CCA
CREDIT CARD AGREEMENT REGULATED BY THE CONSUMER CREDIT ACT 1974
We have given a particular meaning to words beginning with a capital letter. These meanings are explained where they occur in this agreement or in paragraph 22.
1. PARTIES
1.1 The parties to this agreement are:
Vanquis Bank Limited whose address is No. 1 Godwin Street, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD1 2SU (referred to as “we”, “us” or “our”); and
the person signing this agreement and whose name and address is stated on the Reply Card or your application form (referred to as “you”, “yourself” or “your”).
2. DURATION OF THIS AGREEMENT
2.1 This agreement has no fixed or minimum duration and will continue until you give us notice in accordance with paragraph 7.1 or it is terminated by us in accordance with paragraph 16.
3. CREDIT LIMITS AND INTEREST RATES
3.1 We will set your Credit Limit when we open your Account and will tell you what it is. Your Credit Limit is the maximum amount that you can borrow and/or spend on your Account. If we reasonably consider it appropriate (e.g., depending on how your Account is run and/or whether your financial circumstances have changed), we may increase or decrease your Credit Limit from time to time and will notify you of any such change. You can tell us if you do not wish to have your credit limit increased or you want it reduced - see paragraphs 11.11 and 11.12.
3.2 We will provide credit to you through the charging of Purchase, Cash, Cheque and/or Balance Transfer Transaction(s) to your Account. There will be a limit on the amount of cash that you can withdraw each day, which will be 20% of your Credit Limit (“Daily Cash Withdrawal Limit”). We may change the Daily Cash Withdrawal Limit from time to time and will notify you of any such change.
3.3 The rates of interest in relation to your Account at the time of this agreement are from one of tiers A, B1, B2, C, D1, D2, E, F, G or H below:
Tier A) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 19.94%, Cheque annual rate 29.93%, Cash annual rate 37.57%; or
Tier B1) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 29.84%, Cheque annual rate 39.94%, Cash annual rate 48.26%; or
Tier B2) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 29.95%, Cheque annual rate 39.94%, Cash annual rate 48.26%; or
Tier C) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 34.95%, Cheque annual rate 44.95%, Cash annual rate 53.63%; or
Tier D1) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 39.84%, Cheque annual rate 49.94%, Cash annual rate 58.95%; or
Tier D2) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 39.94%, Cheque annual rate 49.94%, Cash annual rate 58.95%; or
Tier E) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 49.94%, Cheque annual rate 59.94%, Cash annual rate 69.67%; or
Tier F) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 59.94%, Cheque annual rate 69.94%, Cash annual rate 80.38%; or
Tier G) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 69.94%, Cheque annual rate 79.93%, Cash annual rate 91.12%; or
Tier H) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 79.93%, Cheque annual rate 88.23%, Cash annual rate 99.99%.
We will set your interest rates when we open your Account and will tell you what they are.
3.4 The annual interest rates are made up of: a) the Base Rate plus b) an annual Margin Rate in respect of Purchase and Balance Transfer Transactions and an annual Margin Rate in respect of Cash and Cheque Transactions.
3.5 We may change your Margin Rate for any valid reason including:
3.5.1 your credit score e.g., when revising your Margin Rate we may take into account the information you gave us in your application, information we have on how you are using your Account and/or information we get from credit reference agencies including changes in how you are managing your borrowing;
3.5.2 economic reasons affecting our business as a whole;
3.5.3 changes in the cost of providing this service to you; and/or
3.5.4 changes or potential changes in the law or a code of practice.
3.6 Your interest rates may also change in accordance with changes in the Base Rate. Paragraphs 3.7 and 3.8 will not apply to any increase resulting from changes in the Base Rate.
3.7 Other than in exceptional circumstances (such as those contemplated in paragraphs 3.5.2 - 3.5.4) which significantly increase our costs or reduce our income, we will not change your interest rates for any reason more frequently than once every six months. In addition, we will not change your interest rates for a reason under paragraph 3.5.1 during the twelve months following the opening of your Account. Nothing in this paragraph will prevent us from increasing your interest rates in accordance with paragraph 3.10.
3.8 We will give you at least 30 days’ prior written notice of any increase in your interest rates. If we give you such notice you will have 60 days starting with receipt of that notice to tell us that you reject the rate increase. If you do so you must repay the outstanding balance at the existing interest rates within a reasonable period and your Account will be closed (i.e., you will no longer be able to use it).
3.9 Interest is charged on transactions at the relevant interest rate(s) (set out in paragraph 3.3) from the date any Purchase, Cash, Cheque and/or Balance Transfer Transaction(s) or any other amount is debited to your Account, until repayment in full. Interest is calculated on the daily outstanding balance on your Account and, except in respect of Purchase Transactions where you have paid off two or more consecutive current statement balances in full each month, is debited to your Account at the end of each statement period. We will add the interest we charge to the outstanding balance on your Account at the date of each statement. This means that you will generally pay interest on interest (see also paragraphs 3.12 and 3.13).
3.10 If you make a Promotional Rate Transaction, the Promotional Rate will apply until the end of the promotional period unless you breach the terms of your agreement with us at which point the standard rates set out in paragraph 3.3 or as may be notified to you from time to time will apply. The Promotional Rate will not be restored to your Account, even if you rectify any breach by bringing your Account in order. Paragraphs 3.7 and 3.8 will not apply to any such increase.
3.11 If in any statement period you incur interest (excluding any Plan Charge; see paragraphs 20.7 and 20.8) and that interest is less than £1, a minimum finance charge of £1 will be added to your Account in place of that interest which will be waived.
3.12 In respect of Purchase Transactions on your first statement, you will be charged interest from the transaction date until the end of the first statement period but, if you pay off your first statement balance in full, you could get up to 28 days’ interest-free credit.
3.13 You can get up to 56 days’ interest-free credit on Purchase Transactions provided that you pay off two or more consecutive current statement balances in full by the Repayment Due Dates.
4. REPAYMENTS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INFORMATION
4.1 The annual percentage rate of charge for credit (“APR”) and the total amount payable in respect of each of the tiers A, B1, B2, C, D1, D2, E, F, G or H below has been based on the statutory assumptions that: a £1,000 Credit Limit is drawn down in full immediately at the start of the agreement for twelve months at the relevant Purchase interest rate; it is repaid (including any interest) in full by twelve equal monthly instalments; that the agreement remains valid throughout that period; that we and you have fulfilled all our obligations to each other under this agreement by the dates specified in the agreement; and that the relevant Purchase interest rate has applied for the whole of that twelve month period.
Tier A) 19.9% APR (variable) and total amount payable £1102.01
Tier B1) 29.8% APR (variable) and total amount payable £1148.70
Tier B2) 29.9% APR (variable) and total amount payable £1149.19
Tier C) 34.9% APR (variable) and total amount payable £1171.90
Tier D1) 39.8% APR (variable) and total amount payable £1193.63
Tier D2) 39.9% APR (variable) and total amount payable £1194.06
Tier E) 49.9% APR (variable) and total amount payable £1236.92
Tier F) 59.9% APR (variable) and total amount payable £1277.96
Tier G) 69.9% APR (variable) and total amount payable £1317.35
Tier H) 79.9% APR (variable) and total amount payable £1355.20
4.2 In calculating the APRs, no account has been taken of any variation which may occur to the interest rates (Base Rate and/or Margin Rates) or fees under this agreement.
4.3 There is no annual fee for the Account.
4.4 You must make a minimum monthly repayment (‘‘Minimum Repayment’’) to reach your Account each month by the due date shown on the statement we will send you (‘‘Repayment Due Date’’). For more information see paragraph 9 - “Your Repayments”.
4.5 Your Minimum Repayment will be shown on your statement and will be the highest of:
4.5.1 any interest or minimum finance charge added to your Account and shown on your statement; and
any Default Charges and any fees for the maintenance of your Account added to your Account and shown on your statement; together with
1.5% of the remaining balance owing on your Account as at the statement date; or
4.5.2 if your APR is from Tier A), 3.5% of (i) the balance owing on your Account as at the statement date and (ii) any amount by which your Account balance exceeds your Credit Limit;
if your APR is from any of Tiers B1) to F), 4.5% of (i) the balance owing on your Account as at the statement date and (ii) any amount by which your Account balance exceeds your Credit Limit;
if your APR is from Tier G or Tier H), 5.0% of (i) the balance owing on your Account as at the statement date and (ii) any amount by which your Account balance exceeds your Credit Limit; or
4.5.3 £5.
4.6 You must pay off the outstanding balance shown on your statement in full if it is less than £5.
4.7 In all cases where in any statement period you have failed to make the full Minimum Repayment due on your Account for that statement period the amount by which your payment, if any, is less than that Minimum Repayment due will be added to the Minimum Repayment due on your Account for the next statement period. Those arrears remain payable in full immediately (as provided for in paragraph 9.2).
4.8 We may increase your Minimum Repayment. If we vary your Minimum Repayment we will write to you to tell you.
4.9 Where your repayment is not sufficient to pay off the whole of the balance outstanding on your Account, your repayment will be applied first to reduce that part of your balance bearing the highest interest rate and then on in descending interest rate order.
