I am sending 70 odd 15 year olds to the UK for a trip, and I was asked by various other parents the following; [And I have no idea!]
- Can someone in the UK legally use someone else's credit card [with permission]?
- Ditto with debit card?
- Does it make any difference if that user is 15?
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i'd guess that, with permission, no laws are broken but I'd be more bothered about practical issues like challenges from counter staff in shops etc. Or cards disabled due incorrect PIN entry.
When my kids were minors their Santander cash cards could be used in foreign ATMs as in UK. Do banks trading in Chile offer similar facilities. Or can they get additional cards in their name on parent's account.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Thu 6 Jul 17 at 20:36
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My understanding is that if you use someone else's credit card in a store even if you have permission you are committing fraud unless you advise the store of the situation. You are in effect impersonating the owner of the card.
On the other hand withdrawing money from an ATM would be OK
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>> On the other hand withdrawing money from an ATM would be OK
No its not, it is against the term of card issue, and the terms of the bank account, plus it makes ALL machine withdrawals on that account (even those used by the cardholder) insecure, and in the event of card loss or misuse the account holder is 100% responsible.
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 6 Jul 17 at 20:57
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Yes, but it would not be illegal. Using a card in a store in the circumstance I outlined would.
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>> - Can someone in the UK legally use someone else's credit card [with permission]?
NO
>> - Ditto with debit card?
NO
>> - Does it make any difference if that user is 15?
As the answer to the above is no and no, the answer to this is no
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AFAIK, while you can't apply for / be issued a credit card in the Uk if you are under 18 some banks will allow under 18s to hold a second card as an authorised user on the primary cardholders account.
And I assume if you've been legally issued a credit card as an under 18 in another country then there's nothing to stop you using it in the UK. Practically speaking, visa do debit and credit cards. Under 18s can have debit cards. And there's nothing to differentiate on some between debit and credit in my experience. So you'd probably be fine!
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The best solution for young people travelling overseas is probably a pre paid card.
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Thu 6 Jul 17 at 21:17
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>> The best solution for young people travelling overseas is probably a pre paid card.
It has to be in the card holders name. It can be any account, but the card holder name and the user must match
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Thinking this one through Mark has (IIRC) pointed out, as advantage of ID cards, requirement to produce when using a credit card. That would jigger any use of parent's card. Would be issue claiming VAT exemption for export too.
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When my kids went abroad under 18 they had to use a pre pay card - something like this
www.thomascook.com/travel-money/travel-money-card/
also comes with security that if lost or stolen it can be cancelled and another card credited
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Anyone who allows someone else to use their debit or credit card, including revealing the PIN, no matter how close the family member or friend, deserves everything that happens to them if it all goes pear shaped.
You can arrange for separate cards to be included on the same account if necessary and that should be sufficient.
Family and friends often fall out over much less circumstances than suggested in this case and it can get very nasty.
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Another vote for offspring to have a card on a parent's account.
Our daughter spent a couple of years (2 separate years) living in Finland. At the time she would not fly, so travelling home on her own took the best part of 3 days. One winter she left Finland, ferry to Stockholm, train across Sweden and to Copenhagen. Then it started to unravel. Weather was atrocious. On the train (sleeper) Copenhagen to Cologne to change for the train to Brussels then Eurostar to UK followed by SW Trains home.
Due to the weather the train from Copenhagen to Cologne stopped somewhere in mid Germany. They were told the train was no longer stopping at Cologne and they had to get off in the middle of the night and wait for another train.
Although she is a linguist (Finnish, Swedish, other Scandi languages, French, Italian) she does not speak German so had to find someone to ask.
The reservations had all been made for specific trains, as is usual, so she no longer had a valid ticket for onward travel.
On eventual arrival at Brussels there was one queue at ticket office for those needing new tickets, with a potential wait time of several hours, so she rang her father who ordered her tickets online with the "joint" credit card and she could pick it up, using her supplementary card on the account, from the machine at Brussels. That saved the day.
She has claimed the credit card limit was a target rather than a limit. At the time she was still a student and so could only get her own credit card with a very low credit limit, not sufficient for this.
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>> It has to be in the card holders name. It can be any account, but
>> the card holder name and the user must match
Pre paid cards can be bought over the counter at forex bureau or travel agents. They don't carry users name. Mrs B has had a couple of them. They're slightly restricted as some transactions eg autoroute tolls and fuel are barred.
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>> I am sending 70 odd 15 year olds to the UK.
What's odd about them ?
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>> >>
>> >> I am sending 70 odd 15 year olds to the UK.
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>> What's odd about them ?
They're teenagers, pretty much everything.
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Thank you.
Are pre paid cards likely to be accepted in all UK shops?
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...depends on who is underpinning it, but most issued in the UK at least are in fact Visa or Mastercard backed, and are thus accepted at all places where standard Debit/Credi cards from those two networks are.
Main issue arise from uses such as already highlighted, where pre-validation includes a "hold" on a set amount, which is adjusted after the transaction is completed (automated petrol pumps being a prime example). This isn't usually a problem with transactions where the known amount is immediately debited.
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Their hotels, meals and transport are paid. This is for shopping essentially. I was kind of thinking about £10 per day. But that means that every child would be carrying £220, 70 kids means £15,000!!! So cash seems like a *very* bad idea.
However, from what you're saying, a visa/mastercard prepaid card would probably be ideal, since it will essentially be shop/cinema/museum etc. use.
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...I've not used one, but considered it in the past for some of our travels.
The Ts&Cs vary (and I'm not even sure if they're available in Chile) but it is certainly an option on some (most, all?), having pre-loaded with a set amount, to then subsequently top the account up (something that might be required for a Chilean teenager released in the UK ;-) ).
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I have no idea either, I shall find out. Banking is pretty archaic and dreadful here, so its amazing the stuff you can't do.
Like their amazing approach that if you have a current account then you automatically get a credit card. So if they don't want to give you a credit card, you can't get a bank account!
Though there is one bank that offers a pure checking account, but you are not allowed to have more than £2,000 of transactions per month.
t***s. All of them.
But, I think its the pre paid card or their parents' ATM card at the moment.
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Be aware that some UK providers don't allow under 18s (or buying on their behalf - The Post Office is one) .... but there are a good few providers that absolutely do provide such a facility - A UK Google search for "Travel Money Card Under 18" gives various hits and recommendations.
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Other good thing with pre-paid cards is that there are protections for loss and they can be topped up for emergencies.
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Doesn't matter about UK providers since the teenagers are coming over to the UK from Chile.
Pre-paid cards sound the best option. But I'd want a backup Plan B just in case, e.g. a bank card for an account with no money in it but could have money transferred into it to cover emergencies.
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>>Doesn't matter about UK providers since the teenagers are coming over to the UK from Chile.
I may well buy in the UK.
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>>Doesn't matter about UK providers since the teenagers are coming over to the UK from Chile.
....my reference to the UK was mainly to cover off the validity issues for under 18s.
>>I may well buy in the UK.
...but the options start to screw you at every turn. The UK-issued short-term cards tend to be targeted at use abroad, rather than in the UK, and thus often carry unattractive usage-fees for UK use.
I'm not sure what foreign-exchange facilities there are in Chile other than the banks, but in the UK people like Travelex do pre-paid cards - is there maybe a local equivalent?
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Credit Cards and stuff.... - Bromptonaut
