6.8 Credit card cheques

Some credit card companies send ‘credit card cheques’ out to their customers so that they can use them as an alternative method of payment.

Sometimes they are sent out with a promotional balance transfer offer so that the cardholder can use it to pay off another credit card balance. If this is the case, the interest rate applied to the balance transfer will likely be for the life of the amount transferred and will be similar to other life-of-balance-transfer APRs (around 6%-7%).

You will normally not be able to use this promotional offer to transfer balances from credit cards belonging to the same credit card provider i.e. you could not use a Barclaycard cheque to pay off Barclaycard accounts.

If the cheque is used as a standard method of payment for goods or services, the interest rate is likely to be similar to the cash withdrawal rate, so around 25-30% APR. Plus, any payments you make towards your credit card balance will go towards the credit card cheque debt last (unless you have the promotional offer) because most credit cards apply payments to the cheapest debt first.

If and when you are sent credit card cheques you should also receive a summary box providing certain details, including the interest rate, interest period, charges, amount available, cheque guarantee, how to stop a cheque, how to opt out of receiving cheques, the level of protection you get with them and the restrictions placed on their use.

Back to Guide to Credit Cards Contents

Product Offers
Please ensure that you fully read the terms & conditions of any product or policy before you decide to proceed and are fully aware of the total costs and the benefits and any exclusions or limitations applicable to the product or plan.

Please note that the product links will take you direct to the Issuer or Insurer's site direct and we cannot be held responsible for the information which they provide within their own sites. On some comparison tables we use a star rating which rates products by visitor popularity.