# Abroad & BOI: I preloaded credit card frm current account, can I reverse the process?



## Sophietk (2 Mar 2011)

I have a Bank of Ireland current account and credit card.

A while ago I  transferred a few hundred euros onto my credit card from my current  account but in the end I didn't need to make the planned purchase so the  money is still on my credit card. 

 I am wondering if it's possible to transfer the money back to my current  account as I'd prefer to have it there and rarely use my credit card?

Has anyone had a similar experience?


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## Sandals (2 Mar 2011)

just ask in any branch, they should be helpful and point you in the right direction.


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## Sophietk (2 Mar 2011)

Unfortunatly im not in the country at the moment.  I guess I can give them a call but their overseas call charges are pretty high especially as it usually takes ages to get to talk to the right person and things sorted out over the phone.


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## terrontress (2 Mar 2011)

You might be best to just use it to withdraw cash or buy your normal groceries or shopping or whatever as POS. Then save the money in your current account. You won't get charged cash advance fee if you have credit balance. Just make sure you don't take out a larger amount as cash than you have in credit balance because you will be charged fee on the full amount.


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## Sophietk (3 Mar 2011)

Thanks for the advice, I asked a relative at home to ask about it and  apparently it's not possible to transfer money from your credit card  back to your current account.  I guess it encourages you to use your  credit card more which could eventually lead to them earning more fees.


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## niceoneted (3 Mar 2011)

The whole idea of a credit card is to use it to make purchases or cash withdrawels and then pay for it later. I can never understand why people preload them unless of course the amount to be spend is over the limit. 
You could just use it to pay for things in the next while until the balance is reduced. 
You won't have to pay any extra to use it.


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## Sunny (3 Mar 2011)

People preload them so they can take out cash while abroad usually and not pay cash advance fees. I always pre load my card before going away. Saves a fortune on FX rates and commissions.


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## Sophietk (3 Mar 2011)

niceoneted said:


> The whole idea of a credit card is to use  it  to make purchases or cash withdrawals and then pay for it later.


 
 I know but I don't like to have a bill looming at the end of the month.    Pre loading it is in essence using it as you would a debit card.  Debit  cards are often not accepted for online purchases which is pretty much  all I use my Credit card for.


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## terrontress (3 Mar 2011)

niceoneted said:


> The whole idea of a credit card is to use it to make purchases or cash withdrawels and then pay for it later. I can never understand why people preload them unless of course the amount to be spend is over the limit.
> You could just use it to pay for things in the next while until the balance is reduced.
> You won't have to pay any extra to use it.


 

It's a bit of an Irishism to be honest. While we perservered with Laser for years, mainly because the Irish banks made money off it, the rest of the civilised world developed debit cards with international acceptance.

So in the mid 90s, First Trust Bank gave their current account customers Visa Debit and their sister bank AIB provided Laser.

FTB customers could go overseas and use their debit card to make POS transactions as well as ATM. AIB customers could not so the idea was that because your credit card is accepted overseas, just put that in to credit and use that abroad without incurring lending or transactional fees.

The banks are no longer keen on this though. If they have judged you to be creditworthy for €2k, you load up another €3k and the card is stolen and €5k goes missing, the bank is liable for €5k even though they assessed you as a €2k risk.


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## thunder99 (3 Mar 2011)

terrontress said:


> The banks are no longer keen on this though. If they have judged you to be creditworthy for €2k, you load up another €3k and the card is stolen and €5k goes missing, the bank is liable for €5k even though they assessed you as a €2k risk.



As far as I know, you're not covered for the pre-loaded amount. If someone clones with your card, the bank would cover you for 2k but you loose your own 3k.


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## Sunny (3 Mar 2011)

thunder99 said:


> As far as I know, you're not covered for the pre-loaded amount. If someone clones with your card, the bank would cover you for 2k but you loose your own 3k.



Exactly. Most banks won't cover credit amounts. Laser is an extremely expensive method to get cash abroad. Visa debit cards are much better but even then, I find credit cards to be cheaper.


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## chook (3 Mar 2011)

Sophie, why don't you just go to a branch ATM, withdraw the excess and lodge it back into your account?


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## terrontress (4 Mar 2011)

Sunny said:


> Exactly. Most banks won't cover credit amounts. Laser is an extremely expensive method to get cash abroad. Visa debit cards are much better but even then, I find credit cards to be cheaper.


 
I believe that under the scheme rules from Visa and MasterCard the banks have to cover it. As a result, several credit card companies in the UK are forbidding customers from having a credit balance.


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## moonman (13 Mar 2011)

we travel to spain between 6to8 times a year, and we are not charged anything for cash withdrawls. we use atms that have the cirrus symbol. we have a boi current acct and the cash withdrawls are just taken from the balance .the laser card was issued also from boi.


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## Bronte (14 Mar 2011)

niceoneted said:


> The whole idea of a credit card is to use it to make purchases or cash withdrawels and then pay for it later. I can never understand why people preload them unless of course the amount to be spend is over the limit.
> .


 
I preload mine because if a bill comes while I'm away there is a short time limit to when I must pay it.  I also have a low balance on the card (1250Euro) and only use it if Amex is not accepted.  The main reason I have the card is Ryanair.


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## sixdraw (10 May 2011)

Open an online poker account with betfair.
Add your CC and laser.
Deposit with CC, withdraw with laser. you might even get free bonus cash in the process if you look up a code.


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## PolkaDot (11 May 2011)

moonman said:


> we travel to spain between 6to8 times a year, and we are not charged anything for cash withdrawls. we use atms that have the cirrus symbol. we have a boi current acct and the cash withdrawls are just taken from the balance .the laser card was issued also from boi.



BOI don't charge any fees for Cirrus / ATM withdrawls in countries which use the Euro currency.

Not sure about other banks.


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## Time (11 May 2011)

The others don't either. 

It is only when you go outside the Euro area you get charged.


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## moonman (24 Feb 2012)

sunny  --  can you let me know how to pre load a credit card . a couple of of us  want to do it for to get ryanair passport cards . one of us has an aib credit card but a current acct with boi . thanks


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## Time (24 Feb 2012)

Simply lodge money to the credit card account.


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## drhum (9 Jun 2014)

Sorry to bump this up but how long does the transaction usually take?


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