Can I use my credit card to pay for goods via Bank Transfer?

sho_me_da_money

Hello,

I am looking to purchase some goods in Germany and the retailer would like payment via Bank Transfer.

Could I go into a Natwest Bank and ask them to debit/pay £2000 off my £3000 credit card limit to pay the retailer directly into their Bank Account?

Thanks,

agrinnall

I imagine you could, but it would certainly be treated as a cash withdrawal with whatever interest and charges apply to that, and you would then have to pay the SWIFT transfer fee to get the payment to Germany.

lisyloo

and the retailer would like payment via Bank Transfer

Seems very unusual.
Once you give someone cash you have virtually no protection.
I would be looking for another retailer even if more expensive.
Paypal, debit card or credit card gives you protection should something go wrong.
Giving someone you don't know in Germany cash is risky.
Won't they set up a paypal account? even if you offer to pay fees?
If not I'd question whether they are dodgy.

Could I go into a Natwest Bank and ask them to debit/pay £2000 off my £3000 credit card limit to pay the retailer directly into their Bank Account?

You can do "money transfers" but there are fees and interest.

I would suggest you ask the retailer to set up a paypal account.
If they mention fees then offer to go halves or even pay the fees.
If they won't open a paypal account even if you offer to pay fees then my advice is don't touch them with a bargepole.

Sending someone £2K in cash that you don't know is risky as you have little recourse.
My advice is use paypal or find another retailer.
If they won't open a paypal account for £2K then you should be highly suspicious.

baby_frogmella

lisyloo wrote: »

Seems very unusual.

Actually its not unusual at all for German online retailers to ask for funds by bank transfer in advance. From experience, retailers such as computeruniverse.net (which i use frequently) give you payment option by bank transfer OR paypal but they charge 1-2% extra for PP....so i always go for the bank transfer option. https://www.passiontec.co.uk is another German retailer (again fully legit) which only accepts payment by bank transfer. You have to remember that one of the reasons these German retailers are able to keep their prices low is because they try to avoid paypal and if they do use paypal, then they pass on the cost to the customer - makes perfect sense.

OP, assuming the German retailer is fully legit (call them to put your mind at ease) then your best option is to open an account with xetrade.com and send funds free of charge to germany (by EFT) with excellent exchange rates. You CANNOT withdraw money free of charge on your credit card and load it into your account account - other than halifax clarity & Sainsbury's gold card all CC companies will charge you a withdrawal fee as well as charge you interest the moment you withdraw.

lisyloo

so i always go for the bank transfer option

I would always go for paypal.
You are very unprotected with bank transfers, it's like giving someone cash.
You could of course use the legal system, but taking someone to court in another courntry would be pretty expensive and difficult.

You have to remember that one of the reasons these German retailers are able to keep their prices low is because they try to avoid paypal and if they do use paypal, then they pass on the cost to the customer - makes perfect sense.

Until something goes wrong............
I guess it's up to inidividuals what they do but I would never send an unknown company cash up front. I'm not saying you don't know those particular companies and obviously we all have free choice, but I think it's crazy to send cash.

I completely accept we all have free choice but I just wanted to make the point about lack of protection when sending cash in case the OP was unaware.

For me personally if the prices were so low I wouldn't have an issue with paying an extra 1% or 2%. I'd use a 3% cashback card.

sho_me_da_money

baby_frogmella wrote: »

Actually its not unusual at all for German online retailers to ask for funds by bank transfer in advance. From experience, retailers such as computeruniverse.net (which i use frequently) give you payment option by bank transfer OR paypal but they charge 1-2% extra for PP....so i always go for the bank transfer option. www.passiontec.co.uk is another German retailer (again fully legit) which only accepts payment by bank transfer. You have to remember that one of the reasons these German retailers are able to keep their prices low is because they try to avoid paypal and if they do use paypal, then they pass on the cost to the customer - makes perfect sense.

OP, assuming the German retailer is fully legit (call them to put your mind at ease) then your best option is to open an account with xetrade.com and send funds free of charge to germany (by EFT) with excellent exchange rates. You CANNOT withdraw money free of charge on your credit card and load it into your account account - other than halifax clarity & Sainsbury's gold card all CC companies will charge you a withdrawal fee as well as charge you interest the moment you withdraw.

