Credit Card for someone on the dole?

amacachi

Fairly sure it's going to be a "no" but is there any way to get one while on the dole? Funnily enough I could've got one in college last year when I had no income, yet can't get one when on over 200 quid a week.
Only looking for a ~€400 limit, though that seems to make very little difference.

jhegarty

How about one of the prepaid cards ?

amacachi

As in 3v? Don't fancy paying 20 quid extra for things. Are they even acceptable in Britain?
What I mean about the extra 20 quid is the BS charges, along with not knowing what exchange rate they're charging, plus if there's a 1.50 surcharge for tickets it all means I have to round up to the 10er above what it should cost to begin with.

Sorry if I'm coming across a bit short.

pirelli

amacachi wrote: »

As in 3v? Don't fancy paying 20 quid extra for things. Are they even acceptable in Britain?
What I mean about the extra 20 quid is the BS charges, along with not knowing what exchange rate they're charging, plus if there's a 1.50 surcharge for tickets it all means I have to round up to the 10er above what it should cost to begin with.

Sorry if I'm coming across a bit short.

Nothing wrong with short but your coming across, as indifferent. As long as you have a good credit rating, it should be possible for you to get a credit card.

Paypal might be a good solution if it is online that you had desired the credit card for. You can supplement your Paypal account from your bank account.

Some Banks and companies offering Credit card
MBNA
Tesco Credit Card
Halifax

amacachi

pirelli wrote: »

Nothing wrong with short but your coming across, as indifferent. As long as you have a good credit rating, it should be possible for you to get a credit card.

Paypal might be a good solution if it is online that you had desired the credit card for. You can supplement your Paypal account from your bank account.

Some Banks and companies offering Credit card
MBNA
Tesco Credit Card
Halifax

Well I was in 4 banks today and was given a flatout "no", so I wasn't in the best form. I'll have a look at those anyway, thanks.

daithijjj

Why exactly do you want a credit card?

A visa/debit/laser will do the same job., but cost you less. Alternatively, you would probably be more likely to get an overdraft facility approved for that amount than apply for a 'fresh' card.

I worked for a large cc company for a while, have a card myself with 4k limit but ive never not paid the full outstanding balance each month. If you dont pay the full balance each month you will just bleed cash, its not a great option for you at the moment, in your situation.

amacachi

Mostly for flights and for tickets for sporting events in England, none of which are sold on ticketmaster.

daithijjj

amacachi wrote: »

Mostly for flights and for tickets for sporting events in England, none of which are sold on ticketmaster.

Are any of those options credit card only?

Credit cards are good for added benefits such as automatic travel insurance (terms and conditions should be read thoroughly though) when getting flights.

My brother was telling me (hes a student) that he had been refused a debit card at his bank. I told him to go to halifax and open an account and he had one in ten days. A debit card is just as handy as a cc imo and your much more likely to get one than a cc.........do you use a cashcard or a debit card by the way?

amacachi

daithijjj wrote: »

Are any of those options credit card only?

Credit cards are good for added benefits such as automatic travel insurance (terms and conditions should be read thoroughly though) when getting flights.

My brother was telling me (hes a student) that he had been refused a debit card at his bank. I told him to go to halifax and open an account and he had one in ten days. A debit card is just as handy as a cc imo and your much more likely to get one than a cc.........do you use a cashcard or a debit card by the way?

Never usually bother with the banks at all tbh. I don't think there's a Halifax in town. I asked in the bank would they be able to give me a debit card that british sites would accept and was told "no".

daithijjj

amacachi wrote: »

Never usually bother with the banks at all tbh. I don't think there's a Halifax in town. I asked in the bank would they be able to give me a debit card that british sites would accept and was told "no".

is this anywhere near you?

http://www.halifax.ie/index.jsp?p=113&n=634&a=322

if it is, id go in there, open a basic current account and you will get a visa debit card. Im using one of those myself and its accepted worldwide/online.

amacachi

Could've sworn that branch shut down. Thanks though, I'll give them a shout

Azhrei

I've used 3V for years and they are very good. They give you a credit limit of €350 and they only ever charge one amount - €5 for every voucher you buy, whether it's a €20 or a €350 voucher. Any unspent money on a voucher is, after a time, transferred to your 3V account. The 3V card itself is just used to buy the voucher, which is just a small receipt with a credit card number on it. You then use this number in conjunction with the expiry and security numbers that 3V sends to your e-mail account.

