right then. i have a question that might make most of you laugh but you will have to bear with me because i have never had a credit card!

thing is i am considering taking out a credit card to earn me a little extra, like a cash back card or a points card eg. tesco credit card. i plan to pay for all my monthly outgoings using the card, which i will pay off in full each month in order to avoid interest but to attract extra rewards.
however, a large proportion of my monthly outgoings is paid for using direct debit from my current account....
... my question for all you experts is therefore, will i be able to set up direct debits on a credit card? and if so, will it count as a purchase? or something weird that attracts interest straight away?

i realise that i am probably being a niave credit virgin here! but i'm 25 and have just ordered my credit report to find that the only info on it is electoral role records! not good when it comes to applying for a mortgage! i need some credit.

Read the back of your utility bills to see if they accept credit card payments. Our internet is paid for on credit card, and the AA subscription, but I think everything else is DD.

Originally posted by Melanie
right then. i have a question that might make most of you laugh but you will have to bear with me because i have never had a credit card!

thing is i am considering taking out a credit card to earn me a little extra, like a cash back card or a points card eg. tesco credit card. i plan to pay for all my monthly outgoings using the card, which i will pay off in full each month in order to avoid interest but to attract extra rewards.
however, a large proportion of my monthly outgoings is paid for using direct debit from my current account....
... my question for all you experts is therefore, will i be able to set up direct debits on a credit card? and if so, will it count as a purchase? or something weird that attracts interest straight away?

i realise that i am probably being a niave credit virgin here! but i'm 25 and have just ordered my credit report to find that the only info on it is electoral role records! not good when it comes to applying for a mortgage! i need some credit.

Melanie,

Glad you've asked before rushing into it. I'm a bit of an obsessive loyalty point, cashback reward buff. When you can earn money just by spending money and being reponsible- why not? Here's the lowdown on how to make the most of credit cards.

- Credit Cards
I use my credit card instead of Switch; as a frequent flyer I use AMEX which I have to pay an annual subscription for. However, it offers certain advantages (ie. free executive car parking at airports) and I always pay my balance off in full every month. This offers me a reward for playing the system.

This is how to use credit cards, basically just for the rewards and not the credit. It really does work too - in the past three years I've had 1 first class flight and 3 Club World (nice flat bed) flights to New York completely FREE on BA and all for just playing the system! It's got to be worth it!

Direct Debits themselves can't usually be set up on credit cards. As Strix says, certain companies may agree to claim money from your credit card each month, but this is not a Direct Debit and you therefore won't be covered by the Direct Debit guarantee. If you trust the company to correctly claim from the credit card each month then that may not be a problem for you, but be aware that any mistake (on your, the card issuer's or the claimant's part) may be more complicated to resolve.
I believe (but could well be wrong) that any claim made monthly against a credit card would show up as a fairly anonymous "Goods/services" debit (with the provider using a "cardholder not present" type authorisation). As such, I believe they would be subject to the same interest-free period as a normal goods purchase would.