4.10 In the event of late or missed payments interest will continue to be charged at the relevant rate. A separate Late Payment Charge may be payable (see paragraph 5.1.1).
4.11 We will only charge simple interest on Default Charges. We will not charge any interest on a Default Charge until the 29th day after the day we give you notice that the Default Charge has been charged to your Account. See paragraph 5.1 for details of Default Charges.
5. CHARGES AND FEES
5.1 If you breach this agreement we may charge you for the following administrative costs:
5.1.1 if we have not received your Minimum Repayment by the Repayment Due Date, a charge of £12 (‘‘Late Payment Charge’’);
5.1.2 if the balance of your Account is over your Credit Limit, a charge of £12 (‘‘Over Limit Charge’’). You would also be charged this Over Limit Charge in each subsequent month that your Account remains Over Limit;
5.1.3 if you pay us by cheque or direct debit, and the payment is not honoured, a charge of £12 (‘‘Return Payment Charge’’);
5.1.4 if you pay a third party using a Vanquis credit card cheque and you do not have sufficient credit available, we may have to return the cheque unpaid to the third party. If we do so we will charge you a fee of £12 (“Returned Credit Card Cheque Charge”);
5.1.5 if you move and you do not inform us of your new address and we have to trace you, a charge of £25 (“Tracing Charge”); and/or
5.1.6 any other expenses recoverable by law which we reasonably incur as a direct result of your breach of this agreement.
5.2 We may change any of the above Default Charges. We will give you at least 30 days’ notice, unless the changes are to your advantage.
5.3 In respect of each Cash Transaction, we will charge a fee of 3% of the Cash Transaction amount or £3, whichever is the greater (‘‘Cash Transaction fee’’).
5.4 We will charge a fee of 2.99% of the amount of any non-sterling transaction made abroad (‘‘Foreign Transaction fee’’). The exchange rate on which this fee will be calculated is set by VISA and will be the exchange rate on the date the transaction is processed and may be different from the date of the actual transaction. Please note that you will be charged both a Cash Transaction fee and a Foreign Transaction fee if you withdraw money abroad.
5.5 We will charge a fee of £5 to your Account for each copy statement issued to you upon your request.
5.6 We may change any of the fees in paragraphs 5.3 - 5.5 for a valid reason set out in paragraph 18. We will give you at least 30 days’ notice, unless the changes are to your advantage.
6. RIGHT OF WITHDRAWAL
6.1 You have the right to withdraw from this agreement without having to give any reason at any time before the end of the 14 days starting on the later of the day after the day on which:
(a) we tell you your Credit Limit; or
(b) if we are required to by law, we give you a copy of this agreement as executed or we tell you in writing this agreement has been executed by us in the same terms as the unexecuted agreement.
6.2 In order to withdraw from the agreement you must tell us either by writing to Vanquis Card, Customer Service, P.O. Box 399, CHATHAM ME4 4WQ or by telephoning 0871 770 5555.
6.3 If you withdraw from this agreement you will have to repay to us without undue delay and not later than 30 calendar days after the giving of notice of withdrawal by you any credit provided to you on the Account together with interest accruing on it at the relevant rate(s) until repayment. We will inform you on request and without delay of the amount of interest payable per day until repayment.
7. REPAYMENT AND TERMINATION
7.1 Independently of your right of withdrawal, you can notify us at any time that you wish to close your Account by writing to us at Vanquis Card, Customer Service, P.O. Box 399, CHATHAM ME4 4WQ or by telephoning 0871 770 5555. You will have to pay all amounts you owe to us under this agreement, including the amount of any Transactions appearing on your Account after notice has been given by you.
7.2 You can repay all or part of your outstanding balance early in full or in part at any time. Repayments will increase the credit available on your Account within your Credit Limit.
See paragraphs 9 and 16 for further provisions as to repayment and termination.
8. COMPLAINTS
8.1 If you have a complaint about the service you receive, please write to Vanquis Card, Customer Service, P.O. Box 399, CHATHAM ME4 4WQ and your complaint will be dealt with in accordance with our Complaints procedure. If we cannot resolve a complaint to your satisfaction you have the right to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service at South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR or via its website (www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/). If you do not take up your complaint with us first, you will not be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
8.2 The Office of Fair Trading is the supervisory authority under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. The Office of Fair Trading’s address is Fleetbank House, 2-6 Salisbury Square, London EC4Y 8JX. Our consumer credit licence number, issued by the Office of Fair Trading, is 532364. In addition, we are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority to accept deposits and carry out insurance mediation under registration number 221156. The Financial Services Authority is responsible for the regulation of the financial services industry.
MISSING PAYMENTS
Missing payments could have severe consequences and make obtaining credit more difficult and we may take legal proceedings against you. If we do take legal proceedings against you, we may apply for a bankruptcy order against you or a charging order against your home. This could lead to your home being repossessed and sold.
RIGHTS UNDER THE CONSUMER CREDIT ACT
If you received unsatisfactory goods or services paid for under this agreement costing more than £100 and not more than £30,000, you may have a right to sue the supplier, us or both.
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 £50 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. as long as you confirm this in writing within seven days. Please send this confirmation to Vanquis Card, Customer Service, P.O. Box 399, CHATHAM ME4 4WQ.
If your card is lost, misused or stolen, please call Customer Service immediately on 0800 783 9003 (or +44 161 444 4495 if calling from outside the UK) to report it.
OTHER TERMS
9. Your Repayments
9.1 You will be liable for the amount of all transactions, interest/minimum finance charges, fees and any applicable Default Charges payable under this agreement.
9.2 Any amount which takes you over your Credit Limit and/or any arrears shown on your monthly statement must be repaid to us in full immediately.
9.3 You may repay any sum greater than the Minimum Repayment due up to and including the whole balance outstanding on your Account.
9.4 A repayment by you to us will be credited to your Account. However, we reserve the right to withhold authorisation for a transaction on your Account until your repayment has cleared through the banking system. We will only accept that you have paid any money you owe us when we receive your payment as cleared funds. Please ensure that you allow enough time for your payment to clear through the banking system.
9.5 All repayments from you must be made in pounds sterling from a UK bank.
9.6 Any cheque repayments made to your Account must have your Account number clearly marked on the back of the cheque.
9.7 You cannot use a claim against a supplier or retailer as a reason for not making payments to us. You must continue to meet your Minimum Repayment even if you have a dispute or claim against a supplier or retailer or us. Failure to pay your Minimum Repayment may result in your Account going into arrears and will result in default information being recorded against you with credit reference agencies.
10. Additional Cardholders
10.1 If you request us to, we may issue a Card and Personal Identification Number (PIN) to the person you nominate (‘Additional Cardholder’). We may charge you for this service and we will notify you of any charge before providing you with the service.
10.2 You must make sure that the Additional Cardholder has consented to you giving us their details and is at least 18 years old.
10.3 All transactions carried out by the Additional Cardholder will appear on your statement, will be included in your outstanding balance and you are responsible for repayment of all transactions. You must make sure that the Additional Cardholder uses their Card in accordance with these terms and conditions and follows any instructions we give you about Card security and giving information to us. You understand that we cannot control how Additional Cardholders use the Account. You will be responsible for all use of their Card (and Cheques if applicable), including any use by them which results in a breach of this agreement.
10.4 You can ask us to cancel an Additional Cardholder’s Card at any time but you will remain responsible for its use until it is returned to us.
11. Using Your Account
11.1 When we have opened your Account, we will send you and any Additional Cardholder a Card and PIN. The Card may only be used by the person whose name is on the Card. You may not use the Card until you have activated it by contacting us. The Card may be replaced from time to time with either the same type of Card or a different Card, which will be covered by the terms of this agreement.
11.2 The Card may be used for Purchase Transactions and Cash Transactions.
11.3 You must only use your Card within the ‘valid from’ and ‘expires end’ date on the Card.
11.4 If you ask us to, we may send you our Cheques, which can only be used by you. You may only make Cheque Transactions in sterling and must not use one of our Cheques to make a payment to us. If you want to receive Cheques, please notify us by writing to Vanquis Card, Customer Service, P.O. Box 399, CHATHAM ME4 4WQ, or by calling 0871 770 5555.
11.5 You must not use your Card or our Cheques in a way that would take your Account balance over your Credit Limit. If you use your Card or our Cheques for Cash Transactions, you must not make withdrawals that are over your Daily Cash Withdrawal Limit.
11.6 You cannot use our Cheques in places where a cheque guarantee card is required. Your Card is not a cheque guarantee card.
11.7 Cards and Cheques belong to us. If we ask you to return them to us, you must do so immediately. We can also ask a merchant (e.g., a shop or petrol station) to keep your Card and return it to us.
