Visa Gift Card in US Dollars

cheap_charlie

Not sure if this is the right section for this question but I'll try anyway.

I have received two US dollar Visa gift cards today. One is for $100 and the other is for $50.

My question is can I use them over here? Would a retailer just take the money in £ sterling from the balance on the card? Or could I transfer the balance on the gift cards to a bank account in £ sterling here?

Colour me confused

smithja

You can at the least spend the money on the cards at retailers that take Visa, it will be converted in to US dollars and deducted from the card balance with a percentage conversion fee and probably a fee for using the card outside of the US possibly coupled with a fee for simply using the card. I would recommend using it in large stores as small ones will likely have a problem with taking a card without Chip and PIN and they are more likely to reject the card if it does not have your name on the front, not knowing the card does not have to have one.

You should also be able to go in to any bank with your passport and ask for a Visa cash advance (you can certainly do that with our prepaid and gift cards overseas), I would recommed Barclays or LTSB myself, you are going to have to make sure you ask for an amount lower than the exchange rate value you would get for $100, as otherwise you might be there for a while trying to get it to authorise.

You should also know that for every decline they may also deduct a small fee from the card value.

James