MBNA Credit Card Terms & Conditions
This is a copy of your agreement for you to keep. It includes a notice about your cancellation rights which you should read.
CREDIT CARD AGREEMENT REGULATED BY THE CONSUMER CREDIT ACT 1974
Your lender is MBNA Europe Bank Limited, Stansfield House, Chester Business Park, Wrexham Road, Chester CH4 9QQ.
1 Key financial information
1a We will choose your credit limit and tell you what it is. We may vary it at any time and write to let you know.
1b By the payment due date shown on your statement each month, you must pay whichever is the least of:
· 2.25% of the balance shown on the statement (but you must pay at least £5); or
· the charges for Payment Protection Cover, plus interest charged on the statement, handling fees and default charges, plus £5; or
· the balance on the statement if this is less than £5.
1c Your Annual Percentage Rate is 15.9% APR (variable).
2 Other financial information
2a If, for example, you immediately borrow £1,500 and pay it back in 12 equal monthly instalments, your total charge for credit under this agreement would be £123.71, not including the £1,500.
2b The interest we will charge on transactions, including for introductory promotions, will be as set out below. Note that we will not increase any promotional rate during the promotional period, unless you do not keep to the terms and conditions. If you do not keep to the terms and conditions, we may, at any time, totally withdraw any promotional rates which apply to your account from the day after your last statement date and apply the standard rates shown below.
· Card purchases: In the first three months from the account opening date, we will charge interest at the rate of 0% p.a. (a year). After that, we will charge a standard rate of 15.9% p.a. (a year).
· Balance transfers: In the first twelve months from the account opening date, we will charge interest at the rate of 0% p.a. (a year). After that, we will charge a standard rate of 15.9% p.a. (a year).
· Cheque transactions: In the first twelve months from the account opening date, we will charge interest at the rate of 0% p.a. (a year). After that, we will charge a standard rate of 15.9% p.a. (a year).
· Cash transactions: In the first three months from the account opening date, we will charge interest at the rate of 22.9% p.a. (a year). After that, we will charge a standard rate of 22.9% p.a. (a year).
2c We will charge the following handling fees. For all balance transfers and cheque transactions, 3% of the amount of each transaction (minimum £3). For all cash transactions, 3% of the amount of each transaction (minimum £3). There is an annual fee of £0.
2d We will charge interest on handling fees, and on interest you already owe, at the rate which applies to the relevant transaction. We will always charge interest on any annual fee, service charges and default charges at the rate which applies to card purchases. We will not charge interest on the card purchases shown on your statement if you pay off the whole balance shown on that statement, and on the statement before, by the date the payment is due. Otherwise, we will charge interest on all transactions, handling fees, service charges, default charges and interest starting on the transaction date and ending on the date you pay the bill in full. We work out interest each day, so the earlier you make a payment, the less interest you will have to pay.
2e We will add transactions to your account after the payment system under which we have issued your card lets us know about them. We will add interest to your account on each statement date. We will add the handling fees, any annual fee, service charges and default charges immediately.
2f We will use your payments to pay off balances at lower rates of interest before balances at higher rates of interest. This means that if you have made a transaction at a promotional rate after your last statement date but before the date we receive your payment, we may pay that transaction off first.
2g In working out the APR we have not taken account of any changes in interest rates or handling fees or any annual fee. We may change these, and may also introduce new fees, by giving you notice under paragraph 11a.
3 Key information
3a If you break this agreement, you must pay the following default charges.
· £12 each time that your payment has not reached your account in cleared funds by the date your payment is due.
· £12 each time a cheque, direct debit, a credit-card cheque or other item for payment is unpaid.
· £12 each time the account balance goes over your credit limit (after taking into account any items not yet shown on any statement).
· Any other losses and costs we suffer as a result of you breaking this agreement.
We will add these directly to your account. We may change the amount of these default charges by giving you notice under paragraph 11a.
3b Details of other service charges are set out in section 4.
MISSING PAYMENTS
Missing payments could have severe consequences and make obtaining credit more difficult.
IMPORTANT – READ THIS CAREFULLY TO FIND OUT ABOUT YOUR RIGHTS
The Consumer Credit Act 1974 lays down certain requirements for your protection which should have been complied with when this agreement was made. If they were not, we cannot enforce this agreement without a Court order.
The Act also gives you a number of rights:
1) You can settle this agreement at any time by giving notice in writing and paying off the amount you owe under the agreement.
2) If you received unsatisfactory goods or services paid for under this agreement, apart from any bought with a cash loan, you may have a right to sue the supplier, us, or both.
3) If the contract is not fulfilled, perhaps because the supplier has gone out of business, you may still be able to sue us.
If you would like to know more about your rights under the Act, contact either your local Trading Standards Department or your nearest Citizens’ Advice Bureau.
THEFT, LOSS OR MISUSE OF CREDIT CARD
If your credit card is lost, stolen or misused by someone without your permission, you may have to pay up to £0 of any loss to us. If it is misused with your permission you will probably be liable for ALL losses. You will not be liable to us for losses which take place after you have told us about the theft, etc.