11.8 We may refuse to process a Transaction in the following situations:
11.8.1 you have not contacted us to activate your Card or a replacement Card;
11.8.2 you have already exceeded your Credit Limit or the Transaction will cause you to exceed your Credit Limit;
11.8.3 your repayments to us are in arrears or we otherwise believe that there is a significantly increased risk that you will be unable to pay what you owe;
11.8.4 you enter the wrong PIN or we are unable to validate the PIN you have entered;
11.8.5 we reasonably believe that it is necessary to do so to protect the security of your Account;
11.8.6 we reasonably believe it is necessary to do so to prevent fraud;
11.8.7 we have restricted the use of your Account under paragraph 12;
11.8.8 your Account is closed; and
11.8.9 for any other reason set out in this agreement.
If we refuse to process a Transaction we will let you know as soon as possible. For Purchase Transactions the merchant will be notified of the refusal and will tell you about it. For cash withdrawals the cash machine will state that we have refused the Cash Transaction. You may also contact us to find out (or if you contact us to try to make the Transaction we will tell you at the time) why you have been refused and what you can do (if anything) to rectify any factual errors that led to the refusal (unless we are not allowed to tell you by law).
11.9 You or an Additional Cardholder must not use a Card for any illegal purpose. If you or an Additional Cardholder do so, you will be responsible for such use and may be required to reimburse us and/or VISA (or another payment scheme provider) for all amounts which we or they incur as a result of such use.
11.10 You should not make payments that put your Account into credit. If you do so, we will not pay any interest.
11.11 You may request an increase in your Credit Limit at any time but we are not obliged to grant it in full or in part. We will give you not less than 30 days' notice if we propose to increase your Credit Limit without your having requested it. You can reject this increase. We will tell you how you can do this when we give you notice.
11.12 You can tell us at any time that you do not wish to receive Credit Limit increases and you can ask us to reduce your Credit Limit. We reserve the right not to make any reduction to your Credit Limit that you may request or defer its making where we have a reasonable belief that such reduction would cause you to commit a breach of this agreement e.g., you would exceed the requested Credit Limit.
11.13 If you ask us to send a Cash Transaction or any other payment from your Account (for example, where your Account is in credit and you ask us to refund you the credit balance) to your bank account the payment will arrive no later than the next working day. If your request is received after 3pm and before midnight or on a Saturday or Sunday or a bank holiday, we will treat the request as received on the following working day and timescales for receipt of the payment into your bank account will be adjusted accordingly. If you request the refund of a credit balance, we may need to delay the payment to investigate why your Account is in credit. If, for any reason, we are unable to transfer the payment in these timescales we may offer you alternative ways of transferring your payment.
11.14 You cannot cancel a Transaction once you have authorised the merchant to use your Card for a Purchase Transaction or asked us to make a Cash Transaction or a Balance Transfer Transaction.
11.15 Where you give your Card details for a Transaction to be made on a future date (for example, where you set up a regular bill payment from your Card) and you want to cancel that Transaction you must tell the third party you agreed to make the Transaction with or us no later than the working day before the payment is due to be taken and, if you tell the third party, provide us with a copy of your cancellation of that Transaction. You may be able to cancel Transactions after the times set out in paragraph 11.14 and this paragraph but you will have to contact us and, for Purchase Transactions, the merchant.
11.16 The authorisation of a Transaction can include authorising any single Transaction, a series of recurring Transactions (including Transactions for an indefinite period) or pre-authorising a future Transaction of a certain or uncertain amount. A Transaction will be regarded as authorised by you or an Additional Cardholder where you or an Additional Cardholder:
11.16.1 authorise the Transaction at the point of sale by following whatever instructions are provided by the merchant to authorise the Transaction, which may include entering a PIN or providing any other security code or signing a sales voucher;
11.16.2 insert your Card and provide your PIN and make a request for a Cash Transaction at an ATM;
11.16.3 orally or in writing provide your Card details to us and request a Cash Transaction to your bank account or Balance Transfer Transaction from your Account;
11.16.4 present (including sending) a completed Cheque to any person; or
11.16.5 provide us with your security details and instruct us to carry out the Transaction.
11.17 We may make a refund in respect of a Purchase Transaction if the following conditions are met;
11.17.1 the merchant is based in the European Economic Area (“EEA”);
11.17.2 you did not specify the amount of the Purchase Transaction when you authorised it (for example, where you authorise a hotel to collect whatever you spend during your stay);
11.17.3 the amount of the Purchase Transaction exceeded the amount you could reasonably have expected to pay in the circumstances (not taking into account exchange rate fluctuations) and in light of your previous spending patterns; and
11.17.4 you request the refund within 8 weeks after the payment was taken from your Account.
We may ask you to provide such information as is reasonably necessary for us to ascertain that you are entitled to a refund.
This paragraph does not affect your rights to a refund set out in paragraph 14.3.
12. Restricting Use of Your Account
12.1 We can suspend your use of your Card, Card number, Cheque or PIN on your Account for the following reasons:
12.1.1 on reasonable grounds relating to:
12.1.1.1 the security of the Card;
12.1.1.2 suspected fraudulent or unauthorised use of the Card; or
12.1.1.3 a significantly increased risk that you will be unable to meet payments;
12.1.2 you have opted-in to the Plan under paragraph 20 and you ask us to freeze your Account under the terms of that paragraph; or
12.1.3 we are required to do so by law, a court, regulatory authority or under another duty that applies to us.
12.2 If we suspend your use of your Account, we will write to tell you before or immediately after such suspension, except where we do not have to do so by law (e.g., if doing so would prejudice the prevention of a crime).
13. Statements
13.1 We will normally send you a monthly statement unless no payment is due from you on your Account. Your statement will contain details of Transactions, payments, refunds, interest/minimum finance charge, fees and any Default Charges applicable to your Account since your last statement. Your statement will be sent to the last postal address you have given us or, if you have opted to receive electronic statements, be made available to you electronically.
13.2 If you do not agree with any item on your statement, you must notify us of the reason for your dispute without delay.
14. Looking After Your Account, Card and PIN
14.1 You and any Additional Cardholder must:
14.1.1 sign the issued Card(s) immediately on its receipt;
14.1.2 keep the Card(s) and Cheques secure;
14.1.3 memorise your PIN, keep it secret and destroy the paper slip upon which the PIN has been printed;
14.1.4 comply with our reasonable instructions regarding use or change of the PIN (e.g., for security reasons);
14.1.5 inform us immediately by telephoning 0800 783 9003 (or +44 161 444 4495 if calling from outside the UK) if you suspect that anyone else knows your PIN; and/or
14.1.6 inform us immediately by telephoning 0800 783 9003 (or +44 161 444 4495 if calling from outside the UK) if you lose your Card or Cheques, or you suspect that they have been stolen. You must confirm this notification to us in writing within 7 days to Vanquis Card, Customer Service, P.O. Box 399, CHATHAM ME4 4WQ;
14.1.7 not allow anyone else to use the Card(s) or Cheques;
14.1.8 inform us immediately by telephoning 0800 783 9003 (or +44 161 444 4495 if calling from outside the UK) if you become aware of an unauthorised transaction on your Account and co-operate with us and the police to recover losses, and to investigate any unauthorised transactions.
14.2 We may ask for proof of your identity when we consider it necessary for security reasons.
14.3 We will suspend and investigate any Transaction you challenge as unauthorised, and, if the Transaction was not authorised by you, we will refund it and return your Account to the position it would have been in (for example, by refunding any interest or charges that you have paid as a result).
15. Limits to our Liability
15.1 We will not be liable to you if we cannot carry out our responsibilities under this agreement due to reasons outside our reasonable control e.g., due to fire, flood, strike action or for electronic failure such as machine, data processing system or data transmission links.
15.2 We will not be liable to you for any refusal or delay by any person to accept your Card, PIN or Cheque.
15.3 We will not be liable to you for any loss of profit or damage to your reputation.
16. Closing Your Account
16.1 We may close your Account for any lawful reason by giving you at least two months’ written notice.
16.2 We may close your Account immediately:
16.2.1 if you die; or
16.2.2 if you have a bankruptcy, debt relief order or receiving order made against you.
If we do so, we will write to tell you before or immediately after such closure, except where we do not have to do so by law (e.g., if doing so would prejudice the prevention of a crime). You (or your representative) will be required to repay us any amounts you owe to us.
16.3 Where we have given you notice or you have given us notice, this agreement will only formally end when:
16.3.1 you have paid all amounts you owe to us under this agreement, including the amount of any transactions appearing on your Account after the notice has been given; and
16.3.2 you and any Additional Cardholder have returned to us all Cards and Cheques cut in two to Vanquis Card, Customer Service, P.O. Box 399, CHATHAM ME4 4WQ.
16.4 If your Account is in credit at the time of closure, we reserve the right not to repay to you any amount less than £5 due to administrative costs.
17. Notices
17.1 You or the Additional Cardholder must let us know immediately if:
17.1.1 your or their Card or Cheques become lost or stolen;
17.1.2 your or their PIN is likely to be misused or has been disclosed;
17.1.3 your statement includes any information that seems wrong;
17.1.4 you change your name or address.
