Can a credit card have a -ve balance?

Monkey_B · 11 October 2019 at 9:10AM

I have a credit card that I rarely use and therefore has a balance of zero the vast majority of the time.
However, yesterday I received a red hot tip (yes, I know) and decided to stick on a wager. The last time I placed a bet, you had to go into an actual bookies to do it, so I am a complete novice with online gambling. I proceeded to sign up to a well known bookmakers, and the last step in the procedure asks for card details and an initial deposit (I deposited £100). Without thinking it through, I decided to use this particular credit card (Halifax clarity card) - I think my logic was that I wanted to get the bet on quickly and didn't want to mess around transferring money from my savings account to my current account.

My question now is, when (ok, if) the bet comes in, I will have £390 sat in my betting account, that I believe I can only transfer to the associated card, i.e. my credit card. Minus the outlay, I will end up with a credit card balance of -£290. Does anybody know if that is even possible, and whether/how I could transfer that into my current account? Or would I just have to switch to doing my normal spending on this card until the balance is back to zero? I'd rather not have to do the latter as the vast majority of my financial life now takes place via joint accounts, so would then have to reimburse myself. (Personal money is purely reserved for stupid stuff like this)

Thanks

stevenhp1987 · 11 October 2019 at 9:30AM

I believe you only have to send the money you deposited back to the card of origin.

If your card ends up in a negative balance for this reason, just contact your card provider and they'll transfer it to your bank account.

Gambling with a credit card will also cost you additional amounts in cash advance charges and show on your credit report as a cash advance which will negatively impact you. It will also charge you interest from the time of the transaction until the repayment with no interest-free period as would be normal if you paid your statement off in full.

If you must gamble, only gamble using your Debit card in future.

moneyhelpuser5 · 11 October 2019 at 9:34AM

I've been £1,000 in "negative" credit on a Halifax clarity card before. It's no problem, you can either spend it or ring them and ask them to transfer it to your CA.

Monkey_B · 11 October 2019 at 9:50AM

Gambling with a credit card will also cost you additional amounts in cash advance charges and show on your credit report as a cash advance which will negatively impact you. It will also charge you interest from the time of the transaction until the repayment with no interest-free period as would be normal if you paid your statement off in full.

Gah! Didn't know this - this bet had better come off!

Is it worth me settling the £100 balance straight away to minimise the interest payments on the 'cash advance'? The outcome of the wager may not be known for a couple of weeks, so I will possibly have to wait to reimburse from my betting account (and that's assuming I win of course!)

With regards to getting the card provider (Halifax) to transfer the negative balance to my current account - does it matter that my current account is with a different bank (HSBC)?

MallyGirl · 11 October 2019 at 10:03AM

I would settle the £100 asap. It is usually referred to as a positive balance when you put a card in credit but you can ask for the amount to be transferred to any bank account

General_Grant · 11 October 2019 at 10:04AM

Monkey_B wrote: »

Gah! Didn't know this - this bet had better come off!

Is it worth me settling the £100 balance straight away to minimise the interest payments on the 'cash advance'? The outcome of the wager may not be known for a couple of weeks, so I will possibly have to wait to reimburse from my betting account (and that's assuming I win of course!)

With regards to getting the card provider (Halifax) to transfer the negative balance to my current account - does it matter that my current account is with a different bank (HSBC)?

I have to give the obvious answer -
YES, pay the £100 now. If you win, that can be offset against the interest already incurred.

Monkey_B · 11 October 2019 at 10:20AM

Hmm, interesting. Just logged on to Halifax online banking to pay the £100, and there's no sign of the transaction. I did it at about 6 o'clock yesterday evening.

MallyGirl · 11 October 2019 at 10:40AM

It may take a while to get posted to the account - you can probably see that your available balance is less than the actual amount showing due to the pending transaction.

Monkey_B · 11 October 2019 at 10:58AM

Ah yes, thanks MallyGirl

garth549 · 11 October 2019 at 1:17PM

Be aware that a gambling transaction on a credit card will usually count as a cash transaction (ie treated as though you'd withdrawn an equivalent amount from the cash machine on it)

If you win then legally they have to refund the sum of your total deposits to the original card before you can take the remainder another way. In fact i'm not sure it's even possible to credit a credit card by a higher amount than the sum of the deposits.

sleepyjones · 11 October 2019 at 4:47PM

Phone them up and explain that your card details were saved in your browser and you accidentally used the the wrong card, offer to pay the £100 + any interest / charges .... and then when it's all done ask them if they can not record it as it was a mistake?

They might say they can't do that but it's worth a shot, I think the marker on your file for a cash advance is the biggest problem here, even over the interest.

Might also help to talk to them before it comes off your card balance and is still "pending".

Can a credit card have a -ve balance?

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