Direct debits FROM a credit card?

Kernow_Kid

I have a SkyCard, which I pay off in full each month.
As a bonus, I get SkyPoints which I can use against my Sky bill.
At the moment, I spend about £500 per month on it, just from shopping, petrol and odds and ends, paying it off in full.

What I would like to do is to pay my household bills through it as well, e.g. Water, Electric, etc., and get another £500 worth of SkyPoints to use, thus bringing the cost of my Sky down to virtually nothing.

Is this possible? Would they charge me as a cash advance on the card?
Can I set up direct debits from a credit card?
Any help would be great, Thanks:T
KK

CLAPTON

You can't set up direct debts from a CC, although you can sometimes set up recurring payments. Do remember that recurring payments from CC are not covered by the DD guarentee. Also remember that the CC company can't cancel them only the utility or whatever company.

However, most utilities do not accept CC payments.. you need to check each one at a time and see whether any do.

Stompa

You may also find that they'll charge you a fee for paying by CC.

lisyloo

I would warn you against making continual payments by CC after reading plenty of horror stories.
With DD you can cancel yourself due to the DD guarantee.

With continuous card authority you are not in control.
It is the retailer that has to cancel, so if you are in dispute you cannot cancel.
Cancelling the card won't work either.

I would suggest you think carefully before doing this.

Stephen_Leak

lisyloo wrote: »

With continuous card authority you are not in control.

Erm, yes you are, although that can sometimes be the problem. Just make a list of them and keep it with the CC statements - its not rocket science.

Lavendyr

Stephen leak I think you've misunderstood - the point of DDs is that you can cancel them yourself and stop them going out, whereas if you set up a CPA, only the retailer can cancel them - so you can ask the retailer to cancel, but you have to rely on their efficiency/honesty to actually do it when you request them to do it. Very many experiences on here suggest that it's all too often the case that it is far more difficult to get a company to cancel a CPA than it is to cancel a Direct Debit. As such I'd far rather use a Direct debit than a CPA, any day.

JohalaReewi

Kernow_Kid wrote: »

I have a SkyCard, which I pay off in full each month.
As a bonus, I get SkyPoints which I can use against my Sky bill.
At the moment, I spend about £500 per month on it, just from shopping, petrol and odds and ends, paying it off in full.

What I would like to do is to pay my household bills through it as well, e.g. Water, Electric, etc., and get another £500 worth of SkyPoints to use, thus bringing the cost of my Sky down to virtually nothing.

Is this possible? Would they charge me as a cash advance on the card?

Some utilities allow you to pay by credit card but you may find they charge you a handling fee. If you do pay by credit card, it shows as a normal purchase on the credit card so no cash advance fee.

Can I set up direct debits from a credit card?

No. There is no such thing as a direct debit from a credit card. Regular payments from a credit card is called a Continous Payment Authority (CPA). The main differences between a direct debit and a CPA are:-
1) Direct Debits are backed by the direct debit guarantee scheme so you have some protection. You have no protection with a CPA so if it goes wrong, you can end up out of pocket.
2) You can cancel a direct debit yourself. A CPA can only be cancelled by the company taking the money. Can be a problem with rogue companies who don't accept your termination instructions.

Any help would be great, Thanks
KK

You may be interested to know you can pay your TV licence by credit card (and car tax).

lisyloo

Erm, yes you are, although that can sometimes be the problem. Just make a list of them and keep it with the CC statements - its not rocket science.

I think you have misunderstood (as Lavendyr has kindly explained).

You are not in control of cancelling a CCA.
You can the retails and they might do it or your letter just might get "lost in the post".
If you are in dispute with them they might not even agree to cancel.
Cancelling the card will NOT work.

With Direct Debit you can definitely cancel yourself and be in total control.
I can do mine on-line so no "lost in the post" excuses.

Stephen_Leak

Noted with thanks.

houmie

Guys it made me now a bit worried.

I just have moved to Be Broadband and have given my Credit Card as a payment method because of 1% cashback. It has told me that the card will be every month charged at the same time for this amount. Is that what you meant with having no control?


But I always could ask the credit card company and cancel each illegal transaction they made. Thats what makes a credit card safe I thought...

So whats the deal here?

Cheers

Stompa

houmie wrote: »

But I always could ask the credit card company and cancel each illegal transaction they made. Thats what makes a credit card safe I thought...

So whats the deal here?

Have a read of this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/2099270.stm

(though bear in mind that the article is a few years old, so I guess it's possible things may have changed)