Moving a credit card credit balance without fees

dohouch

I recently received a refund to my AIB Click credit card, and assumed they're would be no charges for withdrawing it as Cash.

WRONG they charge 1.5%😡

So is there a cost free way of moving a credit balance from a credit card?

( Maybe I can be wiser next time)

coylemj

You'd have been better off using it for everyday expenses but you've probably figured that out by now. IIRC, it used to be the case that you only got hit with charges when you withdrew cash from a credit card account because you started paying interest straight away. But if the account was in credit and sufficient to cover the withdrawal, you incurred no charges at all. This meant that, if you were going on holidays, you could load up money on your credit card and use it in an ATM abroad without worrying about paying any fees. But I see that BoI now have a flat charge of 1.5% for Euro cash withdrawals on their bog standard ('Classic') Mastercard.

To answer your question, Visa and Mastercard make their money from the levy on retailers and the high rate of interest they charge people who carry a debit balance from one month to the next. I don't think any of the credit card suppliers are particularly interested in taking on people with their accounts in credit. Or at least taking on the credit balance.

dohouch

@coylemj

Back in the day , I remember people would load their credit card before going on holidays. Can't remember why it was done , but they won't be doing it anymore.

coylemj

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122817411#Comment_122817411

There was a time when you couldn’t be sure if your Irish bank ATM card would work at your holiday destination. They were not then known as ‘debit’ cards and did not have the Visa or Mastercard logo. I recall my card had a ‘Cirrus’ logo and if you found an ATM with that logo, you were in business but it was hit and miss.

At the time and as is still the case today, Visa and Mastercard cards were accepted everywhere. There was then no flat charge for an ATM withdrawal with a credit card but you started to incur interest straight away.

However, you could avoid the interest charges by front-loading your credit card with cash and, as long as the account was still in credit after any withdrawal, you could get money from an ATM while on holiday and incur no charges.