credit cards. UK vs USA.

keeperbear

ontheup wrote: »

This might be a stupid question , but if you are a UK resident how do you get a USA credit card or the other way round ???

How does a USA company check you are credit worthy etc etc ?

By working in the USA for a number of years and having a bank account there. Same applies for a USA citizen wanting a UK bank account.

ontheup_3

yes but can they check your UK credit rating ??

dzug

moonrakerz wrote: »

I didn't say I would get one. I was mainly pointing out all these "advantages" of a credit card are being paid for by the user, and the issuer is still making a fat profit

Ultimately who is there other than the user to pay the costs? If the user wasn't there, paying for it in one way or the other, the product (like any other) would not exist. All you can ask for is that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, which they do for many/most users.

OP is saying that only a handful of users ever benefit, which is patent nonsense.

keeperbear

moonrakerz wrote: »

I didn't say I would get one. I was mainly pointing out all these "advantages" of a credit card are being paid for by the user, and the issuer is still making a fat profit

If you pay off your balance in full every month, exactly how is the user "paying" for the advantages of the card?

I almost forgot another advantage of my card. All electrical purchases over £250 get an extra years warranty (i.e. total of 2 years) if purchased with my card. So you also get an extended warranty for free.

Quite honestly, I don't even know why we are having this debate. I love my credit card as it gives me so much flexibility and free benefits. I don't see how various posters can basically say that credit cards are the evil spawn from hell. The problem is the people who use them incorrectly, not the cards or the banks who issue them. What do you suggest, ban credit cards?

keeperbear

ontheup wrote: »

yes but can they check your UK credit rating ??

Work and live in the USA = You build up a credit rating there

Mrs_pbradley936

ontheup wrote: »

This might be a stupid question , but if you are a UK resident how do you get a USA credit card or the other way round ???

How does a USA company check you are credit worthy etc etc ?

I have both UK and USA bank accounts and credit cards. I have a house in Florida and spend a lot of time there. I would not bother if I only ever went there for a fortnight every other year. As to how you get one, you go into the bank with your passport and tell them you want to open an account. You cannot do it online because they will ask for a Social Security number which you will not have. That will get you a checking (what we call current) account and a debit card. To get a credit card you might have to lodge so much with them. I did at first, I had to put $3000 into deposit account and that was my limit. After a few months when they saw that I was OK they let me withdraw the money and keep the same limit.

paulinespens

If you have an American Express card I do belive you can take your credit rating from here over to the states with you.

moonrakerz

keeperbear wrote: »

If you pay off your balance in full every month, exactly how is the user "paying" for the advantages of the card?

ALL prices are inflated to cover the costs of the traders using the cards, if you can't see that, there is little more that I can say !

gazelleintense

newfoundglory wrote: »

The Egg Money mastercard, for example, offers many benefits. Including 1% cash back, good interest-free period, 4% credit interest (better than most standard instant access savings accounts), 7.9% in debit interest (far better than most overdrafts and personal loans if you ever needed to borrow), fee-free cash withdrawls from ATMs.

Unless the UK is different, in the U.S. the interest free period don't last long (and if you are late on one payment it defaults to something crazy like 24%), and getting cash from an ATM isn't free... you are charged a very high interest rate on that cash right? Usually way more than you are charged if you buy something.

not a deal in my book... the credit card industry "appears" to be giving all this stuff out for free... if only you would get and use their card.

ever ask yourself why they try so hard to get us all involved?

the answer is, that we lose and they win... at the end of the day.

dzug

moonrakerz wrote: »

ALL prices are inflated to cover the costs of the traders using the cards, if you can't see that, there is little more that I can say !

Well yes that sounds self-evident - but in reality it isn't as simple as that, and it certainly doesn't cost the trader as much to use the cards as his fee to the card company. He does have some savings from their use - he doesn't have to offer credit himself, he doesn't have to pay anyone to count cash and take it to the bank, nor list cheques and take them to the bank, nor incur bank fees for paying in cheques and cash, nor the risk of them being stolen/lost and maybe (though not as easily arguable now as it was in the early days of credit cards) does enough extra business through taking them to repay some or even all of his costs.

And if you do accept that prices are inflated, as an individual it still makes sense to use the card if it costs you personally no more and maybe even less with eg cashback rather than pay the same price in cash and see no benefit for it.