BT launches credit card

British Telecom, the telecommunications giant, has launched its own credit card, and this has been designed to help customers to save money on their telephone and broadband bills through spending on the card. The card will enable customers to make savings on their bills based on the amount that they spend on the card, but consumers are urged to remember that in order to benefit from reduced bills they will need to make sure that they make their repayment in full each month, as the savings made on their bills will be far outweighed by the interest chard on balances that are spread over a longer period.

The way that BT are deducting money from customers’ bills means that for every £2 spent on the card 1p will be deducted from their bill. This is up to a total spend of £250. For expenditure that exceeds £250 on the card 1p will be deducted for every £1 spent. This structure equates to just £1.25 in savings for a customer that spends £250 on the card and then makes repayment in full so that no interest is charged. For those that do spread repayments interest of 3p for every £2 spent will be charged, which will counteract any benefit from bill savings.

However, the card does offer some additional benefits, and this includes interest free periods on purchases and balance transfers for 3 and 12 months respectively. One official stated: 'This is an innovative move by BT and takes the 'bundling' of services to a whole new level. It is quite rare to find any reward scheme operating on a card with 0% balance transfers. This is a strong indication that BT's pushing the boat out to retain its existing customers.'

Tom Smith
20th August 2007