I am 1 million percent sure this is a reliable retailer - http://comtech.de

They accept various methods of payment (Visa, Paypal etc) however, with my international purchase, they would like to take payment by Bank Transfer only. I do not mind this because with all the CC fraud that goes on, they are probably protecting themselves.

So how does XETrade work? I mean, how is this method different from asking your bank to use your funds to directly deposit them in the foreign account? The only thing I can think of is that Barclays will see this transaction as a payment to XETrade that in turn is a holding account that can be used to transfer fund into the comtech account?

Thank you

sho_me_da_money

The part that confuses me is the red bits below:

It says I cannot fund the account by CC. So how does EFT work and what is the difference.

The objective is to use the limit on my credit card to pay for this item but it seems an absolute ball ache. I do not have the raw funds in an account. I only have the limit

• Option: Payment by EFT Electronic Funds Transfer
  Choosing this payment option directs us to automatically withdraw the payment from a bank account held by you or your business in the currency you are converting from (i.e. "selling"). You cannot debit funds from third party accounts. Before you can use EFT for an account, you must complete and sign an authorization form allowing us to debit funds from that account. EFT is very cost effective and simple, although it is not as fast as a Wire Transfer. EFT withdrawal is currently available for USD and CAD accounts in the United States and Canada, although we can send converted funds to other countries via EFT. (Note: CHAPS can be used to pay us in place of a Wire in the United Kingdom. See above paragraph for details.)
• NOT AVAILABLE: Payment by Bank Draft or Check Since we cannot deliver the converted funds until we first receive the payment from you, we do not permit payment by Bank Draft or check. It simply delays the conversion process too long to be practical.
• NOT AVAILABLE: Payment by Cash For similar reasons, as well as additional security concerns, we cannot accept cash payments or deposits.
• NOT AVAILABLE: Payment by Credit Card Credit card companies deduct merchant fees from all payments using their cards. These deductions would significantly increase the cost of your transaction.
• NOT AVAILABLE: Interac/E-mail Money Transfers (Canada only) We cannot process incoming payments via the Interac/E-mail Money Transfer system in Canada.
• NOT AVAILABLE: PayPal We cannot process incoming payments via PayPal or other similar transfer systems.

lisyloo

I mean, how is this method different from asking your bank to use your funds to directly deposit them in the foreign account?

I don't think it's really any different to asking your bank to do this.
It's simply a 3rd party offering the same service but more cheaply.

baby_frogmella

xetrade does not let you fund transfers from your credit card. If you have a paypal personal account perhaps you could send a cash 'gift' to a family member's paypal account using your credit card and then ask them to pay you in cash which you can deposit in your bank account? Not sure if this would work though.

If you MUST use funds from your credit card and are happy to pay interest/withdrawal charges then you have one of three options:

1) Ask your CC company to pay money into your bank account electronically. Not all CC companies offer this though, i know that Virgin MBNA & First Direct offer this facility.

2) Take your CC & suitable id into a bank and withdraw from there..can usually withdraw more than the daily ATM limit if bank has the notes.

3) Withdraw cash from a ATM using your CC but you will have a daily limit.

Once you have the cash in your bank account, open a xetrade account online...if possible use a UK debit card for easier verification whilst opening the account. Then add your Uk bank account & German retailer's bank account to your xetrade account. When you want to do a transfer, get a quote, accept if you're happy and then transfer the equivalent GBP to xetrade's barclays bank account in London (by faster payments). EFT Transfers to EU countries typically take 48 hours from the moment you send funds in GBP. Also bear in mind that EFT transfer are NOT allowed to have any payment reference other than your name.

Believe me its easier than it sounds!

YorkshireBoy

baby_frogmella wrote: »

You CANNOT withdraw money free of charge on your credit card and load it into your account account - other than halifax clarity & Sainsbury's gold card all CC companies will charge you a withdrawal fee as well as charge you interest the moment you withdraw.

The OP's NatWest card offers a 'money transfer' facility, whereby they will pay funds into their current account fee free and at their purchase rate of interest.

The bad news for the OP is that the 'advance limit' is usually 50% of the credit limit, meaning only £1,500 would be available this way.

lisyloo

Not sure if this would work though.

There will be fees.
Around 3% off the top of my head, but it's quite easy to look up.