It works then just like any other credit card, specifically a Visa. I've been using it on sites for companies in Ireland, the UK, America... I think it's just what you're looking for. Believe me, it works, and it works well. Unless you think that paying €5 for the privilege every time is a knock-off...

JJ

Even though I'd never use them again, MBNA may be your best bet if you can't get to a Halifax. MBNA gave me a credit card when no one else would.

vector

while its of no use to you now....

the trick is to get a credit card when you do have a job... so that if/when you're economic situation becomes uncreditworthy you still still have the card.
You see the bank does not send you a questionnaire every year asking if you still have a job, they just assume that as long as you meet the repayments that everything is hunky dory

vector

JJ wrote: »

...MBNA gave me a credit card when no one else would.

the definition of friendship

darc

another option is a mastercard gift card from kildare village outlets.

basically they are prepaid credit cards - up to €1500 in the case of kildare village and can be topped up.

admin fee of €3.

easier option www.payzonemoney.ie load up at your local payzone agent onto a physical prepaid mastercard. - seems its coming soon.

JJ

vector wrote: »

the definition of friendship

We ain't friends anymore though.

stepbar

JJ wrote: »

Even though I'd never use them again, MBNA may be your best bet if you can't get to a Halifax. MBNA gave me a credit card when no one else would.

They usually do TBH. If there's a company I dispise its MBNA. They'd give a c/c to my granny if they thought they would get away with it.

Shelflife

At the risk of being rude and i dont mean to be, but if you are on the dole surely tips to events/flights are the last things you should be getting involved in.
maybe its me but if i was on the dole i would be minding my cash and cutting back on luxuries. im not saying that if you are on the dole that you cant have a blow out every so often , but with the current state of affairs in the country id be loath to splash the cash at the moment.

as i said not ment as a personal attack on the op or those on the dole.

I was in the same boat and Halifax gave me a current account with the Visa Debit card no problem. Was using 3V and Wirecard but after a month of the Halifax card 3V and Wirecard look dead and buried.

Don't know how anyone could reasonably recommend 3V. 3V was a pain finding a shop that sold them, the fees, the having leftover funds on them and the 2 month before expiry thing. So many other niggles as well.

Just one thing though:

I've been with Ulster Bank for donkey's years and applied for a credit card from them just to chance my arm. However they sent me a form that needed a driver's license. I don't have one. The next time I was in a branch the girl behind the counter told me I had been approved for a credit card.

What do I do about the driver's license requirment? It doesn't really matter anyway since I have the Halifax visa debit but it seems being able to drive is a requirement with Ulster Bank and getting a credit card from them.

darc

darc wrote: »

easier option www.payzonemoney.ie load up at your local payzone agent onto a physical prepaid mastercard. - seems its coming soon.

Easier option maybe...inexpensive option : No! Fees to load the card, percentage fee of what you buy online and a fee if you don't use the card for a period of time!!:eek:

OutlawPete

Howard Thoughtless Plantain, I looked at the application online and they wanted tax clearence certs and / or letter's from Social & Family affairs or something.

What was it like for you applying for a current account with them? Did you switch your last current account from another bank or just keep both? Did you apply online or in a branch of theirs? How much did you deposit when they gave you / offered you the debit card?

Sorry for all the questions

Nico

Nico22

Nico22 wrote: »

Howard Thoughtless Plantain, I looked at the application online and they wanted tax clearence certs and / or letter's from Social & Family affairs or something.

What was it like for you applying for a current account with them? Did you switch your last current account from another bank or just keep both? Did you apply online or in a branch of theirs? How much did you deposit when they gave you / offered you the debit card?

Sorry for all the questions

Nico

Question away! I rang them at first and asked would there be any point applying since I was unemployed. The guy on the phone was very helpful, he said yes they would give me a current account with the visa debit and said I could start the application process over the phone with him. He talked me through a number of questions.

A few days later I got the partially filled application form in the post. There was some information with the application that stated you only needed two supporting documents to apply if you called into a branch rather than the three documents needed to apply by post.

So I got the two items (my passport and a utility bill I think, I don't think I needed the tax form because I was calling into a branch. I definitely didn't need the six months of bank statements to prove a regular income that it says you need on the website) and dropped into a branch. I gave my name and the lady looked up my application which was on the computer. She photocopied the passport and utility bill and think I had to sign something and that was it.