Credit Card in "Credit" for USA: Good Idea?

chris0509

Hello,
This is my first post, so please excuse any errors made in procedures and conventions.

I have a NBNA Visa card with a £200 credit limit, I use it to buy from the internet so if it gets ‘skimmed’ the most they can take me for is £200.
I am off to the USA soon and do not want to apply for a credit increase. I was thinking of transferring some money to the card so it would effectively be well into ‘credit’. My idea is to avoid problems with my Debit Card (i.e. not being accepted as such over there) and avoid having to pay interest on any cash I draw out whilst overseas, as well as using it to purchase things.
When I called NBNA to see if this was possible, they were not keen on the idea and said that it was against the ‘rules’; they would refuse to accept liability if the card was lost or misused; and they reserved the right to refuse to accept any charges made against the card whilst there was an excess of funds on it. They were not happy bunnies!
So, is my idea crazy or stupid?
If not, could NBNA take my money and refuse to honour any transactions made with the card? What worries me is paying in a lot of money onto the card, only to find I cannot use it or get it back!
Regards,
Chris

Reaper

It works, though apparently the normal credit card protection does not apply to positive balances, so look after your card well.

If when you return you have money left over on it then to get it back you can either spend normally on the card until it has gone or do a balance transfer to get it back to your bank account, but you will normally be charged a balance transfer fee for doing this (around 2%). Sometimes people manage to get positive balances refunded free just by asking, but don't depend on it.

chris0509

Reaper,
Thank you. I take your point about keeping the card safe.
Do you think there is any danger of NBNA turning round and declining a transaction, be it a purchase or a cash withdrawl, because the card has a positive balance? I accept that is a bit of a daft question, but I do not trust credit card companies after the hassle I had when another card was skimmed then cloned and the credit limit blown away in a mad spending spree by the crooks!
Chris

Reaper

No. Many people have had positive balances either deliberately or accidentally but I have never heard a credit card company refusing to accept a transaction because of it. You won't have a problem.

M_Thomson

chris0509 wrote:

Hello,
This is my first post, so please excuse any errors made in procedures and conventions.

I have a NBNA Visa card with a £200 credit limit, I use it to buy from the internet so if it gets ‘skimmed’ the most they can take me for is £200.
I am off to the USA soon and do not want to apply for a credit increase. I was thinking of transferring some money to the card so it would effectively be well into ‘credit’. My idea is to avoid problems with my Debit Card (i.e. not being accepted as such over there) and avoid having to pay interest on any cash I draw out whilst overseas, as well as using it to purchase things.
When I called NBNA to see if this was possible, they were not keen on the idea and said that it was against the ‘rules’; they would refuse to accept liability if the card was lost or misused; and they reserved the right to refuse to accept any charges made against the card whilst there was an excess of funds on it. They were not happy bunnies!
So, is my idea crazy or stupid?
If not, could NBNA take my money and refuse to honour any transactions made with the card? What worries me is paying in a lot of money onto the card, only to find I cannot use it or get it back!
Regards,
Chris

Just to let you know it's MBNA not NBNA! LOL!
The reason they will not cover you if you put your account into credit is that the credit card company has insurance to cover them if fraud is commited on your account. The insurance covers them for the money that they lend to you, so if you put your own money on the card it is not covered.

pin

What is MBNA's position about covering transactions in foreign countries?

At present credit card providers don't have to extent CCA rights to foreign transactions, but several card providers have contractual arrangements.

M_Thomson

pin wrote:

What is MBNA's position about covering transactions in foreign countries?

At present credit card providers don't have to extent CCA rights to foreign transactions, but several card providers have contractual arrangements.

I thought all credit card companies would cover you if you were a victim of fraud in any country? Wasn't the CCA thing to do with if you did not recieve your product or if the business went under in an overseas country?