |
| Potential costs | 9.2Excellent |
| Extras | 8Great |
| Overall Finder Score | 9Excellent |
Fees and charges
| Minimum monthly payment | Greater of: 2.5% of the underlying balance plus the month's interest and any applicable fees and charges; £5; or the outstanding balance. |
| Annual/monthly fees | £0 |
| Money transfer fee | 5% |
| Foreign usage charge (EU) | 0% |
| Foreign usage charge | 0% |
| Cash advance fee | 0% |
| Late payment fee | £12 |
| Duplicate statement fee | £0 |
| Exceeding limit fee | £0 |
| Dormancy fee | £0 |
Application Requirements
| Minimum Age | 18 |
| Minimum income | £0 |
| Availability | Available to new and existing customers |
| Additional Criteria | You must have a regular income, no history of bad credit, such as bankruptcy, Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) or County Court Judgments (CCJs), and you mustn't have been declined for a Lloyds credit card in the last 30 days. |
The Lloyds Bank Ultra Credit Card is issued on the Visa network (used by a whopping 5 billion credit/debit cards), so you'll be able to use it at more than 150 million merchant locations across more than 200 countries and territories.
Calculate what the Lloyds Ultra Credit Card could save you in foreign transaction fees (and earn you in cashback)
Use the fields above to estimate foreign transaction fees and cashback earned.
How does it compare with other cards for overseas spending?
Finder Score for credit cards
To make comparing even easier we came up with the Finder Score. Costs, perks and suitability across 120+ cards are all weighted and scaled to produce a score out of 10. The higher the score the better the card – simple.
Read the full methodologyApproval for any credit card depends on your status. The representative APRs shown represent the interest rate offered to most successful applicants. Depending on your personal circumstances, the APR you're offered may be higher, or you may not be offered credit at all. Fees and rates are subject to change without notice. It's always wise to check the terms of any deal before you borrow. Most of the data in Finder's comparison tables is provided by Defaqto.
Repayment options
You can make manual repayments through Lloyds Bank's app by logging in to your online banking or over the phone. Alternatively, you may wish to set up a direct debit.
A direct debit protects you from forgetting to make a repayment and either damaging your credit score, getting hit with a penalty fee (£12) or losing any promotional rates as a result.
You can arrange a direct debit for repayments when you apply for the credit card. The table below shows the options available.
Choose from the following direct debit options for your monthly repayments:
| Minimum amount | |
|---|---|
| Fixed amount | |
| Fixed percentage | |
| Full amount |
How to apply
Before you actually apply, Lloyds can tell you whether or not you'd be likely to be approved. In fact Lloyds won't let you apply until you've done this. Checking eligibility took 3 minutes when I tested it. The process involves a "soft" search of your credit file (a search with no negative impact). You'll also get a helpful estimate of your credit limit at this point (not all UK banks bother to do this).
If there's a good likelihood you'd be approved for the card, then you can go ahead with the actual application. In testing, I found this took six minutes. I did lose some time finding my current account sort code and account number – necessary for the application – but on the other hand I can't say I read every single word of the small-print... so six minutes is probably fair! And after six minutes, you'll know definitively that you've been approved. At the end of the application process you can set up a direct debit to clear your balance each month (which I'd strongly recommend), and it was good to see that my current account details had been remembered from earlier and pre-filled on the direct debit instruction.
Applying for the Lloyds Ultra Card (or any credit card, for that matter) involves a "hard" credit search. This means a very small negative impact on your credit score, which is usually short-lived. It's perfectly normal to have hard credit searches in your credit file from time to time (though several in a short space of time would leave a tangible dent in your credit score and would look bad to any prospective lenders).
Immediately after completing the application I received five emails. Great to see that it had all gone through... but a bit of a bombardment. The five emails were an "adequate explanation" document, a "pre-contract credit information" document, a "What happens next" explanation, "How to access internet banking" instructions and a "Credit card agreement" document.
You can see the card in your Lloyds banking app within 4 days and start using it through your mobile wallet, if you don't want to wait for the physical card. I received my physical card just over a week after application. Surprisingly, it was delivered on the same day as the PIN (which is probably more of a reflection of the state of UK mail delivery, albeit one that the banks might have to adapt to).
Frequently asked questions
Can I withdraw cash using the Lloyds Bank Ultra Credit Card?
Although it's possible, withdrawing cash from a credit card account is generally not a good idea, as "cash-like transactions" (such as withdrawing cash at an ATM, getting cashback at the till, spending at a casino or buying currency) often incur steep fees and/or higher rates of interest.
There's no cash advance fee on the Lloyds Bank Ultra Credit Card. However withdrawing cash on a credit card is generally best avoided as it's recorded on your credit record where it may put off prospective lenders in the future.
The interest rate on this part of your balance will be 18.94%. That's chargeable from the day of the transaction – the card's usual "up to 56 days interest-free" grace period won't apply. On £500-worth of cash paid off 2 weeks later, that would mean £3.34 of interest.
How much does it cost to use the Lloyds Bank Ultra Credit Card abroad?
Non-sterling transactions don't incur a currency conversion fee (they're converted at "interbank" rates).
Your reviews
