UK prepaid "credit" cards?

Not that I know off

Thanks, I'd seen that one but...

"Order This International Prepaid Credit Card Information From Us For Only £34.95"

I think not! :-)

Yes, in fact typing [ prepaid credit card ] into Google and doing a search gives a large number of hits.

Presumably every cc is capable of being pre-paid?

Rgds __ Richard Buttrey Grappenhall, Cheshire, UK __________________________

Thanks. I was hoping someone here might have one and recommend a company.

There are a few websites like above and they don't look very convincing to me, I can't afford to lose £99.

Why do you want/need a prepaid credit card anyway. I have had a credit card for over 20 years and use it every week for my shopping and anything I buy over 5 and have never paid a penny in interest charges as I pay it off every month. All it needs is planning to make sure the payment is never late. Tricia

Because I messed up my life a couple of years ago - big time.

I can't get ANY credit. Nor do I want any..

Two benefits spring to mind.

1. You can't get into any kind of debt with it.
2. If you set up a continuous authority to debit the card, and then have a problem with the merchant and have difficulty canceling the authority, you can just spend the outstanding credit balance and walk away and abandon the card.

Chris

This looks *very* dodgy to me - who would deal with a "bank" who do not only NOT have a postal address (even just a po box) but they do not even have a phone number, and the whois of their website is registered to their ISP, presumably to avoid people finding their real address.

Yes, exactly. And there are loads of these sites. The desperate are usually the easiest to rip off.

There must be a genuine one somewhere, surely we're not still way behind the US again on this.

Two reasons come to mind:

1. To build up credit, as after insolvency and discharge.
2. To make online purchases, or hire a car.

The best tactic for a spendthrift is to use debit cards, but these won't solve the above problems.

There are numerous "secured credit cards" available to anyone, especially in dollars, but the fees tend to be exorbitant.

Another possibility is to use VISA and MasterCard "gift cards" (like gift certificates/vouchers) but they bear fees and tend to have short expiration dates, after which the unused money is forfeited. Rather unfair.

There are, indeed, many hits if you Google Many will be (as others have said) scams to sell you useless information. A US state consumer protection agency has posted a warning

(In the USA, where bankruptcy discharge is automatic and takes only a few months in a liquidation (Chapter 7) case, certain financial institutions -- Providian comes to mind -- are eager to sign up debtors because they can't file bankruptcy again and get a discharge for 7 years. The system is quite different in the UK.) Examination of several pages of Google hits suggest that there is no major UK bank offering what you want, and a lot of scams worldwide. A credit union or similar organisation might be a good source.

(There are other ways to get a credit card: an "additional card" on someone else's account (but at the risk of that person being responsible for your debts); a company card (if you set up a limited company). And so on.

Thanks for your detailed reply.

I found this:-

Which looks equally unlikely but appears to be a UK "company".

I'd appreciate your opinion on this one. Not very likely is it?!!

But are you going to build up a credit record that way? I would have thought that as you're not taking out any credit, there's no reporting to credit reference agencies, and so no credit record is created.

Chris

Sorry, I just meant the cost given in pounds.

Given that the domain is registered to a west indies address and it's hosted in texas, does that instil confidence?

Yes, but most of them are scams.

The Off Shore Club The Off Shore Club ( snipped-for-privacy@vizacard.com) +1.5242449681 Fax: +1.0000000000 Bird Rock Extension Box 637 Basseterre, WESTINDIES St. Kitts KN

I'll leave you to make up your mind.

IIRC, the Woolwich used to do such card, but not any longer?