getting a card whilst living abroad

tolkeintofu

Hi,
I am a Brit living in RSA for five years.I am on the move and need a good source for getting a card for car hire, drawing funds etc whilst in Europe again.Is there any legal way to get a decent card in the UK,depositing funds etc without a permanent UK address? I could get a friend's address I suppose,but it's not ideal.RSA banks seem to be too cagey,whatever you have in hand financially.
Thanks,
T.Tofu, Chris.

chattychappy

I think it depends if you are up for fraud or not. The T+Cs I have seen say only available to UK residents (or some such). So you would be misrepresenting your status if you apply knowing you don't live in the UK. Also when they ask for your address, I think it's pretty clear they want to know where you live, not simply where they can send the post.

Also it is unlikely you would succeed because of the credit checks they do - it sounds like you might not have any credit history in the UK.

Do you have a UK bank account? If so they might let you have a CC on that, or at least a usable debit card.

Some banks (eg HSBC) claim to to offer a service for international business people. I remember a Taiwanese friend got a UK HSBC credit card within a couple of weeks of arriving in the UK. He had a good history in Taiwan and was very wealthy.

tolkeintofu

Hi,
No not into fraud.I had a HSBC account that they closed through dormancy over the last two years.I suppose I could ask to reinstate it and then apply with that.I did have a credit and debit card with them that both lapsed.My credit record over the last 17 years has been fine.Though five have been in RSA as I said .Thanks anyway,C.

Voyager2002

Why not get a pre-paid card: there are plenty available?

jonesMUFCforever

tolkeintofu wrote: »

Hi,
No not into fraud.I had a HSBC account that they closed through dormancy over the last two years.I suppose I could ask to reinstate it and then apply with that.I did have a credit and debit card with them that both lapsed.My credit record over the last 17 years has been fine.Though five have been in RSA as I said .Thanks anyway,C.

No you can't because you will come up
against the same problem -address verification in the UK.