If you fail to inform us and we have to trace you, we may charge a Tracing Charge, as set out in paragraph 5.1.5. You should also keep us informed of any changes to your telephone or mobile number and/or your email address. We may request copies of documentation certified by a solicitor or notary public as proof of any change to your name.
17.2 It is also important to tell us of any changes to your financial circumstances.
17.3 You can tell us by writing to Vanquis Card, Customer Service, P.O. Box 399, CHATHAM ME4 4WQ or by telephoning 0871 770 5555. We may ask you to confirm in writing any notice you give us by telephone.
18. Varying this agreement
18.1 We may vary the terms of this agreement, or introduce any other related term to this agreement, including any charge or any fee provided under this agreement:
18.1.1 if the change is in your favour;
18.1.2 to amend an error;
18.1.3 to make them easier for you to understand;
18.1.4 if your product changes, or we introduce new services or features to your Account;
18.1.5 due to changes in your financial position based on changes in your credit rating or risk (we may take into account any failure by you to make payments on time or at all to us or other banks or lenders);
18.1.6 to reflect changes in market conditions such as system capabilities, methods of operation, changes in technology, fraud prevention requirements and/or payment methods;
18.1.7 to reflect good banking or financial services practice(s);
18.1.8 due to changes in the cost of providing the service to you; and/or
18.1.9 if the law or a code of practice changes or is likely to change or a requirement is made by a regulatory or trade body or we decide to implement a code of practice.
18.2 Unless otherwise provided in this agreement, we will give you at least 30 days’ written notice before any change takes effect (unless the change is in your favour, in which case we may make the change immediately and tell you about it within 30 days of adopting the change).
18.3 We may from time to time offer you a lower promotional interest rate on certain transactions including Balance Transfer Transactions, for a specified period (‘Promotional Rate Transactions’).
18.4 We may from time to time change the payment scheme provider we use for your Account and if we do so we will issue you with a different card which may have a different account number, different branding or be part of a different card acceptance scheme. We will tell you about any changes to the terms in accordance with this paragraph 18.
18.5 We may transfer your Account to a different credit card product. We will always give you notice in accordance with this paragraph 18. We will only transfer your Account to a different credit card product if it is lawful to do so.
19. GENERAL
19.1 You cannot transfer this agreement or your rights or obligations under this agreement. We may assign this agreement or transfer any of our rights or responsibilities to any company or person who is licensed under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 e.g., if our business was sold to a third party. We will give you such notice of any transfer or assignment as is required by law.
19.2 We may instruct any other person to exercise our rights or carry out our responsibilities under this agreement e.g., we could instruct a debt collection agency to assist in recovering any amounts owed to us.
19.3 We may waive any of our rights under this agreement without losing them e.g., if we accept a part payment from you, we will still be able to claim the full amount owed by you.
19.4 We may at our discretion waive any fees or Default Charges.
19.5 Telephone calls may be monitored and all calls will be recorded for the purposes of quality control, confirmation of the accurate execution of transactions, resolution of disputes, training and/or fraud prevention.
19.6 This agreement is governed by English law (unless the address from which you made your application was in Scotland when Scots law shall apply) and all contractual terms and conditions and information supplied in this agreement are supplied in English. We will communicate with you in English.
19.7 If any term or part of a term in this agreement is ruled by a court to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, then this invalidity, illegality or unenforceability will not affect any other term in this agreement.
20. REPAYMENT OPTION PLAN
General
20.1 You may opt-in to the Repayment Option Plan (the “Plan”) which entitles you to freeze your Account, take a payment holiday and receive the SMS Text Service in accordance with the terms contained in this paragraph 20. If you opt-in to the Plan you will need to pay a Plan Charge. See paragraphs 20.7 and 20.8 for details.
20.2 If you opt-in to the Plan you will be able to benefit from all the features of the Plan whether you are in full time, part time or temporary employment, are self employed, or are unemployed or retired. The situations in which you will be able to freeze your Account will depend on your employment status. See paragraph 20.10 for details.
20.3 The Plan is not a regulated insurance product and will not pay off any capital or interest on your Account.
20.4 We do not provide advice or a recommendation on whether the Plan is suitable for your purposes.
Opting-in to the Plan
20.5 You may opt- in to the Plan at any time by telling us by telephone or in writing that you wish to do so. To do this you may call 0871 770 4188 or write to Customer Service, P.O Box 399 CHATHAM, ME4 4WQ or use any other contact details we give you.
Cost of the Plan
20.6 The cost of the Plan depends on your personal circumstances.
20.7 If you are in full-time, part-time or temporary employment or are self employed, the cost of the Plan will be charged at the rate of £1.29 per £100 (1.29% per month) of your monthly outstanding balance (‘Plan Charge’). This is known as the Full Plan.
20.8 If you are unemployed or retired, the cost of the Plan will be charged at the rate of £1.19 per £100 (1.19% per month) of your monthly outstanding balance (‘Plan Charge’). This is known as the Standard Plan.
20.9 We will charge the Plan Charge directly to your Account each month as a Purchase Transaction. The Plan Charge will accrue interest in the same way as other Purchase Transactions.
Difficult Financial Circumstance
20.10 ‘Difficult Financial Circumstance’ means one of the events listed below or where a series of connected events listed below occurs in relation to both the Standard Plan and the Full Plan:
20.10.1. you become sick, disabled or have an accident which affects your ability to make your repayments; or
20.10.2. you have to stay in hospital because of a medical condition; or
20.10.3. you have to attend jury service; or
20.10.4. your main home is significantly damaged by a natural disaster e.g., flooding; or
20.10.5. your partner (who you have lived with for more than 6 months) or an immediate family member (sibling, parent, spouse or child) dies;
and in relation to the Full Plan means also:
20.10.6. you become unemployed involuntarily (other than as a result of your own misconduct or by reason of your retirement); or
20.10.7. you take leave from work to care for a partner (who you have lived with for more than 6 months) or a member of your immediate family (sibling, parent, spouse or child) and suffer loss of income; or
20.10.8. you go on maternity, paternity or adoption leave.
Activating the Plan
20.11 We agree that if you opt-in to the Plan, under its terms we will:
20.11.1 freeze your Account balance in the event of a Difficult Financial Circumstance on the terms set out in paragraphs 20.12 – 20.19; or
20.11.2 allow you to take a payment holiday on the terms set out in paragraphs 20.12 and 20.20 – 20.22.
20.12 If you wish to freeze your Account or take a payment holiday you must call the Plan helpline on 0871 770 4188. The Plan helpline is available between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am and 5:30pm on Saturday.
Freezing your Account
20.13 You agree that where you wish to activate the Plan in respect of any Difficult Financial Circumstance and you have notified us within 90 days of its first occurrence and provided us with reasonable evidence as required under paragraph 20.19, any activation will be backdated to the date of the first occurrence of that Difficult Financial Circumstance. Where first notification of such Difficult Financial Circumstance is made more than 90 days after its first occurrence and you have provided us with reasonable evidence as required under paragraph 20.19, any activation will be backdated to the date of notification of that Difficult Financial Circumstance.
20.14 If you experience a Difficult Financial Circumstance we will freeze your Account for as long as the Difficult Financial Circumstance continues to apply, up to a maximum period of 24 months per event (or series of connected events).
20.15 If we freeze your Account under the Plan you will not be obliged to make any repayments or pay any charges.
20.16 If we freeze your Account you will not be able to use your Card or Account.
20.17 Once your Account is frozen, no interest or fees will accrue.
20.18 After the Difficult Financial Circumstance ceases to apply or after 24 months (whichever is sooner), interest will accrue again and you will be obliged to continue your repayments and pay any applicable fees and charges that accrue on the Account.
20.19 We will require you to provide us with reasonable evidence of the Difficult Financial Circumstance when you contact us to activate the Plan and at any time during which the Plan is activated. Failure to provide such evidence on time or at all may result in the non-activation or deactivation of the Plan.
Payment Holiday
20.20 We will allow you to take a payment holiday under the terms of the Plan if (i) your Account has been open for at least 6 months, (ii) you have not taken a payment holiday within the last 6 months and (iii) you are not in breach of the terms and conditions of your Account.
20.21 If you wish to take a payment holiday and are eligible under paragraph 20.20, you must give us at least 7 days’ notice prior to the due date for making your minimum monthly payment on your Account which will allow you to miss making that minimum monthly payment.
20.22 Interest will continue to accrue on your Account and will not be suspended during any payment holiday.
Opting-out of the Plan/Changing the Plan
20.23 You must notify us by calling 0871 770 4188 if your financial circumstances change after opting-in to the Plan (e.g. you become retired) and you need to be moved from the Full Plan to the Standard Plan or from the Standard Plan to the Full Plan. If you do notify us you will be automatically moved to the appropriate Plan and you will automatically be charged the appropriate Plan Charge.
20.24 You can opt-out of the Plan at any time. If you opt-out of the Plan within 30 days of receiving the information on the Plan and the Plan has not been activated, you will receive a refund of the Plan Charge (if any) charged to your Account. If you wish to opt-out of the Plan you can call 0871 770 4188 or write to Customer Service, P.O. Box 399, CHATHAM ME4 4WQ or contact us using any other details we give you.
