The Tesco Bank Purchases Card has been discontinued and is no longer available. However, this information has been kept for historical purposes. You can use this page to compare similar cards from other issuers.
14 months
0% interest on purchases
22.9%
Representative APR
3 months
0% interest on money transfers
£0
Account fee
| Issuer | Tesco Bank |
|---|---|
| Network | Mastercard |
| Annual/monthly fees | £0 |
| Balance transfers | 0% for 3 months reverting to 22.94% |
| Balance transfer fee | 0% interest on balance transfers for the first 3 months (2.99% fee) |
| Purchases | 0% for 14 months reverting to 22.94% |
| Purchases interest-free period | Up to 56 days |
| Money transfers | 0% for 3 months reverting to 29.94% |
| Cash advances | 29.94% |
| Minimum credit limit | £100 |
| Maximum credit limit | Subject to status |
| Additional cards available | 1 |
| Incentive | 1 point per £4 spent (£4 minimum) in Tesco and 1 point per £8 spent (£8 minimum) outside Tesco. Must have available credit to earn points. Points are converted to Tesco vouchers or can be exchanged for Partner rewards to receive money off a variety of restaurants, entertainment or Avios points. |
| Potential costs | ★★★★★ |
| Doing its job | ★★★★★ |
| Extras | ★★★★★ |
| Overall Finder rating | ★★★★★ |
| Overall customer rating | ★★★★★ |
Review by
Chris Lilly is a publisher at finder.com. He's a specialist in personal finance, from day-to-day banking to investing to borrowing, and is passionate about helping UK consumers make informed decisions about their money. In his spare time Chris likes forcing his kids to exercise more.
If you have a large expenditure coming up and you want to spread the cost, a 0% purchases deal lets you do so at no expense. And while these cards aren’t usually associated with earning rewards, all Tesco Bank credit cards can earn you Clubcard points on your spending. That means Tesco Bank effectively pays you to choose it as your card issuer… but there are a couple of catches to beware of.
First up, it’s fairly crucial to note that the card’s APR and the length of the 0% period can be tailored to the applicant. In other words, if you don’t have excellent credit, there’s a decent chance Tesco Bank will offer you a higher interest rate (that kicks in after the 0% period ends) and/or a shorter 0% period.
During the 0% period, if you miss a repayment date, then you’ll lose your promotional rate. There are also a few exceptions to the 0% deal – such as cash advances (that’s withdrawing cash using the card).
If you don’t clear your debt before the end of the 0% period, then any outstanding balance will start to accrue interest at the card’s less-impressive revert rate of 22.9%.
But exceptions aside, this is a relatively straightforward and sensible way to spread the cost of a major outlay (perhaps a new car, a holiday or even a wedding), provided you use the card correctly and pay what you need to each month to clear your balance before the end of the 0% period.
The Tesco Bank Purchases Card is issued on the Mastercard network so it's accepted at more than 50 million merchant locations across more than 210 countries and territories.
Approval 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.
You can make manual repayments through Tesco Bank's app by logging in to your online banking or over the phone (0345 300 4278). Alternatively, you may wish to set up a direct debit.
A direct debit protects you from forgetting to make a repayment and losing your promotional interest rate as a result (as well as damaging your credit score and incurring the late payment fee of £12). If you're planning a major expenditure, you could use a fixed-amount direct debit to ensure you've cleared the debt before the 0% period expires – simply divide your initial expenditure by 14 to see what you'll need to pay each month (this assumes you don't use the card for ongoing spending).
You can arrange a direct debit for repayments when you apply for the credit card. The table below shows the options available.
| Minimum amount | Fixed amount | Fixed percentage | Full amount |
|---|---|---|---|
Sorry – Tesco Bank is no longer accepting applications for this card. However you may wish to consider one of the alternatives listed above.
If Tesco Bank is able to offer you this deal, the offer will specify a personalised credit limit based on Tesco Bank's assessment of your situation. The minimum limit offered on this card is £100 and Tesco Bank does not specify a maximum. Once you've had the card for a while and shown Tesco Bank that you're reliable, you may wish to apply for a credit limit increase.
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.
The cash advance fee on the Tesco Bank Purchases Card is 3.99% (min. £3). For example, if you withdraw £50, you'll incur a fee of £3.00. Withdraw £250 and you'll incur a rather painful fee of £9.98.
The interest rate on this part of your balance will be 29.94%, which is 31% more than the standard purchase rate (chargeable from the day of the transaction – the card's usual "up to 56 days interest-free" grace period won't apply).
Non-sterling transactions are subject to a 2.75% charge. For example, if you spend 200 euros (£173.99), it'll cost you around £4.78 in fees.
Each month you must pay at least 1% of your balance at that point or £25.00 – whichever of the 2 figures is greater. So if you had, say, £2,450.00 outstanding, you'd pay £25.00, and if you had £10,000.00 outstanding, you'd pay £100.00.
Paying only the minimum required amount each month is generally not advisable as it makes it much harder to get debt-free before that introductory 0% period expires.
Our experts score 0% purchase credit cards to determine their value against similar products on the market. We look at a number of important factors, like the length of the 0% deal, any perks/benefits the card offers, plus the potential costs involved with running the card both in the short and longer term.
You can read more about our scoring criteria on our credit card methodology page.