Buying in dollars - credit card or dollar bank account

Olenna

DullGreyGuy said:

Do you really mean you are buying dollars (ie USD cash) or do you mean you are buying products/services and being charged in dollars?

Are you needing credit facilities or have the cash at hand to pay?

As a sole trader there is only you however most banks have T&Cs that on paper prevent you from using their personal lines products for business use however enforcement of those terms is generally rare. 

If you arent needing the credit then a Starling account can be setup for a sole trader and their debit card doesn't attract fees for FX. 

If you need credit then personal cards are going to be much better but then you have to be comfortable breaching their terms. If it is cash you want, rather than goods/services you need to be careful on the cash transaction fee and probably double check how it works for foreign currency bought in the UK as its likely to be billed as GDP and therefore not be an FX issue but a cash like transaction fee instead. 

I would think there is decent chance that GBP 120k worth of USD business transactions per annual will get noticed by Barclaycard.

RomfordNavy

Olenna said:

I would think there is decent chance that GBP 120k worth of USD business transactions per annual will get noticed by Barclaycard.

Well it might but surely they would be grateful for the commission they would earn from those transactions.  Of the four personal credit cards we are currently using for these purchases (all of which charge a forex fee) none have complained about the business use.

Olenna

RomfordNavy said:

Olenna said:

I would think there is decent chance that GBP 120k worth of USD business transactions per annual will get noticed by Barclaycard.

Well it might but surely they would be grateful for the commission they would earn from those transactions.  Of the four personal credit cards we are currently using for these purchases (all of which charge a forex fee) none have complained about the business use.

Yes they'll get an interchange fee but will also be charged by Visa for your 'foreign' usage plus credit 0.25% cashback. 
I would be surprised if they make any much (if any commission) from your transaction but good luck nevertheless. 

lr1277

I am led to believe 2 things:

Business credit cards have a higher interchange fee than personal credit cards (source Headforpoints website).

For personal cards there are higher interchange fees in the USA than in UK/EU. I don't know the situation for business cards.

So if you use your personal UK credit card to buy things in the US in dollars, the card provider should make more money that if you spent the same amount in the UK in pounds. So your British card provider might make money from you on FX fees for a foreign purchase and they should make money from you if you use your card in a country where the interchange fees are higher than UK/EU.

The same might apply to business credit cards when compared to using them in UK/EU as opposed to countries with higher interchange fees like the USA.

So if your retailer/supplier is in the US, they will be used to getting fewer dollars for a given spend as when in the US, the local Visa/MC rules on interchange fees will be applied. Doesn't matter the origin of the card.

Is what I am led to believe.

Money_and_Travel

HillStreetBlues said:

Most do, but there are fee free ones https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/travel-credit-cards/

Barclaycard Rewards doesn't charge a fee for foreign purchases, hence why I've got one.

RomfordNavy

Just a bit of feedback: as we have a Santander bank account I tried to open a Santander Business Rewards credit card.  Took hours to get through their online application form, which is the only way to apply, eventually got it completed and got a confirmation that application had been made successfully.  Well that was nearly a month ago now and no contact from them!