20.25. We may remove you from the Plan by giving you 30 days’ written notice. We may remove you from the Plan immediately for exceptional circumstances, or if we believe the Plan is being misused, for example for reasons of fraud.
20.26. We will remove you from the Plan immediately for the following reasons:
20.26.1 if your Account is closed; or
20.26.2 if you die.
SMS Service
20.27. As part of the Plan we offer you an SMS text message service, at no additional cost (“the SMS Text Service”).
20.28. Under the SMS Text Service you will be eligible for a text message each month, at no additional cost, which will contain information on your Account.
20.29. The SMS Text Service terms and conditions will apply to this facility.
20.30. If you elect to take the SMS Text Service, further information will be sent to you at that time.
YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
21.1 We will process, by computer or otherwise, personal information about you whilst we are assessing your application and/or managing your Account (‘Your Information’). We may have obtained Your Information from: you; credit reference agencies; fraud prevention agencies; other Provident Financial group companies; third parties specialising in data verification; or marketing lists provided to us by other third parties.
21.2 We may search your credit record at credit reference agencies in relation to your application or for managing your Account, and they will supply us with credit and/or identification information. Details of our search will be added to their records whether or not your application is successful. Credit and identification information about you and those with whom you are financially linked, which is provided to us and credit reference agencies, may be used by us and other companies to make credit decisions about you and other members of your household. Where we use a third party to verify any information we have about you, any of this information may also be used for identification purposes, debt tracing and prevention of money laundering, as well as the management of your Account. We will update Your Information with any data we receive from a third party where they have provided us with a data verification search.
21.3 When assessing your application, we may use credit scoring or other automated decision making facilities.
21.4 We will, on a regular monthly basis, provide details of the performance of your Account to credit reference agencies. This information may be used by other companies to make decisions about credit and credit-related services for you and other members of your household.
21.5 We may use Your Information for behavioural scoring and market and product analysis and generally to learn from the way you use and manage your Account, including from your transactions and from the payments made to your Account. What we learn about how you use your Account and from information we receive from credit reference agencies may be used to determine the Margin Rate we apply to your Account from time to time. We may also assess whether you would be eligible for an alternative credit product, such as a personal loan. If such a product is available to you, we will contact you about that product.
21.6 If false or inaccurate information is provided and fraud is identified, details will be passed to fraud prevention agencies.
21.7 Law enforcement agencies may access and use this information.
21.8 We and other organisations may also access and use this information to prevent fraud and money laundering, for example, when:
21.8.1 checking details on applications for credit and credit related or other facilities;
21.8.2 managing credit and credit related accounts or facilities;
21.8.3 recovering debt;
21.8.4 checking details on proposals and claims for all types of insurance; or
21.8.5 checking details of job applicants and employees.
21.9 Please contact us at Vanquis Card, Department DF, P.O. Box 408, Chatham, ME4 4WZ if you want to receive details of the relevant fraud prevention agencies.
21.10 We and other organisations may access and use from other countries the information recorded by fraud prevention agencies.
21.11 For the purposes of managing your Account, credit assessment and analysis, and to provide other products and services to you, Your Information may be shared within the Provident Financial group and outside the group to:
21.11.1 our agents, processors and sub contractors;
21.11.2 any of our approved suppliers;
21.11.3 the police, if required by law;
21.11.4 any relevant regulatory authority, if required by law; and/or
21.11.5 anyone to whom we transfer or may transfer our rights and duties under this agreement.
21.12 If you were introduced to us by a third party, we may give them your contact details and sufficient information about you for their own business and statistical analysis. This may include specific information about whether we declined or approved your application and how you use and manage your Account.
21.13 If you require details of Provident Financial group companies or the credit reference agencies we use, please contact us at Vanquis Card, Department DF, P.O. Box 408, Chatham, ME4 4WZ. You have a legal right to these details.
21.14 We may contact you by post, telephone, automated dialling, email or mobile text and/or voice messaging service about products or services relating to your Account or application.
21.15 Where you consent, we may send you marketing information or contact you for marketing purposes about other products and services that may be of interest to you. We will do this by post, telephone, automated dialling, email, mobile text and/or voice messaging service, or other forms of communication.
21.16 Where you consent, we may disclose Your Information within the Provident Financial group or to other carefully selected companies for marketing purposes. Any of these companies may then contact you about their products or services.
21.17 If you do not want Your Information to be used for marketing purposes, please write to our Customer Service department at Vanquis Card, Customer Service, P.O. Box 399, CHATHAM ME4 4WQ or telephone us on 0871 770 5555. You have a legal right to prevent Your Information being used for direct marketing purposes.
21.18 We may process Your Information in countries outside the United Kingdom and EEA. If so, we will make sure that Your Information receives no less protection than is required in the EEA.
21.19 You have a right to receive a copy of the information we hold about you if you apply to us in writing to Vanquis Card, Customer Service, P.O. Box 399, CHATHAM ME4 4WQ. We will require you to pay us a £10 fee. You are also entitled to request that any inaccurate information be amended or deleted.
OTHER DEFINITIONS
22. We have given a particular meaning to the words which begin with a capital letter. These meanings are explained where they occur in this agreement or in this paragraph 22.
22.1 ‘Account’ – the credit card account that we open and maintain in your name.
22.2 ‘Base Rate’ – means the base lending rate which is set by the Bank of England as quoted in the Financial Times/ Financial Mail from time to time.
22.3 ‘Balance Transfer Transaction’ – means the transfer of all or part of an account balance from another financial institution to your Account.
22.4 ‘Card’ – means any Visa credit card we issue to you or any additional cardholders under the terms of this agreement and is not a cheque guarantee card.
22.5 ‘Cash Transaction’ – means:
22.5.1 the withdrawal of cash from a cash machine, or financial institution, displaying the Visa sign;
22.5.2 purchases of currency and cash related transactions, such as purchases of travellers cheques, money orders and money transfers including directly to your personal bank account; and
22.5.3 Gambling Transactions.
22.6 ‘Cheque’ means a cheque that we may provide to you from time to time on your Account.
22.7 ‘Cheque Transaction’ – means a transaction paid for with a Cheque or a transfer of money on your instructions which is charged to your Account, as the case may be.
22.8 ‘Default Charges’ – Late Payment Charge, Over Limit Charge and/or Return Payment Charge, Returned Credit Card Cheque Charge and Tracing Charge and any other default charges as may be notified to you from time to time. We will provide further details of these Charges on request.
22.9 ‘Gambling Transaction’ – means:
22.9.1 the use of your Card or your Card number to take part in any form of gambling such as gaming, betting or participating in a lottery; and
22.9.2 a transaction where payment is made to an establishment reasonably identified as carrying on a gambling business (where gambling has the meaning set out in paragraph 22.9.1) and is charged to your Account, whether or not the transaction itself finances participation in gambling.
22.10 ‘Margin Rate’ – means the difference between the annual interest rate(s) and the Base Rate.
22.11 ‘Over Limit’ – where you exceed your Credit Limit.
22.12 ‘Promotional Rate’ – means a rate of interest lower than the standard interest rate applied to a Transaction.
22.13 ‘Purchase Transaction’ – means a transaction with a merchant displaying the Visa sign for goods and/or services paid for with your Card.
22.14 ‘Reply Card’ and ‘application form’ – mean the application form requesting us to open an Account for you on these terms and conditions, which you complete, sign and return or submit to us.
22.15 ‘Transaction’ – means any of a Balance Transfer Transaction, a Cash Transaction, a Cheque Transaction or a Purchase Transaction as the context may require.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Call Charges
Calls to 0871 numbers will be charged at 7p per minute from a BT landline. Calls from mobiles and other networks may vary.
Credit Terms and Conditions
PRE-CONTRACT CREDIT INFORMATION
(Standard European Consumer Credit Information – SECCI)
1. Contact details
|
Creditor Address Web address |
Vanquis Bank Limited No. 1 Godwin Street, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD1 2SU |
2. Key features of the credit product
| The type of credit | |
| The total amount of credit. This means the amount of credit to be provided under the proposed credit agreement or the credit limit. |
We will set your Credit Limit when we open your Account and will tell you what it is. We reserve the right to vary the limit. |
| How and when credit would be provided | We will provide credit to you through the charging of purchases, cash advances, credit card cheques and/or balance transfer transactions to your account. |
| The duration of the credit agreement | This agreement has no fixed or minimum duration. |
|
Repayments
|
You will have to make a repayment each month. Your statement will show the minimum repayment value for that month which will be the highest of: 1. any interest or minimum finance charge added to your Account and shown on your statement; and any Default Charges and any fees for the maintenance of your Account added to your Account and shown on your statement; 2. if your APR is 19.94%, 3.5% of (i) the balance owing on your Account as at the statement date and (ii) any amount by which your Account balance exceeds your Credit Limit 3. £5. In every case you must pay off the outstanding balance shown on your statement if it is less than £5. Where your repayment is not sufficient to pay off the whole of the balance outstanding on your Account, your repayment will be applied first to reduce that part of your balance bearing the highest interest rate and then on in descending rate order. |
| The total amount you will have to pay.
