Credit Cards (Barclaycard alternatives)

"> The purchase cover is pretty much a bread and butter requirement for me so

The one thing you forgot in your list is liability for fraud - If you've not got a PIN with your credit card then most you can be held liable for is £50 (this is for fraud committed before your card is reported lost or stolen). If you do accept a PIN then you can be liablie for the whole cost of fraud if it is considered you've been negligent with your PIN. Therefore unless you want to get cash from a cash machine with your credit card you will have no use for a PIN. Insist on a Chip & Signature Card.

You may find a Nationwide Cash Reward card covers most of your needs.

James.

Thanks for all your replies people.

I think I've narrowed my choices down to:

- The AmEx Blue card or The AmEx British Airways card

- LloydsTSB's create card or their Platinum card

- Anything else that's worth considering that I haven't seen yet!

Thanks again!

Make sure that the card you choose is widely accepted. Amex is not in many places. Also make sure you are getting a credit card as opposed to a charge card. Many Gold or Platinum cards to not offer protection under the Consumer Credit Regulations. A true credit card does.

Thanks, Peter. I had no idea Gold/Platinum cards can be like that.

I have a Gold *debit* card with LloydsTSB (= charge card). It offers some form of protection, but it's not enough.

I presume an online application should be OK for a credit card? What do I do with my old Barclaycard - how do I cancel it?

Write to the customer services (address on your statement) and say you want to cancel it. You are still responsible for any transactions before your account is finally closed.

Alec

Neither did I and unless some evidence can be provided I suspect there might be just one or two and some wild extrapolation is going on.

The critical thing is credit card or chargecard. If you have to pay the balance off each month it is not a credit card.

"Tumbleweed" wrote

Exactly. Peter - any evidence??

Err... I pay the balance off my Barclaycard each month - does that mean it's a chargecard as oposed to a credit card? I'm confused now.

No. If the card has a facility to offer extended credit, then it's a credit card and covered by CCA S75. Whether you choose to pay off in full each month or not is irrelevant.

Alec

That's what I thought in the first place.

I said so three times!

Indeed but the thread started re *credit* cards and you then said words to the effect 'many gold and platinum cards dont have the same protection as ordinary credit cards' giving (at least to me) the impression that there were gold and platinum *credit cards* that didnt offer normal credit card protection.

"Peter Crosland" wrote

Eh? Are you now retracting your earlier statement??

Read The Previous Flipping Post!!!!

For the very last time! Many Gold and Platinum cards are NOT credit cards but are in fact chargecards. I never said, nor implied, that ALL Gold or Platinum cards were chargecards.

"Peter Crosland" wrote

That didn't provide any *evidence* that "Gold or Platinum cards" are charge cards (rather than credit cards) any more than non-gold & non-platinum ("classic") ones are.

Or would you like to point out where exactly this evidence was?? If you can't, I guess you should retract the statement ...

I have personally held three! Now FOAD!