I recently looked at how to build your credit score and came across the Aqua Reward Credit Card. It’s promoted as a good option for people with no or poor credit history. The bad point is that the lowest rate of interest on offer is a whopping 34.9%. This makes it absolutely crucial that you pay off the full balance every month. You’ll receive the cashback credited to your account annually, as long as you pay on time and keep within your credit card limit

Although I have a good credit score, the 3% cashback sounded great. I love getting money back on things I’d buy anyway. I currently get £5 cashback when I spent a minimum of £300 on my Halifax Clarity Card, equivalent to 1.67%. This cashback is only paid to Halifax Reward Current Account holders. When I reach the £300 spend in a month, I swap to using my Barclaycard, which gives me 1% cashback.

Unfortunately, the maximum cashback paid on the Aqua Reward Credit Card is £100, so I’ll stop using the card once I’ve spent £3,333.00 a year.

I made an online application for an Aqua Reward Credit Card myself. My application was accepted with the initial maximum credit limit of £1,600.  I’ll be paying off the full balance every month, as I do with all my credit cards. It’s cheaper to live debt free and it would be pointless to get 3% cashback and then pay 34.9% interest on the outstanding balance.

The other good thing about the Aqua Reward Card is that there’s no exchange rate fee, so it’s ideal to use for overseas transactions. However, there is a 3% (min £3) fee for ATM withdrawals made abroad, so make sure that you only use the card to make purchases. The Halifax Clarity Card trumps the Aqua Card for cash withdrawals as it doesn’t have a withdrawal fee. Therefore the Aqua Reward Credit Card will become my back up card when I travel abroad.

Warning

This article is based on my personal research and understanding of the product on the basis of my own credit card usage. Please read all terms and conditions carefully before applying for any financial product.

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