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Hi All
Having been working as a sole trader since 2020 , I’ve always been keen to see if there was anyway to earn any points/vouchers or anything really from paying HMRC
Having read the article on the main website today, looks like Curve Metal could the way forward as effectively earning 9000 avios a year (Through BAPP) for £36 a year (£3000 in Jan and July) , probably wouldn’t make sense to go above the £3000 threshold with the 2.5% feeThis is assuming you can active it for one month in Jan , and then cancel it, and then active again in July
Anyone know if this is possible?Min 6 months
Min 6 months
Thanks, will have to do maths to see if its worth it
(Through BAPP)
Amex can’t be added to Curve.
Lol @Candor, you need to read it again, it mentions several times that you can only link Visa and MC!
You can’t stop and start Curve metal free of charge, there’s a minimum payment period if you cancel (6 months?)
Worth mentioning that’s it’s a rolling 30 day £3000 limit, so much harder to track if you’re doing more than one payment. The app doesn’t track this for you, although obviously Curve do, so it becomes painful to track.
Lol @Candor, you need to read it again, it mentions several times that you can only link Visa and MC!
You can’t stop and start Curve metal free of charge, there’s a minimum payment period if you cancel (6 months?)
Meant to say Barclaycard Avios Plus, got the terminology wrong
I was aware you couldn’t link Amex
I’ve just signed up for a Curve Metal card and linked to my Barclaycard Avios Plus card.
Anyone with the same Barclaycard Avios Plus had any fees / interest from Barclays when using Curve to pay HMRC?
Thanks
Just a warning: be very careful with Curve and Barclaycard. If they don’t like what you are doing (e.g., fronted cash-like transactions), they will not warn you but just suspend your account. Happened to me.
Do you know definitively that it’s because of Curve?
I’ve put probably £60k through fronted and Avios Barclaycard, all HMRC. So far so good, touch wood.
Just a warning: be very careful with Curve and Barclaycard. If they don’t like what you are doing (e.g., fronted cash-like transactions), they will not warn you but just suspend your account. Happened to me.
Thanks, I’ve decided to cancel my Curve signup – I manage to do a lot spending every month via my Barclaycard so don’t want to draw any attenion and risk problems.
I’ve put probably £60k through fronted and Avios Barclaycard, all HMRC. So far so good, touch wood.
I’m not sure that is any guide to the future for you or any comfort to anyone else. You are getting points to which you aren’t entitled for these ineligible transactions by mistake, something that is likely to be rectified at some point, either by charging you a cash advance fee or simply closing your account because they don’t like the activity. These transactions are very costly to Barclays and they are getting hit more as other providers close opportunities.
Do you know definitively that it’s because of Curve?
No, I don’t, but it is very likely. I upgraded from free to black, used fronted cash-like transactions, got suspended. Simplest.
Point is that Barclays don’t warn, they just close your account without giving reasons.
One thing I do not understand is why you.
It seems like from what I read from here many run similar operations, so do you know why *you* got hit?
Do you know definitively that it’s because of Curve?
No, I don’t, but it is very likely. I upgraded from free to black, used fronted cash-like transactions, got suspended. Simplest.
Point is that Barclays don’t warn, they just close your account without giving reasons.
@can2 – of course the OP doesn’t know why them and Barclays is hardly likely to tell them. Anyone is going to be at risk if they continue to make these sorts of cash type fronted transactions, particularly if they don’t make many standard purchases as well. Cash withdrawals would appear to be the biggest risk.
Thank you for the constant reminder, @JDB.
Thank you for the constant reminder, @JDB.
Well, I find it amusing that the players always think they are invincible until they come here blubbing about the terrible injustice they have suffered on account closure or being hit with a fee.
When one reads above of someone boasting that they have put £60k through this it feels like Creation all over again and these threads do nothing but hasten the demise of the loophole.
When one reads above of someone boasting that they have put £60k through this it feels like Creation all over again and these threads do nothing but hasten the demise of the loophole.
I 101% agree with this.
The 60k person did not indicate the period. Fronted limit is 3k per month so is this over 2 years. In which case it is not worst than others who use their fronted limit. Or are they paying the 2.5% charge which also doesn’t sound so awful in that Curve is making something.
JDB’s point about costing Barclays, I thought it would be curve footing the bill?
@Reney – no Barclays is the big loser as they are providing 1/1.5 Avios per technically ineligible £1 spent. Additionally, Barclays has to set aside capital to cover these transactions which are also typically larger than what is defined as ‘standard purchases. More should be set aside as these are also considered higher risk transactions. Thus Barclays is paying out very significantly more than it earns. This is why they would ordinarily charge a cash advance fee. The other issue is that if account activity raises an automatic flag for manual review, some of these types of transactions raise concerns about financial distress.
Curve should just about wash its face, so the reduction in fronted limits is as much about co-existing with other providers as much as saving itself money. It also needs to wean itself off ‘fronted’ and reliance on ‘fronted’ only customers because that’s not a sustainable model.
As you say, the £60k will have been over a period, although the reduction to £3k was relatively recent but it doesn’t alter the fact that it has cost Barclays £600-£900 unintentionally to provide benefits it didn’t need to pay. If you were Barclays, what would you do?
Eye roll that it’s a boast.
Most of that was done when the limit was £10k, now I do £3k per month. I’m sure I’m one of many people doing the same, I’m not being clever.
I wasn’t aware though that is is a disallowed transaction from Barclay’s point of view, where does it say that? I may well stop if so, as I don’t really want to jeopardise my whole account.
Ironic that @JDB “boasts” here that he and his wife use Fronted for £36k of tax payments per year
which is exactly what I’m doing.
Apparently when he does it is a “no brainer” but when I do it “it feels like Creation all over again and these threads do nothing but hasten the demise of the loophole”
Another eye roll.
That is investigative journalism 🙂
:tumbleweed:
So, now that we’ve seen there was a front page HFP story about paying HMRC using Curve/Barclaycard Avios, is there anyone who thinks there’s a reason this isn’t allowed?
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