Is this legal & possible?

random77

I have just applied for a Tesco credit card that gives you 13 months interest free on purchases.

Is it possible that I could transfer, for example, £4000 to my PayPal account from the credit card and then withdraw the money from PayPal to my bank account?

I believe PayPal would charge me 3.5% to do this which would mean, if I paid off my credit card within 12 months I'd have a pretty cheap cash loan.

However, is this possible and more importantly is it legal?

If not, is there anything to stop me doing this by paying into my girlfriend's PayPal account instead?

Thanks!

Kyresa

You've said interest free on purchases - cash is not a purchase.

YorkshireBoy

I'm not familiar with the workings of PayPal, but there are cheaper ways of getting a 10-12 month cash loan.

For example, you could buy Sterling travellers cheques* from M&S with their card for a 1% fee and get 10 months 0% interest. Even if you overun by a couple of months you'll only pay around 2.5% interest (on any remaining balance...not the amount purchased).

* Simply pay them into your bank account (but check first they'll accept them...some might not).


EDIT: May even be possible with your Tesco card. See this recent thread on the stoozing site...

http://www.stoozing.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1287002563


2nd EDIT: Even an Egg Card would give you 13-14 months 0% on cash into your current account for only a 3% fee.

random77

@Kyresa

But isn't paying into myself or my girlfriends PayPal account a purchase? Won't the credit card just see it as a PayPal purchase?

random77

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

EDIT: May even be possible with your Tesco card. See this recent thread on the stoozing site...

Thanks, I'll look into that.

theageofreason

Yes, you can do that. Just get your girlfriend to send you an invoice for any made up thing which costs what you want to transfer, then pay it with your Tesco card. Your girlfriend will have to pay Paypal fees on the purchase. If it's over £1500, she'll qualify for the 'merchant' rate of 2.9% plus 20p as she'll have received over £1500 in that month. If it's over £6000 it drops to 2.4% plus 20p. She'll have to upgrade from a private account if she hasn't already as transfer limits will stop her withdrawing all the cash you pay over in a single month. It's free and easy to do that though - if she hasn't already

PNPSUKNET

paypal would be costly and work, however it may also be flagged by paypal as fraud.

chattychappy

One part of the question was whether it's legal.

It could be breach of contract by the OP and his girlfriend.

If it is a breach of contract, it could also be a fraud. (Fraud by false representation). Both the OP and girlfriend could incur liability. Note there would be a number of hurdles to overcome in a prosecution - for example the requirement to show "dishonesty". (The Ghosh test.)

sharpy2010

If you pay £4000 into your PayPal account, then at the very best, you won't see it again for about 6 months.

UnderPressure

Sharpy 2010 hit the nail on the head unles she has this kind of money going through her Paypal account already the chances of a 4k transaction not being flagged for investigation are well very small indeed.

Nice idea but the fly in this ointment is definately paypal I would not do this TBH.

Yorkshire Boy makes some excellent suggestions also do go and check out the stoozing section.

Best of luck