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"Joint" credit card

etienneg Posts: 554 Forumite

24 February 2019 at 4:46PM in Credit cards

This is a theoretical query (aimed at understanding) rather than a practical one based on particular circumstances.

I'm well aware that there's no such thing as a joint credit card in the UK. What we have here is a credit card held by one person with an additional card on the same account for another person. The main card holder has full liability for purchases made by both cards.

What I didn't realise until recently is that this is not a universal situation. As I understand it, joint credit cards do exist in some other countries (for example the USA). In this case the two cardholders have "joint and several" liability - just the same as for joint bank accounts.

So my query is: why the difference? Is it some difference between the legal systems? Or maybe there's a commercial consideration of some kind? Or is it just historical? I'm just interested, really, and also to know which is more prevalent, particularly in other major countries.

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"Joint" credit card

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