Unwanted credit card upgrades

RAE22

Hi, my joint credit card account with my husband from MBNA was recently upgraded from Mastercard to AMEX and VISA (2 cards). This was without our consent and knowledge. The first we knew of it was the cards arriving on our doorstep! We were supposed to 'opt out' of the upgrade when they wrote to us. The problem was we never received the upgrade letter as we opted out of receiving any mailshots etc as we were sick of receiving cc cheques through the post... So, as we did not want this 'upgrade' MBNA begrudgingly downgraded our account back to our original one. We now have to wait 3 wks for a copy of our original cards to arrive as it is classed as a new account again??? confused?
What I would like to know is whether anyone else has had this problem and will the downgrade effect our credit rating?
Thanks!

young_money_saver

whats wrong with amex and visa? I know some don't like amex but visa works just the same as mastercard. about your credit report if its classed as a brand new account (don't think it will be) then that will slightly affect by closing an account younger than 12 months old but I think you should be fine as an upgrade usually means its the same account.

RAE22

There's nothing wrong with them. The fact is that we already have AMEX and VISA in some shape or form. If we had of been given the option of 'upgrading' we would of declined as we would have been no better off - worse infact as we would lose the mastercard.......

callum9999

RAE22 wrote: »

There's nothing wrong with them. The fact is that we already have AMEX and VISA in some shape or form. If we had of been given the option of 'upgrading' we would of declined as we would have been no better off - worse infact as we would lose the mastercard.......

Why do you need a Mastercard? There is virtually no discernible difference between a Visa and Mastercard credit card. I guess on the off chance Visa and American express both go down simultaneously it could be useful but how likely is that.

Svenena

I wouldn't want to lose my Mastercard as they sometimes run competitions which only card-holders can participate in!

RAE22

AMEX do have good discounts available, including priviledged tickets and dining offers. Just a pain that you have to carry a backup as it's not as widely accepted x

young_money_saver

whys it a pain to carry two credit cards for one account? like whats already been said there is no difference between visa and mastercard. if it bothers you that much I would suggest getting a new mastercard credit card and cancelling this one.

RAE22

I think this has now turned into chinese whispers.... I do not carry 2 cards for the same account and I do not want to carry 2 cards for the same account as I think it's pointless and from a security point of view you've all your eggs in one basket. If you spread your cards you can get offers from different suppliers. I was quite happy with a mastercard (1 account), an AMEX (another account) and a VISA (another account). Amex have good offers but not widely accepted, mainly used for hubbies expenses/travel etc. Mastercard is our original card that we have had for years had no problem sticking with it. VISA is a card generally used when travelling abroad.

My query was not how I spread my cards but how my credit rating would be effected when theyve finished downgrading my upgrade (that I never asked for in the first place) and if this had happened to anyone else.

Cheers
x:beer:

jonesMUFCforever

There is no such thing as a joint credit card.
So one of you is the principal card holder (who is liable for 100% of any debt) and the other an additional holder.

You do not have to carry both cards if you don't want to - keep one at home!

And if you really don't like what they have done - walk away and apply elsewhere.

RAE22

Yes. To get technical my husband is the primary holder, I am the secondary not that makes any difference to the questions I have asked. Cannot see the point of having a credit card to keep at home when it's for the same account that you are carrying around with you.

I just wondered whether anyone else had been upgraded in such a manner resulting in a waste of time and effort for everyone. I dont really know why it was classed as an upgrade anyway as the credit limit and rewards are exactly the same. It's not for us as we possess the cards already....