Post bankruptcy and getting a credit card

rog2

Many discharged bankrupts are 'seduced' by the offer of a VANQUIS Visa - it is 'genuine' credit card - but beware - It is provided by Provident (the semi-acceptable face of the Loan Shark) and has interest rates in excess of 65% p.a.
If you get an invitation from Vanquis - Bin it.

lucylocket39

Hi aLL, I had a look at that cashplus mastercard website and it gave me the impression that you are charged for every transaction??!! If that's the case then it might work out too costly for me.

wherediditallgo

Lucy, you can either go for the one where you pay a monthly fee & then do as many transactions as you like (the activeplus account), or you can go for the one where you don't pay the monthly fee but just pay per transaction (the flexiplus account). If you go to here , click on the link for the Terms & Conditions, then open the pdf file & you'll see the fees when you scroll down. You can save the pdf file on your computer to look at later on. You are right that there seems to be a payment processing fee, regardless of which account you have, so I think it's probably best to ring them or go into one of the stores offering them (they all seem to be pawnbrokers or 'cash-on-the-street' shops) to get clarification.

Red1708

There are quite a few prepaid credit cards available and they all work along similar lines. Basically you load money onto it before using it but all charge different rates. It's best therefore to look into the different ones available. This link compares the different ones available in the UK

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/cards/cardsresults.asp?Feature=Prepaid

shameless-about-money

lucylocket39 wrote: »

Hi aLL, I had a look at that cashplus mastercard website and it gave me the impression that you are charged for every transaction??!! If that's the case then it might work out too costly for me.

With Cashplus you pay £4.95 per month inc. OR you pay £1 per transaction.

So, if you are not going to use your card much - 5 times per month - you would be better off with the £1 per transaction option.

You can change it back at any time.

Ixy

Many discharged bankrupts are 'seduced' by the offer of a VANQUIS Visa - it is 'genuine' credit card - but beware - It is provided by Provident (the semi-acceptable face of the Loan Shark) and has interest rates in excess of 65% p.a.
If you get an invitation from Vanquis - Bin it.

I'd be happy with one that had 65% APR if it was a real cc. It's not ideal but I have no intention to ever buy and not pay off immediately and it would add make your credit rating better.

If I can't get a real cc then prepaid it is. However I think it's pointless if it's not Visa or Mastercard.

uther_2

Just be aware that with these pre pay cc's you might have difficulty with car hire.

savagevixen

lucylocket39 wrote: »

Hi, those mastercards sound like a good idea! Could i sign up for one now, a week after BR or do i have to wait a year? The card for my new account now is a maestro and like you say, they are not permitted everywhere, especially abroad! Mastercard is recognised more.

All I have had for the past 8 years is Maestro, I have never had any problems getting it accepted. We used it all over France (supermarkets, garages etc) In reflection I never even checked whether places accepted it. I beleived that the cirrus logo meant you could use it abroad, so I just went ahead and used it. Never refused, but in the places that didn't accept cards at all there was usually a cash point that did somewhere.

Recently we went to Spain, and the same again. I did not take any Euros. Just my card. I withdrew 20 Euros at the aTM at the airport and then used my card for our stay. I had no idea people had such fixed ideas about where and how they could be used. Very occasionally have I come across a service which will only accept CC. We can't get one. My Parents-i-l have one in OH's name. They keep hold of it and we used it to hire a car. (We paid but needed CC to pick it up)

I would love the Clydesdale/Yorkshire bank maestro. Unfortunately there are none anywhere near me. So I have Visa Electron just arrived with the Coop. Apparently this is accepted fairly widely now.

savagevixen

shameless-about-money wrote: »

The Co-op give a Visa Electron card but a lot of places won't take them.
!

Could you please specify some examples, as I am as yet unaware of anywhere that doesn't. It seems to be as widely accepted as Maestro and I never ever had problems with this.

uther_2

I think the UK is the biggest user of cc's in Europe.I have a lot of friends in Germany,and none of them have cc's. Most people there use cash,or cirrus