By: Harvey Jones | Updated: 16th December 2020.
The Sainsbury’s Dual Offer Credit Card aims to give you the best of both worlds. Cardholders get a 20-month period with 0% interest on both purchases and balance transfers. Balance transfers are subject to a 3% fee, so those looking primarily for a balance-transfer offer may prefer to find a card without that fee. As with other Sainsbury’s cards, cardholders collect Nectar points on spending at Sainsbury’s and elsewhere. Over the first two months, shopping at Sainsbury’s could net users up to 7,500 bonus points, which is worth £37.50.
0% on purchases for 20 months
0% on balance transfers for 20 months
KEY SCORES:
Are you looking for a top 0% credit card? Do you also fancy a competitive 0% introductory period for balance transfers? This card gives you both.
So it seems that you can have your cake and eat it, after all. You don’t have to choose between a solid 0% intro rate on balance transfers or new purchases with this card, the Sainsbury’s Dual Offer Card gives you both. You can almost taste the difference!
The Sainsbury’s Dual Offer Card rewards give you the best of both worlds, whether shifting a balance or making new purchases, and for 20 months as well. All this and a generous Nectar rewards scheme too.
I’ve been a personal financial journalist for 30 years, writing for national newspapers, magazines and websites. I reported on the technology boom in the 1990s, and the subsequent bust. I covered the financial crisis, and the tentative recovery. Decades of writing about the big banks has taught me to be sceptical, to examine every pledge and promise, and look closely at the small print of their product offerings. I’m on the side of the consumer, alert to rip-offs while also keen to highlight top deals. There are plenty out there, if you know where to look.
The Sainsbury’s Dual Offer Card is fresh and fruity but there are still a few blemishes worth highlighting.
The 0% new purchases rate on this card is a big selling point. Add to that a 20-month balance transfer offer, and you’re looking at a solid combo, especially when you consider that the longest balance-transfer cards are in the 28- or 29-month range. The Nectar points sweeten the deal even further.
As I mentioned earlier, you’ll face a fee on balance transfers here, but that is often the case with longer 0% balance transfer periods. If you can get by with a shorter 0% balance transfer period, you should be able to find a card without a balance transfer fee.
Sainsbury’s Bank will assess your application based on a number of factors, including the information on your application form and if an existing banking customer, what they already know about you. They will also examine your credit report, which is a history of your personal borrowing history over the last six years. Providers are only obliged to give their tempting headline rates to 51% of applicants, those with past credit problems may get an inferior deal, or be rejected altogether. As ever, it helps if your credit history is squeaky clean.
You can apply online and also by phone or post. You need to supply standard details such as your current address and phone number, as well as your address history for the previous three years, employment status, length of time you’ve been with your current bank and finally, details of any balance transfer to be applied to your new card. It’s worth assembling all the information you are likely to need before making your application. If worried about your credit record, it might be worth checking that in advance.
I have one quibble with this offer. Do you really need such a lengthy introductory rate on both a balance transfer and new purchases? If you have credit card debt, you really should be spending the intro period paying that down. If you simultaneously go on a spending spree on new purchases, you are pulling in two different directions at once. It could be seen as an invitation to take on yet more debt. So it’s important to remember that this still has to be paid back one day. This could be something to consider before you sink your teeth into this juicy deal.
That said, the long 0% intro period on purchases could be great if you’ve got a big purchase, or series of purchases, on the horizon. And it’s even better if you are looking to consolidate a bit of higher-rate credit-card debt from elsewhere, and thereby make use of the balance transfer offer. But frankly, thanks to the Nectar rewards scheme, the card could be good for anyone that wants to get rewarded just for pulling out their plastic!
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