Yahoo Finance 
Bread, milk, personal loan: supermarkets leading the way for financial products
You might use one of the major supermarket chains to do your weekly shopping, buy clothes or fill up with fuel. You might have a phone or broadband contract with them. But did you know they’re topping some of the best buy tables for financial products right now?
Let’s take a look at what’s on offer.
A credit card for spreading the cost of a purchase
If you’re looking to spread the cost of a purchase, Tesco is the undisputed market leader. Its Clubcard for Purchases card offers an interest-free period of 18 months, plus Clubcard points on all your spending. Make sure you’ve paid off your spending or are ready to switch to a 0% balance transfer deal though or you’ll be charged interest.
[Apply for the Tesco card or see how it stacks up against the other 0% purchase cards]
Credit cards for paying off credit card debts
If you have some credit card debts you want to pay off, Tesco also offers two of the top options right now, depending on how long you need. Its Clubcard for Balance Transfers card will allow you to pay no interest on your debt for 27 months. That’s the joint longest period on the market right now along with Barclaycard’s Platinum 27-Month card. The Barclaycard has a slightly lower balance transfer (this charge is a percentage of the debt you’re transferring) of 2.99%, compared to Tesco’s 3.15%.
If you reckon you pay off your debts in less time, Tesco is the cheapest option, thanks to its 0.9% balance transfer fee on its Clubcard with Low Balance Transfer Fee card. This card offers a year with no interest to pay on your debts. If you’re happy to pay just a fraction more, 0.1% to be precise, then the Halifax All In One and Lloyds TSB Platinum 15-Month cards offer 15 months interest free with 1% fees.
[Compare 0% balance transfer credit cards]
Cashback and reward cards
If you shop regularly at Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s or Waitrose, you might want to take a look at their cashback and rewards cards.
The Tesco Clubcard for Purchases credit card pays five Clubcard points for every £4 you spend in Tesco stores and its petrol stations. You also earn one point for every £4 you spend elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the Asda Money credit card pays 1% cashback on your Asda shopping and fuel spending, and 0.5% cashback everywhere else. But if you put most things on your credit card each month, you might be better off with the American Express Platinum Cashback Everyday or Santander 123 (which charges an annual fee unless you’re a Santander current account customer) cards.
If you prefer Sainsbury’s, its Cashback Low Rate card pays 5% cashback on your Sainsbury’s shopping, up a to a limit of £50 a month, for the first three months you have the card. But if you don’t spend that much on your food, you might want to look at another, less restrictive cashback card.
If you collect Nectar points, the Nectar Low Rate card pays 10 points per £1 spent on Sainsbury’s shopping for the first three months, up to a maximum spend of £1,000. So you can earn up to 10,000 points. After that, you earn four Nectar points for every £1 you spend on Sainsbury’s shopping and one point for every £5 you spend elsewhere.
Finally, the John Lewis Partnership card pays one point for every £1 you spend at Waitrose, Waitrose.com, John Lewis and JohnLewis.com. For every 500 points you earn you’ll be sent a £5 John Lewis/Waitrose voucher.
[Get rewarded for your spending - compare top reward credit cards]
Personal loans
If you want to borrow between £7,500 and £15,000, can repay it within three years and have a good credit rating, Sainsbury’s Bank is now in second position in the best buy table with a representative APR of 4.9%. Under law, this rate will be offered to a minimum of 51% of successful applicants.
If you tick all the boxes above though, you could borrow even more cheaply through peer-to-peer website Zopa, which matches people who want to lend with people who want to borrow. Its rate is 4.8%.
If you want to repay over between three and five years, then Sainsbury’s and Tesco both offer a representative APR of 5.1%, just below the market-leading Zopa at 4.9% and Derbyshire Building Society at 5%.
Mortgages
If you’re in the market for a new mortgage, Tesco is currently offering a two-year fixed rate of 1.74% for people who need to borrow 60% or less of their home’s value. This mortgage has fees of £1,495, which beats NatWest’s fees on its otherwise identical 1.74% mortgage.
If you want a longer fix, Tesco has a five-year with an initial rate of between 2.49% and 3.69%, depending on how much you need to borrow. They again come with fees of £1,495. These also compare very favourably with what else is around at the moment.