This means the amount you have borrowed plus interest and other costs. |
Representative example: Total amount payable: £1194.06 Purchase annual interest rate 39.94% (variable); Amount of credit £1000; Representative 39.9% APR (variable). The calculation of the total amount payable by you under the agreement has been based on the statutory assumptions that: a £1,000 Credit Limit is drawn down in full immediately at the start of the agreement for twelve months at the relevant purchase interest rate; it is repaid (including any interest) in full by twelve equal monthly instalments; that the agreement remains valid throughout that period; that we and you have fulfilled all our obligations to each other under the agreement by the dates specified; and that the relevant purchase interest rate has applied for the whole of that twelve month period. |
3. Costs of the credit
| The rates of interest which apply to the credit agreement | The interest rates applicable to the credit agreement will be from one of Tiers A) - H) below:
Tier A) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 19.94%, Cheque annual rate 29.93%, Cash annual rate 37.57%; or Tier B1) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 29.84%, Cheque annual rate 39.94%, Cash annual rate 48.26%; or Tier B2) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 29.95%, Cheque annual rate 39.94%, Cash annual rate 48.26%; or Tier C) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 34.95%, Cheque annual rate 44.95%, Cash annual rate 53.63%; or Tier D1) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 39.84%, Cheque annual rate 49.94%, Cash annual rate 58.95%; or Tier D2) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 39.94%, Cheque annual rate 49.94%, Cash annual rate 58.95%; or Tier E) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 49.94%, Cheque annual rate 59.94%, Cash annual rate 69.67%; or Tier F) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 59.94%, Cheque annual rate 69.94%, Cash annual rate 80.38%; or Tier G) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 69.94%, Cheque annual rate 79.93%, Cash annual rate 91.12%; or Tier H) Purchase/Balance Transfer annual rate 79.93%, Cheque annual rate 88.23%, Cash annual rate 99.99%. The annual interest rates are made up of: a) the base lending rate which is set by the Bank of England plus b) an annual margin rate in respect of purchase and balance transfer transactions and an annual margin rate in respect of cash and cheque transactions. Interest is charged on transactions at the relevant interest rate(s) from the date any purchase, cash, cheque and/or balance transfer transaction(s) or any other amount is debited to your account, until repayment in full. Interest is calculated on the daily outstanding balance on your account and, except in respect of purchase transactions where you have paid off two or more consecutive current statement balances in full each month, is debited to your account at the end of each statement period. We will add the interest we charge to the outstanding balance on your account at the date of each statement. This means that you will generally pay interest on interest. If you make a promotional rate transaction, the promotional rate will apply until the end of the promotional period unless you breach the terms of your agreement with us at which point the standard rates set out above or as may be notified to you from time to time will apply. The promotional rate will not be restored to your account, even if you rectify any breach by bringing your account in order. If in any statement period you incur interest (excluding any Repayment Option Plan transaction charge) and that interest is less than £1, a minimum finance charge of £1 will be added to your account in place of that interest which will be waived. If you pay off your first statement balance in full you could get up to 28 days' interest-free credit on purchase transactions. You can get up to 56 days’ interest-free credit on purchase transactions provided that you pay off two or more consecutive current statement balances in full by the repayment due dates. The interest rates may vary in accordance with changes in the base rate. We may change the margin rate for a number of reasons including: how you are using your account and/or information we get from credit reference agencies (including changes in how you are managing your borrowing); economic reasons affecting our business as a whole; changes in the cost of providing the card account to you; and/or changes or potential changes in the law or a code of practice. We will give you at least 30 days’ prior written notice of any increase in your interest rates. |
|
Annual Percentage Rate of Charge (APR) This is the total cost expressed as an annual percentage of the total amount of credit. The APR is there to help you compare different offers. |
Representative 39.9% APR (variable) The APR has been based on the statutory assumptions that: a £1,000 Credit Limit is drawn down in full immediately at the start of the agreement for twelve months at the relevant purchase interest rate; it is repaid (including any interest) in full by twelve equal monthly instalments; that the agreement remains valid throughout that period; that we and you have fulfilled all our obligations to each other under the agreement by the dates specified; and that the relevant purchase interest rate has applied for the whole of that twelve month period. |
| Related costs | |
| Costs in the case of late payments | In the event of late or missed payments interest will continue to be charged at the relevant rate.
If you breach this agreement we may charge you for the following administrative costs: if we have not received your minimum repayment by its due date, a charge of £12 will be payable; if you pay us by cheque or direct debit, and the payment is not honoured, a charge of £12 ("Return Payment Charge"); and/or any other expenses recoverable by law which we reasonably incur as a direct result of your breach of this agreement. We may change any of the above default charges. We will give you at least 30 days’ notice, unless the changes are to your advantage. |
| Consequences of missing payments | Missing payments could have severe consequences and make obtaining credit more difficult. We may take legal proceedings against you. If we do, we may apply for a bankruptcy order against you or a charging order against your home. This could lead to your home being repossessed and sold. |
4. Other important legal aspects
| Right of withdrawal | You have the right to withdraw from this agreement without having to give any reason at any time before the end of the 14 days starting on the later of the day after the day on which: (a) we tell you your Credit Limit; or (b) if we are required to by law, we give you a copy of this agreement as executed or we tell you in writing this agreement has been executed by us in the same terms as the unexecuted agreement. |
| Early repayment | You can repay all or part of your outstanding balance early in full or in part at any time. |
| Consultation with a Credit Reference Agency | If we decide to reject your credit application on the basis of information received from a credit reference agency, we will, when telling you that your application has been refused, tell you that it has been refused on that basis and give you the details of the credit reference agency we consulted. |
| Right to a draft credit agreement | You have the right, upon request, to obtain a copy of the draft credit agreement free of charge, unless at the time of your making that request we are unwilling to proceed to the conclusion of the credit agreement with you. |
| The period of time during which the creditor is bound by the pre-contractual information | This information on this form is valid until the closing date for applications, if any, shown on the mailing or on the webpage through which you are making your application or as may otherwise be communicated to you. |
5. Additional information in the case of distance marketing of financial services
| (a) concerning the creditor | |
| Registration number | Consumer Credit Licence Number: 532364. In addition, we are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority to accept deposits and carry out insurance mediation under registration number 221156. The Financial Services Authority is responsible for the regulation of the financial services industry. |
| The supervisory authority | The Office of Fair Trading (OFT)
Financial Services Authority |
| (b) concerning the credit agreement | |
| (c) concerning redress | |
| Access to out-of-court complaint and redress mechanism | If we cannot resolve a complaint to your satisfaction you have the right to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service at South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR or via its website (www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/).
If you do not take up your complaint with us first, you will not be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service. |
Terms and Conditions declaration
I wish to apply for a credit card, issued by Vanquis Bank Limited, No. 1 Godwin Street, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD1 2SU. I am at least 18 years old, a UK resident and am not bankrupt. All the information I have provided to you is true and correct.
I understand that: you may call me to obtain additional details and verify details about my application; you may send me a Vanquis credit card and may send me any replacement card and/or PIN covered by the terms of this agreement.
I understand that you will search the files of any credit reference agency or fraud prevention agency ('the agencies') when considering my application or managing my account and they will keep a record of all searches; I may be treated as financially linked to other people and my application may take into account their records; you may use credit scoring or other automated decision making techniques when assessing my application. If false or inaccurate information is provided and fraud is identified, details will be passed to fraud prevention agencies to prevent fraud and money laundering. Further details explaining how the information held by fraud prevention agencies may be used are set out in the 'Your Personal Information' section of the full terms and conditions. I understand that telephone calls may be monitored or recorded for training and/or security purposes.
To receive details of those fraud prevention agencies or credit reference agencies from whom Vanquis obtains and with whom Vanquis records information about me, I may contact Vanquis Card, Department DF, P.O. Box 408, Chatham, ME4 4GG. I am aware I have a legal right to these details.
I understand that you or other members of the Provident Financial Group may contact me by post, email, telephone or mobile text and/or messaging service (SMS) about products or services available through Vanquis and Provident Financial Group. If I do not want my information to be used for these marketing purposes, I can write to Vanquis Card, Customer Service, P.O. Box 399, Chatham ME4 4WQ or I can notify you by telephone on 0871 770 5555. Calls to this number will be charged at 7p per minute from a BT landline. Calls from mobiles and other networks may vary. I have a legal right to prevent my information being used for direct marketing purposes.
I have read the terms and conditions setting out the agreement with Vanquis Bank and, if my application is accepted, I agree to be bound by these terms and conditions, as amended from time to time.
Your Personal Information: Important please read the Your Personal Information section of the credit agreement which sets out how your information will be used.
I acknowledge that Vanquis Bank will retain information provided by me. By signing this application, I agree that information about me may be used as described above, whether or not my application is accepted.
Terms of Use
Terms of use for this website
Please read these website terms carefully. For the purposes of these website terms, ‘we/our/us’ means Vanquis Bank Limited (Company number 02558509) whose registered office is at Colonnade, Sunbridge Road, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD1 2LQ and is a member of the Provident Financial Group.