YOUR RIGHT TO CANCEL
Once you have signed, you will have for a short time a right to cancel this agreement. You can do this by sending or taking a WRITTEN notice of cancellation to MBNA Europe Bank Limited, PO Box 1004, Chester Business Park, Wrexham Road, Chester CH4 9WW.
If you cancel this agreement, you will still have to repay any money lent to you. But if you repay all of it before your first payment is due, you will not have to pay interest or other charges.
MBNA customer satisfaction line – Freephone 0800 062 062
If you are phoning from overseas, please reverse the charges to – +44 1244 672 111
4 Other charges
4a If you ask us to provide services that are not part of the day-to-day servicing of your account, you may have to pay our service charges. We will tell you about these at the time.
4b If you make a transaction in a currency other than sterling, we will change the amount into sterling at the wholesale market rate or any rate that a government may set. We will charge a service charge (commission) of 2.75% of the value of each foreign-currency transaction rounded up to the nearest penny. Exchange rates may change, and the exchange rate which applies on the date that you make your transaction may not be the same as the exchange rate we use on the date that we convert the transaction charge and add the service charge to your account. The exchange rate shown on the statement will include this service charge.
5 Keeping your account secure and loss, theft or misuse
5a You must sign your card, and make sure that each additional cardholder signs their card as soon as they receive it. You must always make sure that you, and any additional cardholder:
· do not allow anyone else to use your card, card number, cheques or PIN, or tell another person the PIN;
· destroy the notice of the PIN after receiving it, do not keep the card and PIN together, and never write the PIN down; and
· only release the card number and security details on your account to make (or try to make) a transaction.
5b If your card or cheque is lost or stolen or someone else finds out your PIN, or if you think your card, card number, cheque or PIN may be misused, you must:
· call us immediately on one of the customer satisfaction numbers shown above section 4 (we have a 24-hour service) so that we can stop the card, card number, cheques and PIN;
· if we ask, write to us within seven days to confirm the loss, theft or possible misuse (the address is MBNA Europe Bank Limited, PO Box 1004, Chester Business Park, Wrexham Road, Chester CH4 9WW); and
· stop using your PIN, card, card number and cheques immediately.
5c If you find your card after you have reported it lost, stolen or misused, you must cut it up and tell us as soon as you can.
5d You will not be liable for any use of the card, card number, cheque or PIN by another person who does not have your permission to use it unless:
· you, or your additional cardholder, agreed to that person having your card; or
· you, or your additional cardholder, have acted dishonestly or very negligently.
5e You must make sure that you, or your additional cardholder, report the matter to the police and, if we ask, you and your additional cardholder must give us all the information we need to help us investigate and recover our property.
5f We may tell law enforcement agencies any information which we reasonably believe may be relevant.
6 Using your account
6a You must make sure that any additional cardholder keeps to the conditions of this agreement. We may release any information relating to the account to any additional cardholder. You or an additional cardholder may, at any time, have that additional cardholder removed from your account.
6b You must not use the card, card number, cheques and PIN after this agreement ends, after the expiry date on your card, or in a way that would mean your balance goes over your credit limit.
6c We may refuse to authorise a transaction if the relevant phone or computer link is busy. We may also refuse to authorise a transaction or return a cheque unpaid if:
· the amount might result in your balance going over your credit limit (in deciding this, we will take into account the value of your transactions, interest, handling fees, any annual fee, default charges and service charges as well as authorised transactions we have not yet added to your account); or
· we reasonably believe that we need to do so to keep to the rules of the payment system under which we issue your card; or
· we reasonably believe that we need to do so to comply with any law or as a matter of good practice, for example by acting to prevent over indebtedness
6d You cannot stop a cheque transaction, card purchase, cash transaction or balance transfer after it has been made.
6e You can only draw cheques in pounds sterling and you cannot use this account to pay us.
6f We may renew your card when it expires (runs out). If you ask, we may also replace a damaged card, provide further cheques, change the card or account number, or change the PIN.
6g We may also issue a different type of card from the one you have applied for, or replace it with a different type of card (including a card which operates under a different payment system), if:
· you ask for (or are eligible for) a different type of card;
· you are not eligible for the type of card you have applied for, or which we have issued;
· there is an organisation that backs your card, and our arrangement with that organisation has ended or is about to end; or
· we have any other valid reason, in which case we will give you that reason.
6h Cards and cheques are our property.
6i We will refund a transaction only when we are satisfied that a refund is due.
7 Statements
7a We will choose your first statement date. We will then produce your statements about one month apart. If you ask, we may change the statement date.
7b We will send you a statement showing the payments you have made to us and all amounts we have charged to your account since your last statement. We will do this every month, unless there have been no transactions during that period and you do not owe anything. We will normally send the statement within three working days of the statement date.
7c You must check your statements. If any item in a statement seems wrong, you must let us know as soon as you can.
