Can I use a Credit Card instead of a current account?

E

Eilis

Guest
I have a current account which I use to get my monthly salary and pay a few direct debits such as phone and esb. I take out cash and rarely use cheques.

I use a credit card only rarely, mainly on holidays, and so I am an additional user on my brother's card.

Could I replace my current account with a credit card and if so, which one?

I would pay my salary into it and take the direct debits out of it. I would withdraw cash, but as my card would be in credit, I would pay no charges - is that right?

I wouldn't have a cheque book, but that's not a problem.

So I will pay €40 a year instead of the €80 or so on my credit card.

A key factor will be how the Credit Card treats cash withdrawals. Are all credit cards the same?

Eilis
 
CC

AFAIK, you can't do DD from a credit card, and you pay intrest on cash withdrawals from the day you withdraw the money. Someone else may know more than me, but I think that's the story!
 
Re: CC

I doubt if you can get your salary paid directly to your credit card account. When you make a payment to your credit card company, it goes into the same bank account as all their other customers, but the payment reference links it to your name/account. When your employer is paying your salary, they are probably not geared up to putting a payment reference on the transaction, so your money would just end up sitting in the general bank account of the credit card company.
 
Re: CC

I wouldn't see a logistical problem with this, but I would totally advise against it.
When you put money on your card and it is in credit, you are essentially upping the limit on the card. If the card gets into the wrong hands and someone buys a lot of goods on it, you are liable - the bank will not insure you.
Also, as already mentioned, DDs are not really on credit cards. You can do some things, but it is limited.
 
Re: CC

> So I will pay €40 a year instead of the €80 or so on my credit card.

I understand that the €40 is the CC annual stamp duty but where does the €80 figure come from and what does it relate to? You do know that normal bank accounts are not subject to annual stamp duty although cheques (€0.15 each) and ATM/Laser cards (€10 each or €20 for a combined card) are?

[broken link removed]

If the €80 figure refers to average annual bank transaction charges or you are concerned about such charges then you should note that accounts are available that charge no transaction fees (see the IFSRA current account survey):

[broken link removed]

> A key factor will be how the Credit Card treats cash withdrawals. Are all credit cards the same?


I think that they are all the same in relation to € zone withdrawals from an account that is pre-loaded with cash. However outside the € zone CC companies apply a foreign exchange margin of c. 1.75% upwards and, in some cases, other additional charges. This topic might be of interest in relation to cash withdrawals and advances:
 
Re: CC

Also... DDs are not really on credit cards. You can do some things, but it is limited.

I pay my gas and esb bills by credit card. I pay my eircom bill out of my current account, but I think I used to pay it by Visa.

Brendan
 
Re: CC

I pay all my utility bills (gas, electricity and telephone) by dd from my credit card, so that's not a problem. My girlfriend's company occasionally transfers money into her credit card account to cover expenses so it should be technically possible for your company to transfer your salary to your cc account. Find out if they are willing to pay you this way before you address the other issues raised above.
 
oops

Sorry about that, I though DDs weren't allowed from CCs, you learn something new everyday!!
 
Whatever happened to Standing Orders?

Similarily all my utility bills are on my credit card by DD. Normally the utility companies don't advertise this but when pushed will allow it.
 
Whatever happened to Standing Orders?

I thought that there was some issue with the standard DD mandate forms issued by companies/banks with the number field being too small to accommodate CC numbers or something like that? Is this still the case and, if so, do you just write in the CC number regardless?

> Whatever happened to Standing Orders?

Is that a separate question IsleOfMan? SOs and DDs are different mechanisms - basically SOs allow a fixed amount to be "pushed" from the payer's account into the payee's while DDs allow a varying amount to be "pulled" from the payer's account into the payee's.
 
Re: Whatever happened to Standing Orders?

I thought that there was some issue with the standard DD mandate forms issued by companies/banks with the number field being too small to accommodate CC numbers or something like that? Is this still the case and, if so, do you just write in the CC number regardless?

I just wrote my cc number and the expiry date on the standard form under the boxes used for current a/c details and included the address of the credit card division of the bank. This worked without any problems.
 
Re: Whatever happened to Standing Orders?

Originally posted by kentuckykit :

kentuckykit
Unregistered User
(29/7/04 3:28 pm)

Subject: standing order

So can one also do standing orders with a credit card (e.g. my monthly rent payment)?
 
Re: Whatever happened to Standing Orders?

I can set up recurring payments from my credit card account at NIB via their Internet Banking facility BUT all such payments are treated as cash advances, so unless you have credit in your credit card account, you'll be hit with punitive interest rates from day 1.
 
standing orders

I've not heard of the term "standing order" being used in the context of a credit card, but rainyday's idea of scheduled repeat payments gives essentially the same result.

Note that besides the interest problem he mentions, if you were to use this method for making monthly payments to a SSIA, I guess this would fall foul of the 'no borrowing to fund a SSIA' clause. So you'd really have to put the cc into credit (at least for the time at which the payment was made).
 
current accounts and overdrafts are unnecessary nowadays

a deposit a/c and a cc is the way to go . About once every two years I have to get a draft .

otherwise its cash or cc (a good way to get money off goods in shops) and no probs with so and dd

get an aib cc with the transactoneline software (free to set up and use)

pay it off each month of course
 
Back
Top