What is the best way to handle company expenses

UberDan

Hi all, I hope someone can give me some good advice on this as I have been struggling for a solution for some time.

I work from home for a company who are based overseas as a rep for them. I have to make all of my own expenses and then submit my receipts to claim it back.

When I got the job i reluctantly opened up a credit card just to cover my expenses. But there are a few problems with this, A) my company will not pay any interest and therefore I get hit with any interest for my companies expenses. I'm not good with credit cards, and i know I'm not, which is why i got rid of it years ago, like i said i only had to get one again for my company expenses.

I don't want to use my own debit card for my company expenses as I want to keep my personal and my business expenses totally separate.

So, what I have been trying to do is open up a seperate bank account with a totally different bank (because I dont want it to show up on my personal internet banking). I have told the banks I have spoken to that I just want to open an account with £1000 cash and I don't require any overdraft or credit at all. All I need is a VISA debit card. The problem is that unless I am prepared to move my entire current account over to them they are not interested. Natwest said they could do it no problem, but the debit card they issue is Maestro, which is no good to me. I travel abroad a lot and the Maestro is not as accepted abroad.

Today I found out about pre-pay credit cards, which having read up sounds absolutely perfect for what I want. However while applying I read the T's & c's and it said "The Financial Services Compensation Scheme is not applicable for this Card. No other compensation schemes exist to cover losses claimed in connection with this Card. This means that in the unlikely event that AFL becomes insolvent your funds may become valueless and unusable and as a result you may lose your money.

So basically if they go tits up i lose my money, which in this climate of banks in trouble, i dont want to risk.

So, I have a couple of questions really A) Does anyone know of a bank account with Visa debit card which they will allow me to open up with £1000 cash & no credit facilities. Does anyone know of a pre-paid credit card which i would be protected with should they go bust.

Or maybe I am going about this in completely the wrong way, any advice would be most welcome.

BTW, my current bank is LloydsTSB, so please do not recommend them.

Thanks in advance.
UberDan.

456789

A) You can try Barclays Cash Card account or Co-op cashminder they both have visa debit

Joseph_Michael

Barclays, Co-op, Lloyds, Halifax. i know these 4 at least will do bank accounts with a visa debit, halifax will get a credit search, not sure if you will for the others if you get the basic account?!

simpywimpy

nationwide does a visa debit card and online banking and doesnt charge for european withdrawals either

Joseph_Michael

isn't maestro accepted globally too?
i remember using mine when i went to america, germany and mexico

anniecave

how fast do they re-imburse you for expenses?
surely if you just put all your expenses on the credit card and if you submitted your expenses regularly (weekly/fortnightly/monthly depending on the value) then you should be paid before the credit card bill is due

I can't see how getting another bank acount will help as you will have to put money in there first in order to be able to pay for things

YorkshireBoy

Get yourself a long (at least 9 months) 0% on purchases credit card. 6 months or so into the introductory period grab another one and close the old one once all expenses placed on it have been reimbursed. Rinse and repeat!

That way you've no risk of interest being charged and you're only shelling out 2% or so each month if your expenses are late being submitted/paid.

UberDan

simpywimpy wrote: »

nationwide does a visa debit card and online banking and doesnt charge for european withdrawals either

Nationwide won't let me open an account with them. they said unless i am moving my main account to them that my salary gets paid into they were not interested.

UberDan

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Get yourself a long (at least 9 months) 0% on purchases credit card. 6 months or so into the introductory period grab another one and close the old one once all expenses placed on it have been reimbursed. Rinse and repeat!

That way you've no risk of interest being charged and you're only shelling out 2% or so each month if your expenses are late being submitted/paid.

The point of me doing this is to get rid of credit cards.....i dont want one

UberDan

anniecave wrote: »

how fast do they re-imburse you for expenses?
surely if you just put all your expenses on the credit card and if you submitted your expenses regularly (weekly/fortnightly/monthly depending on the value) then you should be paid before the credit card bill is due

I can't see how getting another bank acount will help as you will have to put money in there first in order to be able to pay for things

not quickly enough really. in an ideal world i would submit my expenses within a week and they would pay me back within another week. closer to reality i submit my expenses every 2 - 3 weeks and they pay me back in 3 - 4 weeks.

agsnu

So why not open a second account with a debit card with your primary bank?