can you be in credit on your credit card ?

Carol_King

I am going on holiday and my credit limit on my visa card is 350 pounds. i would like to know if i can put money from a different account onto to my visa card so i will be in credit?

For example, could i add 400 pounds onto my 350 pound visa card limit so i would have a total of 750 pounds to lift while abroad if necessary?

Does this depend on each bank?

please help



thanks
Carol

Bossyboots

This came up on another board I go on.

It seems that some companies do not like you to put your account in credit as they are only insured against fraud up to the amount they agree to give you credit on. Therefore, in this situation they are insured for £350 but not your own £400. They would have to pay the £400 themselves if fraud is committed on the card after your responsibility for transactions ceased. On the other forum, the member had actually had their card stopped because it was in credit. I think that was Nationwide.

You need to check with your card issuer as to what their policy is. I have been in credit a couple of times on my account with no problems but not recently so I don't know if things have changed.

HelenR_3

Carol_King wrote:

I am going on holiday and my credit limit on my visa card is 350 pounds. i would like to know if i can put money from a different account onto to my visa card so i will be in credit?

For example, could i add 400 pounds onto my 350 pound visa card limit so i would have a total of 750 pounds to lift while abroad if necessary?

Does this depend on each bank?

please help



thanks
Carol

Hi Carol

two things , if you do that and it works , and you use it and dont pay the full amount off at statement time , will you not pay interest on your own £400 , whcih when you had it first time round was your money ! ?

the other thing , i did a BT from my EGG card once and was about £60 in credit , but wethere they just `let that one go` i`m not sure


put the £400 into travellers cheques

greenwich

I can't understand why there should be a problem (as I recall, the problem the Nationwide guy had was that the web page was playing up, not that his account was frozen). Banks have to allow credit balances to cope with refunds. Imagine if you bought something for £1000, paid off the balance in full, and then got a refund from the shop. Obviously your account would then be £1000 in credit. And no, you wouldn't pay interest on your own money - interest is not charged just because the balance is not 0, it is charged when the balance is negative (i.e. you owe them).

econ0013

I have done it a number of times on my various cards and never had a problem or even any kind of remark or communication. In the balance it just shows up as e.g. "-12.50p" or whatever. I have never done it for an amount over 100 quid though but given my experience would not hesitate to try.

mountainofdebt

Liverpool Victoria do pay interest on credit balances

Bossyboots

greenwich wrote:

I can't understand why there should be a problem (as I recall, the problem the Nationwide guy had was that the web page was playing up, not that his account was frozen). Banks have to allow credit balances to cope with refunds. Imagine if you bought something for £1000, paid off the balance in full, and then got a refund from the shop. Obviously your account would then be £1000 in credit. And no, you wouldn't pay interest on your own money - interest is not charged just because the balance is not 0, it is charged when the balance is negative (i.e. you owe them).

We are not talking about the same forum. The one I referred to was definitely in relation to the card supplier stopping the card if it is in credit, nothing to do with websites not loading.

newfoundglory

It varies from provider to provider. Yes, generally its not a good idea as (which has already been pointed out) providers usually only insure THEIR losses and NOT YOURS.

However, as someone has pointed out Liverpool Vic pay interest on credit balances.

Being in credit on your card a lot can also be an indication of fraud. I suggest you don't do it unless you clear it with your card company *first*.

I think you will also find that for transaction authorisation, its limited to the limit of the card, and not the available balance. So you wouldn't be able to do a £750 transaction in one go, as authorisation on a single transaction can't exceed the card limit of £350. However, you should be able to do it in smaller amounts. Again, get this checked out before hand.

kingarhu

Why don't you just ask for a temporary increase in your credit limit?

inmypocketnottheirs

Nothwithstanding any of the above comments, I frequently put both my Capital One and Barclaycard accounts in credit to the sum of £300-400 each without any problem. This is because I travel freqently and use my cards for company expenses. Because of previous credit problems, the limits I have are woefully inadequate and this is the only way I can have the security of a credit card with a meaningful amount of credit available. For example when hiring a car overseas, a credit card is the only way to waive a deposit. Using a debit still requires a deposit.

I have not had any problems or correspondence from either of the issuers mentioned.

inmypocketnottheirs

Nothwithstanding any of the above comments, I frequently put both my Capital One and Barclaycard accounts in credit to the sum of £300-400 each without any problem. This is because I travel freqently and use my cards for company expenses. Because of previous credit problems, the limits I have are woefully inadequate and this is the only way I can have the security of a credit card with a meaningful amount of credit available. For example when hiring a car overseas, a credit card is the only way to waive a deposit. Using a debit still requires a deposit.

I have not had any problems or correspondence from either of the issuers mentioned.