Together with our privacy policy , they govern our relationship with you in relation to this site on the World Wide Web (the ‘website’). We require that all visitors and customers comply with these website terms. By accessing this website and any of its pages, you indicate your acknowledgement and acceptance to these website terms outlined below without limitation or qualification. If you do not accept these website terms, please do not continue to use this website.
If you have any comments or questions about our website terms, please write to us at Vanquis Card, Customer Service, PO Box 399, Chatham ME4 4WQ. We recommend you print out a copy of these website terms for future reference.
We may change these website terms or our privacy policy at any time by updating this page and such changes are binding upon all visitors and customers to this website. You should check this page from time to time, and its date shown above, to review these website terms and the privacy policy to ensure you are happy with any changes.
Information about us
Your use of this website and our intellectual property rights
Our liability to you
Information on this website
Linking
Contracting online
General matters
Information about us
Vanquis Bank Limited (Company number 02558509) whose registered office is at Colonnade, Sunbridge Road, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD1 2LQ is a member of the Provident Financial group (the Group). Our VAT number is 180555952. You can contact us at Vanquis Card, Customer Service, PO Box 399, Chatham, ME4 4WQ.
The website to which these website terms apply and for which we are responsible is www.vanquis.co.uk. The products and services advertised on this website are available to UK residents only.
Your use of this website and our intellectual property rights
Vanquis®, Vanquis Bank® and Vanquis Card® are trademarks licensed to Vanquis Bank Limited.
We have made this website available to you for your non-commercial use. We may modify, withdraw or deny your access to this website at any time.
This website and all the materials contained in it are protected by intellectual property rights, including copyright, and either belong to us or are licensed to us to use. Materials include, but are not limited to, the design, layout, look, appearance, graphics, documents, on the website, as well as other content such as articles, reports, presentations, stories, logos, trade marks (registered or unregistered) and other text. All Rights Reserved. Nothing contained on the website shall be construed as granting by implication estoppel, or otherwise any license or right under any patent, trademark, copyright (except as expressly stated above) or proprietary rights of us or any third party.
You may print or download materials from this website for your non-commercial use or copy the content to other individuals for their personal information provided that:
- No materials are modified in any way
- No graphics are used separately from accompanying text
- Our copyright and trade mark notices appear in all copies and you acknowledge this website as the source of the material; and
- The person to whom you providing these materials is made aware of these restrictions
The information and materials contained on this website may not otherwise be copied, transmitted, displayed, distributed, downloaded, licensed, modified, published, posted, reproduced, used, sold, transmitted, used to create a derivative work or otherwise used for commercial or public purposes without our prior written consent.
The website, including this page, may contain other proprietary notices and copyright information, the terms of which must be observed and followed. Certain images and information at the website are the copyright or trademark of third parties and any use is subject to the terms and conditions of such third parties.
Our liability to you
These website terms do not exclude our liability (if any) to you for:
- Personal injury or death resulting from our negligence
- Fraud
- Any matter which it would be illegal for us to exclude or to attempt to exclude our liability
We do not guarantee that this website will be compatible with all or any hardware and software which you may use. We do not guarantee that this website will be available all the time or at any specific time. We may modify, withdraw or suspend the website or any part of it without notice at any time.
We accept no liability for any economic loss, punitive, special loss of profit, business or production or any similar loss or damages (including, without limitation, loss of anticipated profits and savings), whether direct, indirect or consequential and any damages whatsoever, including but not limited to contract and tort actions (including libel), arising out of or in connection with the use, copying or display of, or the interaction of any form of communication with regards to the website or a hyperlinked website and the information contained on the website or a hyperlinked website (including via computer viruses or any other form of software).
Information on this website
Although we have taken all reasonable care to ensure that the information provided on this website is accurate, we give no warranties of any kind, express or implied, with regard to its accuracy or completeness.
The information contained on this website is given for general information and interest purposes only. As a result, you should not rely on this information, and we recommend that you take further advice or seek further guidance before taking any action based on the information contained on this website.
Our liability to you as explained above remains unaffected by this.
Linking
We may link to other websites which are not within our control, but under the control of third parties. We make no representations whatsoever concerning such websites.
Where we may provide a link to a third party, such a link is not an authorisation, endorsement, sponsorship or affiliation by us with respect to such website, its owners or its providers. We are providing these links only as a convenience to you.
We have not tested any information, products or software found on such websites and therefore cannot make any representations whatsoever with respect thereto. It is up to you to take precautions to ensure that whatever you select is free of such items as viruses, worms, Trojan horses and other items of a destructive nature. We are not responsible for these websites in any way and it is your responsibility to check the website terms and privacy policy on any other website which you visit. You acknowledge and agree that, as you have chosen to enter a linked website we are not responsible for the availability of such external sites or resources, and do not review or endorse and are not responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for (i) the privacy practices of such websites, including (without limitation) any advertising, content, products, goods or other materials or services on or available from such websites or resources or (ii) the use to which others make of these websites or resources, nor for any damage, loss or offence caused or alleged to be caused by, or in connection with, the use of or reliance on any such advertising, content, products, goods or other materials or services available on such external websites or resources.
You may not link to this website from another website without our consent in writing.
Contracting online
Save where you are applying for a Vanquis Visa Card, nothing on this website nothing on this website is intended to be nor should be construed as an offer to enter into a contractual relationship with you or anyone else, except for these website terms which govern the relationship between us in relation to your use of the website.
If you make a contract with a third party who is named or referred to on this website, it is your responsibility to ensure that you are comfortable with the terms of that contract and to take legal advice if necessary.
General matters
You may not assign or sub-contract any of your rights or obligations under these website terms or any related products or services to any third party unless agreed upon in writing by us.
We reserve the right to transfer, assign, novate or sub-contract the benefit of the whole or part of any of its rights or obligations under these website terms or any related contract to any third party.
If any portion of these website terms is held by any competent authority to be invalid or unenforceable in whole or in part, the validity or enforceability of the other sections of these website terms shall not be affected.
No delay or failure by us to exercise any powers, rights or remedies under these website terms will operate as a waiver of them nor will any single or partial exercise of any such powers, rights or remedies preclude any other or further exercise of them. Any waiver to be effective must be in writing and signed by an authorised representative of us.
Privacy Policy
10 June 2009
This policy sets out how we use and protect any personal information that you give us when you use this website. If you have any questions about this policy or do not agree with it, please contact our customer services department at Vanquis Card, Customer Services, PO Box 399, Chatham, ME4 4WQ or on 0871 770 5555 before using this website. Full details are available when you apply and in the Vanquis Card terms and conditions.
We may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure you are happy with any changes. “We/our/us” refer to Vanquis Bank Limited (Company number 02558509) whose registered office is at Colonnade, Sunbridge Road, Bradford, West Yorkshire is a member of the Provident Financial group (the Group).
What information do we collect?
Direct marketing
Email marketing
Managing your account and processing your application
Who do we share this information with?
How to get copies of or amend the information we have collected
Security
Linking
Cookies
What information do we collect?
In general, you can use this website without giving us any information. However, additional products and services may be available if we have certain information about you.
To do this we may collect your name, contact information and personal details
What do we do with the information we collect?
We use this information to provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following:
- To send you details of products and services we believe you may be interested in;
- To provide answers to your questions asked via the website;
- For internal record keeping; and /or
- To third parties that help analyse the website in order to provide a better service to our customers
- To improve the content of our website
We may contact you by mail, email, phone, fax, text unless you have registered with the appropriate Preference Service.
We would like to provide you with information about products and services which we think you may find interesting. We may send you such information by post, email, telephone or mobile text and/or messaging service (SMS) unless you have registered with the appropriate Preference Service. When you provide us with information, you will be given the option to let us know that you do not want your information used for direct marketing purposes. If you request this option, we will not send you any direct marketing.
You can change you mind at any time by contacting Vanquis Card, Customer Service, PO Box 399, Chatham, ME4 4WQ.
You have a legal right to prevent your information being used for direct marketing purposes.
We would also like to provide you with the information above by email. However, we appreciate that email and text “spam” has become a problem in recent years. Therefore we would only use one of these methods to market to you if you have indicated your consent. If you are a customer or you have previously asked us for information on our products, we may send you information on our range of products and/or services by email, unless you have asked us not to do so.
If the reason you have given us personal information is to receive email information from us, we will continue to provide this information by email unless you ask us not to do so.
Otherwise, when you provide us with personal information, we will ask you whether or not you are happy for us to send you this kind of information by email.If you decide at any time that you no longer wish to receive marketing emails from us, please write to us at Vanquis Card, Customer Service, PO Box 399, Chatham, ME4 4WQ.
Managing your account and processing your application
We will process, by computer or otherwise, personal information about you whilst we are assessing your application and/or managing your Account. We may search your credit record at credit reference agencies in relation to your application or for managing your Account, and they will supply us with credit and/or identification information.
