Applying for UK credit card while outside the UK

Mat_Lock

I am working and living in NZ at the moment and my UK MINT credit card has 3300 sterling on it and I am about to run out of UK money in my UK accounts to pay monthly. I am going to international transfer money from NZ account to UK account to pay the monthly payments. To limit the damage I am going to receive from transferring NZ dollars over to Sterling each month I want to apply for a 0% on balance transfer credit card.

Do you reckon they will accept me, give me enough credit or will they just laugh because I am not in the country etc.

Kavanne

i know natwest/rbs require you to be a UK resident to apply for their credit card. I'm going to go out on a limb and say the rest are the same.

Mat_Lock

and I guess if you say you are in the UK it leads to fraud.

gutted

chattychappy

Mat_Lock wrote: »

I am working and living in NZ at the moment and my UK MINT credit card has 3300 sterling on it and I am about to run out of UK money in my UK accounts to pay monthly. I am going to international transfer money from NZ account to UK account to pay the monthly payments. To limit the damage I am going to receive from transferring NZ dollars over to Sterling each month I want to apply for a 0% on balance transfer credit card.

Do you reckon they will accept me, give me enough credit or will they just laugh because I am not in the country etc.

Matt - agree with the answers so far. Most cards require you to be UK resident. Definitely fraudulent if they ask you to confirm your eligibility as part of the application procedure. Probably fraudulent if just part of the T+Cs.

Anyway, I'm confused by your solution. How would a 0% card help, except to reduce the interest (a worthy reason, of course)? You would still have the same problem of sending money from NZ each month to pay the card off. Are you short of cashflow - could you send a bigger amount less often to reduce transaction costs?

97trophy

hsbc might.

chattychappy

97trophy wrote: »

hsbc might.

Good idea, though when I lived overseas, HSBC just pushed me to their "offshore" services - Isle of Man or Channel Islands (can't remember which). None of those accounts had UK style BT deals. But that was a few years ago.

Mat_Lock

chattychappy wrote: »

Matt - agree with the answers so far. Most cards require you to be UK resident. Definitely fraudulent if they ask you to confirm your eligibility as part of the application procedure. Probably fraudulent if just part of the T+Cs.

Anyway, I'm confused by your solution. How would a 0% card help, except to reduce the interest (a worthy reason, of course)? You would still have the same problem of sending money from NZ each month to pay the card off. Are you short of cashflow - could you send a bigger amount less often to reduce transaction costs?

Well just not paying interest would be my main objective. I don't expect to pay off my whole debt during my time away, I just wanted to keep the damage to a minimum until I return.

The exchange rate was kind to me while I still had UK money in the accounts. Now I am solely in NZ Dollars it is working against me.

I'd like to pay more per month but here in NZ there is a charge for absolutely everything ! Setting up DDs aka APs here cost like $2 a time. Then for an international transfer it is $20 a time up to $500.

I might just have to erm get the old man to pay up the CC and I just pay him back using the NZs

Either way I need to make the payments to the card each month or I get bad credit for my parents as it is registered to their house.

chattychappy

OK. Well it seems you started at this address, and are returning to this address and your time overseas is temporary albeit protracted. There are many definitions of residency, domicile etc. If you are still on the electoral role I think I would stretch the truth and try applying for a card anyway. You might hit problems in the process - eg contact phone number, employer etc.

As for affecting your parents credit rating, it shouldn't happen. If they have become associated with you, this link can be broken.

If you family can help you out and you're happy you can repay them, this does seem sensible given all the savings in bank transfers and other hassles. You could always pay them back with a bit on top so neither side is out of pocket.

97trophy

Mat_Lock wrote: »

I'd like to pay more per month but here in NZ there is a charge for absolutely everything ! Setting up DDs aka APs here cost like $2 a time. Then for an international transfer it is $20 a time up to $500.

take a look at xe trade

http://www.xe.com/fx/

Mat_Lock

Thanks for that. Have looked in to it and looks good.

I have spent my whole day at work getting my identity sorted so that I can join XE. Fun !

will-in-estoril

Mat_Lock wrote: »

I am working and living in NZ at the moment and my UK MINT credit card has 3300 sterling on it and I am about to run out of UK money in my UK accounts to pay monthly. I am going to international transfer money from NZ account to UK account to pay the monthly payments. To limit the damage I am going to receive from transferring NZ dollars over to Sterling each month I want to apply for a 0% on balance transfer credit card.

Do you reckon they will accept me, give me enough credit or will they just laugh because I am not in the country etc.

Are you in New Zealand temporarily? If so are you still domiciled in the UK for tax purposes, do you have an address in the UK and are you intending to return? If the answers are yes I cannot see anything wrong with applying for a UK card.