Urgent help required

Safe'n'Sound · 1 June 2018 at 7:17PM

Hi Forum, a newbie here, go easy on me please.

A bit of a tough one, but I'm hoping someone can can help me as this could be a major issue for my upcoming first house purchase.

I recently noticed my CC statement had several 'Cash Advance' lines which I would NEVER knowingly do. On closer inspection, it looks like it came from my Paypal account. What looks to have happened is, I've added a small amount of funds into my online betting account. Instead of the funds coming out of my debit card, they've came out of my credit card. An absolute nightmare as I had plenty in my current account.

I've just done a dummy run today and as I suspected, they gave me 2 options, both looking exactly the same, just with different 4 digits at the end. I'm not sure how I was supposed to know which was which, especially when my cards were 300 miles away at the time. I'm on Experian and estimate around 7-14 days before they upload these from my CC info. I'm unsure how to attach a screenshot which is a shame because it paints a thousand words. It looks something like this though:

Hi XXXXXX
Choose a way to pay

O VISA Visa/Visa Debit/Visa Electron x-1234
O VISA Visa/Visa Debit/Visa Electron x-4321

+ Link a debit or credit card
Continue

One of those is my credit card, the other is my debit card! I've contacted the CC company but say they can't do anything. I've contacted PayPal but they say the same, even though I think their app is misleading at best and an absolute liability at worst. They say the credit reference companies can contact them (PayPal) and be told of the true story (in my favour) to get it sorted. But I'm not sure how this works regarding who can do what. Any help or direction would be appreciated.

Thanks

System · 1 June 2018 at 7:33PM

Cash advances on your credit card won't show on your credit file with the credit reference companies. The worst that will happen is you'll pay interest on them at whatever rate your credit card charges.

Your claim of the site/app being misleading isn't fair to be honest and it is up to you to make sure you use the right card and make sure you have the right payment options on the right online account. At some point you have to accept some responsibility for running your own life.

Safe'n'Sound · 1 June 2018 at 7:55PM

Hi Tarambor,

If it didn't show on my credit file, I wouldn't have been worried, but it does, so I am. Copy/paste direct from my reports last CC snap shot:

In good standing
£XXX
Previous Balance £XXX
Payment amount £XXX
No. of cash advances 0
Cash Advance amount £0.00

I don't expect sympathy from anyone, just some advice on who to talk to about it.

Thanks again

dresdendave · 1 June 2018 at 8:06PM

I'm a bit confused as to why Paypal are involved when you top up your bookmaker's account. I have several online betting accounts and they are all linked to my debit card only. No chance of accidentally using a CC.

Best bet, (pun intended), keep it simple.

Safe'n'Sound · 1 June 2018 at 8:10PM

I thought I had some extra protection going through Paypal. It may not be the case, and obviously now I wish I had used a standard link, but at the time thought I had nothing to lose by using that route.

Lewys · 2 June 2018 at 2:44AM

Knowingly or unknowingly you have added funds to your betting account via PayPal from your credit card.

A credit reference agency won't delete or fudge that data because you were ignorant to the card you were using.

While the 'ways to pay' does look similar; displaying the last four digits of each card as a means of differentiating is standard practice. The text you've copied in looks much the same as lots of sites.

Here is Amazon's - at the top it even says 'credit cards', when only 1 of them is a credit card and thats one of the Visa cards listed.
Screen%20Shot%202018-06-02%20at%2002.30.20.png

Screen%20Shot%202018-06-02%20at%2002.30.20.png

(The last 4-digits and expiry dates are all made up and not valid.)

SafenSound wrote: »

I'm not sure how I was supposed to know which was which, especially when my cards were 300 miles away at the time.

Then...maybe don't use them when they are 300 miles away?

System · 2 June 2018 at 3:20AM

SafenSound wrote: »

Hi Tarambor,

If it didn't show on my credit file, I wouldn't have been worried, but it does, so I am. Copy/paste direct from my reports last CC snap shot:

In good standing
£XXX
Previous Balance £XXX
Payment amount £XXX
No. of cash advances 0
Cash Advance amount £0.00

You might be able to see it but the lenders won't. It doesn't show credit card cash advances on my Clearscore report.

[Deleted User] · 2 June 2018 at 8:45AM

Noddle show cash advances and credit card companies do know when you withdraw cash. It's seen as a higher risk activity.

meer53 · 2 June 2018 at 9:04AM

If you're applying for a mortgage the lender will probably ask for bank statements anyway. These would show your betting account if you used your debit card, this could be just as bad, depends on how often and how much you bet. The answer is to stop betting until you have moved into your new home.

T-G-C · 2 June 2018 at 10:37AM

Tarambor wrote: »

Cash advances on your credit card won't show on your credit file with the credit reference companies. The worst that will happen is you'll pay interest on them at whatever rate your credit card charges.

Your claim of the site/app being misleading isn't fair to be honest and it is up to you to make sure you use the right card and make sure you have the right payment options on the right online account. At some point you have to accept some responsibility for running your own life.

All three agencies provide lenders with a record box for cash advancing. For example, I withdrew £50 on my Capital One card and within 1 month it was recorded with all three.

Lenders could theoretically choose not to report the use of cash advancing, but as a general rule, it can be reported to your credit file and in most cases it will be.

OP, I'm afraid this is a bit of an unfortunate situation. Although it may have been an innocent oversight on your part, the credit card company will not remove the records. They have to be "honest and accurate" regarding the information submitted to your file. Unless the advancing never happened, it would be foul practice for the lender to reverse it.

The impact shouldn't be too great and will fade over time. As long as you refrain from the same mistake, you will be in control of when you are cash advancing.

Urgent help required

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