Details of our search will be added to their records whether or not your application is successful. Credit and identification information about you and those with whom you are financially linked, which is provided to us and credit reference agencies, may be used by us and other companies to make credit decisions about you and other members of your household. Any of this information may also be used for identification purposes, debt tracing and prevention of money laundering, as well as the management of your Account.
When assessing your application, we may use credit scoring or other automated decision making facilities. We will, on a regular monthly basis, provide details of the performance of your Account to credit reference agencies. This information may be used by other companies to make decisions about credit and credit-related services for you and other members of your household. It is important that you give us accurate information. We will check your details with fraud prevention agencies and if you give us false or inaccurate information and we suspect fraud, we will record this.
We and other organisations may search and use these records to:
i) help make decisions about credit and credit-related services for you and members of your household;
ii) help make decisions on motor, household, credit, life and other insurance proposals and insurance claims for you and members of your household;
iii) trace debtors, recover debt, prevent fraud, and manage yourAccount(s) or insurance policies; and/or
iv) check your identity to prevent money laundering unless you provide us with other satisfactory proof of identity.
We, the credit reference agencies, the fraud prevention agencies and/or the Provident Financial group may use the fraud prevention agency and/or credit performance records for statistical analysis about credit, insurance and fraud. We may also use your information to carry out market research.
For the purposes of managing your Account, credit assessment and analysis, your information may be shared within the Provident Financial group and outside the group to:
i) our agents, processors and sub contractors;
ii) any of our approved suppliers;
iii) the police, if required by law; and/or
iv) any relevant regulatory authority, if required by law.
We may contact you by post, email, telephone or mobile text and/or messaging service (SMS) about products or services relating to your account or application.
Who do we share this information with?
- To any person to whom we transfer our rights or obligations under the agreement;
- If we are compelled to do so by law and for fraud prevention purposes;
- To licensed credit reference agencies to help us and others make credit decisions;
- To third parties to enable them to provide details of products or services you may be interested in; and/ or
- Within Vanquis Bank and the Group
We will not transfer, disclose, sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties other than our subsidiaries, parent company, group companies or potential purchasers of our business without your permission unless this is necessary for the reasons set out in the “What we do with the information we collect” section or where we are required to do so by law. We may release your personal information to our authorised direct marketing or other agents unless you tell us that you do not wish this to happen.
How to get copies of or amend the information we have collected
You may request details of personal information which we hold about you under the Data Protection Act 1998 if you apply in writing. You are also entitled to request that any inaccurate information be amended or deleted. You have a legal right to this information. A small fee will be payable. If you would like a copy of the information held on you please write to Vanquis Card, Customer Services, PO Box 399, Chatham, ME4 4WQ.
If you think any information we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to us. We will correct or update any information as soon as possible.
We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online. However, we cannot guarantee the security of any data you disclose online. You should be aware of the inherent security risks of providing information and dealing online over the internet. You do not hold us responsible for any breach of security unless this is due to our negligence or wilful default.
We may link to other websites which are not within our control. Once you have left our website, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.
We use cookies for certain areas of our website. Cookies are files that store information on your hard drive or browser that means that our website can recognise that you have visited our website before. They make it easier for you to maintain your preferences on the website, and by seeing how you use the website, we can tailor the website around your preferences and measure usability of the website. You can, should you choose, disable the cookies from your browser and delete all cookies currently stored on your computer. On Microsoft Internet Explorer, this can be done by selecting ‘Tools/Internet Options’ and reviewing your privacy settings or selecting ‘delete cookies’. You can find out how to do this for your particular browser by clicking ‘help’ on your browser’s menu or by visiting http://www.allaboutcookies.org/manage-cookies/. No information obtained from the cookie will be used by us for marketing purposes.
If you have any queries or concerns regarding our Privacy Policy, please contact Vanquis Card, Customer Services, PO Box 399, Chatham, ME4 4WQ.
Card summary
Summary box: The information contained in this table summarises key product features and is not intended to replace any terms and conditions.
| APR | Representative 39.9% APR (variable) Rates from 39.9% APR variable to 69.9% APR variable depending on individual circumstances. |
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| Interest rates |
Monthly Rate |
Annual Rate |
|||||||
| Purchases |
2.84% |
39.94% |
|||||||
| Cash and cheques |
3.43% |
49.94% |
|||||||
| Interest-free period | Up to 56 days interest-free on purchase transactions only, where you have paid off two or more consecutive current statement balances in full and on time. | ||||||||
| Interest Charging information | You will not pay interest on new purchases if you pay your balance in full and on time. Otherwise, the period over which interest is charged will be as follows: | ||||||||
| From | Until | ||||||||
| Purchases | date debited to your account | paid in full | |||||||
| Cash advance | date debited to your account | paid in full | |||||||
| Balance transfers | date debited to your account | paid in full | |||||||
| Allocation of payments | Where your repayment is not sufficient to pay off the whole of the balance outstanding on your Account, your repayment will be applied first to reduce that part of your balance bearing the highest interest rate and then on in descending interest rate order. | ||||||||
| Minimum repayment |
Your Minimum Repayment will be shown on your statement and will be the highest of: 1. depending on your APR, one of 3.5%, 4.5% or 5% of (i) the balance owing on your Account as at the statement date and (ii) any amount by which your Account balance exceeds your Credit Limit; or For further details, please refer to your credit card terms and conditions. We may increase your Minimum Repayment. If we vary your Minimum Repayment we will write to you to tell you. |
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| Credit limit | Minimum credit limit | £150 | |||||||
| Maximum credit limit | £1,000 (Subject to status) | ||||||||
| Fees | No annual fee | ||||||||
| Charges | Cash advances | 3% or £3, whichever is the greater | |||||||
| Copies of statements | £5 each | ||||||||
| For further details, please refer to your credit card terms and conditions. | |||||||||
| Foreign Usage | Visa Exchange Rate |
The exchange rate is set by Visa on the date the transaction is processed and may be different from the date of the actual transaction.
|
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|
One or more of the following may apply: Non-Sterling Transaction Fee 2.99% of transaction Cash Fee 3% or £3, whichever is the greater |
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| Default charges | Late payment and overlimit fees. | £12 | |||||||
| Returned payment fee if a Direct Debit or cheque is not honoured. | £12 | ||||||||
| Returned credit card cheque fee if a credit card cheque is not honoured | £12 | ||||||||
| Tracing charge if we have to trace you. | £25 | ||||||||
|
Cost of Borrowing |
|||||||||
| To reduce the interest charged we recommend you pay as much as you can when you can and not just the minimum repayment. See the example below. | |||||||||
| Illustrative example | For a purchase of £250 on your credit card | ||||||||
| Monthly Payment |
Minimum Payment each month |
£50 each month |
|||||||
| Without taking into account any introductory rates, how much interest will you be charged in the first year? |
£80 |
£27 |
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| How much interest will you be charged in the second year? |
£66 |
£0 |
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| How long would it take to clear the balance? |
7 years, 7 months |
7 months |
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| The above example assumes the following: The transaction takes place on 1st January and you make no further transactions. Your statement is produced on the 1st of each month and you always make the payment each month on the 15th. Your statement is produced 31 days after you make the purchase. | |||||||||
Accessibility
Accessing information in our website
This site supports accessibility and is committed to ensuring everyone can access the information available. The layout of the site also takes into account users who are visually impaired or have difficulty using a mouse. It is fully compatible with popular screen reading software and can be navigated using just a keyboard.
The site has been built according to the W3C guidelines for level AAA accessibility.
Access keys
1 - jump to the main menu
2 - jump to the main content of the page
3 - jump to the top of the page
Access keys are shortcuts to provide quick and easy access to common pages without the need for a mouse and have been included to assist users with disabilities navigate the web site more easily.
How to use access keys
PC/Windows: press ‘alt + access key number’ to highlight the link, then ‘enter’ to go to the corresponding page.
Macintosh: press ‘control + access key number’ to highlight the link, then ‘return’ to go to the corresponding page.
Listed above are the access keys we use consistently on every page of the site, within text-only mode.
Site features
Consistent navigation with access keys
Scalable text
Suitable for screen readers and keyboard support
Clearly labelled graphics and image maps
Correctly labelled tables and forms
No flickering or strobing graphics
Text style and size
Some users might find the site easier to read by increasing the size at which text is displayed. To do this you can adjust your browser’s settings by going to the View menu, then select ‘text size’ or ‘text zoom’ or ‘zoom’ and increase the size of the text, or use one of the three sizes provided by the A symbols at the top of each page.
PDF files
These will be opened in a new browser window to allow you to switch between the site and the newly opened page.
Before you can read PDF files you will need Adobe Acrobat viewer which can be downloaded from http://www.adobe.com/. For more information about accessibility when using Adobe products please visit http://access.adobe.com/
Disclaimer
This is AAA Bobby and WC3 WAI AAA approved according to the guidelines laid out at the time this site was built.
Vanquis Bank endeavours at all times to make the site as accessible as reasonably possible to disabled users. In no way does Vanquis Bank seek to deliberately discriminate against disabled users access to the website service in accordance with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.