Can you be in credit on a credit card?

jenniewb

I have a credit card which I am slowly paying off. By my own calculations I would be a few years from having paid it off in full.

I had about £230 to go (yes I am that broke) but a well meaning relative has given me a gift of £300. I'm delighted as this means I can pay off my balance!

If I pay the cheque into my credit card account, it will mean I'm going to be in credit by around £70. Is this OK or do the banks find a way to claim that back or refuse it? I don't want to lose the money nor do I want to waste it by feeling I have to spend it on things I don't really need by getting rid of the extra.


I could pay it into my current account but that just adds time and I was hoping to pay in the cheque ASAP to clear the balance and by-pass this months interest charges.

Mozette

They'll either refund it, or you could spend it. You'll have some interest left to pay, so you could always pay it, then ring the card company and say you overpaid to cover the interest, would they refund you whatever balance is left.

Strictly speaking it's not allowed, but it happens.

Beware spending it as I think you won't get the S75 protection if you are in credit.

pooch

jenniewb wrote: »

I have a credit card which I am slowly paying off. By my own calculations I would be a few years from having paid it off in full.

I had about £230 to go (yes I am that broke) but a well meaning relative has given me a gift of £300. I'm delighted as this means I can pay off my balance!

If I pay the cheque into my credit card account, it will mean I'm going to be in credit by around £70. Is this OK or do the banks find a way to claim that back or refuse it? I don't want to lose the money nor do I want to waste it by feeling I have to spend it on things I don't really need by getting rid of the extra.


I could pay it into my current account but that just adds time and I was hoping to pay in the cheque ASAP to clear the balance and by-pass this months interest charges.

Do you already have the cheque? If so it's presumablky already made out to you, so I can't see the credit card company accepting it.

You could pay the money into your current account. As sson as it clears you could pay the credit card using faster payments - should end up taking just as long, perhaps even quicker depending on which bank you are with (and which bank the cheque is drawn against)

Or, if you don't have the cheque yet, ask the relative for two - one made payable to the credit card (your account) and the other to you for the remainder.

Lots more options available

debrag

My partner has £20 credit on his Nationwide cc, can he claim that back? its been in there for months

jenniewb

pooch wrote: »

Do you already have the cheque? If so it's presumablky already made out to you, so I can't see the credit card company accepting it.

You could pay the money into your current account. As sson as it clears you could pay the credit card using faster payments - should end up taking just as long, perhaps even quicker depending on which bank you are with (and which bank the cheque is drawn against)

Or, if you don't have the cheque yet, ask the relative for two - one made payable to the credit card (your account) and the other to you for the remainder.

Lots more options available

Thanks, the cheque was made out to me yesterday and I've only been told today, the relative doesn't live anywhere close so getting it broken down isn't an option.

Whenever I've had birthday or Christmas cheques before I normally pay them to my credit card (this has been a huge part in being able to pay it off over time) I'm hoping they'll be fine with it as they have been for the past few years without so much as a question from the cashier when I pay the cheque in.

If I pay it into my current account I'd need to wait for it to clear before taking the money out and paying it over. When you pay cash into a credit card account despite the fact your handing over cash, they still take 3 full working days to process this money and credit your account. With a cheque it takes a week, with a current account it also takes a week-or mine does at least which would mean I'd lose 3 working days and when you count in the bank holidays (Christmas and Boxing day, New Years Day) it means an extra week in real terms. If I paid the cheque in to the credit card it would cut a week out.


I think maybe the best thing to do is to use the credit card to buy food and see if I can make any early payments up to the value of the extra so that by the time the cheque clears I wont be in credit, seems like the best way around it anyway.

jenniewb

debrag wrote: »

My partner has £20 credit on his Nationwide cc, can he claim that back? its been in there for months

can he not just spend it on necessities?

sfax

For amounts this small, it really doesn't matter if you put the account in credit (apart from no s75 cover). You could close the account and they'd have no problem sending you a cheque for anything less than £100.

I regularly put my CC accounts in credit with BTs, sometimes £1,000 or more. What they don't want you doing and what they may stop you doing is closing and requesting a cheque after you do this. If you spend on the card, it's not normally a problem. I've never had a BT declined that put a card in credit

NiftyDigits

debrag wrote: »

My partner has £20 credit on his Nationwide cc, can he claim that back? its been in there for months

The answer is yes. They can transfer it in to a bank account.