The Lemon Fool

Hi all

This request comes from my mum who's 85. I've looked after her finances for a while now. She recently asked whether it's worth her keeping her credit card - for the past year she's really only used it online, with me doing the actual transactions for her. I could just as easily buy whatever with my credit card and then transfer from her current account to mine (and obviously keep a good record of what she's bought).

She then asked if it's worth her having debit cards too, as she rarely uses them and again I or my brother could make the purchase on her behalf. She has a few health problems and is reluctant to go out so it wouldn't be much of an issue not having a card. Also her memory is getting worse and I'm not sure she'd even remember her PINs.

She has two current accounts both with online access which have worked well for years. One is joint with my brother (who does the shopping and gets cash for her using his card).

Are there any pitfalls from not having a credit/debit card in her name? I'd close the credit card account and cancel the cards with the banks (worrying that Santander will do their usual overkill and close the account in the process …) and not just cut them up.

TIA
Ann

Pitfall: Can affect her credit rating - but at 85 years old I doubt this is an issue.

Positives: No chance of her getting scammed or making mistakes if she doesn't have cards.

However in your mother's case she'll probably need an account for incoming pension etc but certainly not the credit card. Not so sure about the debit card on her account, may be useful but you should keep hold of it for safety reasons.

Personally I close all accounts once no longer required, such as monthly saver accounts once the rate drops, my Tesco account is going once the rate drops to 1% in June plus other short term accounts. I think having 'live' accounts, even with nothing in them, along with the cards that go with the accounts, is just a liability.

ouzo wrote:Hi all

This request comes from my mum who's 85. I've looked after her finances for a while now. She recently asked whether it's worth her keeping her credit card - for the past year she's really only used it online, with me doing the actual transactions for her. I could just as easily buy whatever with my credit card and then transfer from her current account to mine (and obviously keep a good record of what she's bought).

[snip]

TIA
Ann

It might be useful to keep one debit card and one credit card, as if they're ever needed, getting either in a hurry could be tricky. Maybe your Mum could retain one of each, and you or your brother could hold them for safekeeping? Someone else mentioned credit rating. Also, with online banking, it may be necessary to have a debit card for one of those CHIP-and-PIN card readers.

I would dump the credit card. Unless you see any value in the insurance on bigger purchases you can do everything with the debit card you can do with the credit card. Plus you won't have the bill to pay monthly and you reduce the risk of fraud/scams

With regard to the debit card I would be tempted to keep it. The world is moving to cashless transactions and whilst this might not suit your Mum it will be far easier to keep the one she's got than try to get a new one at the age of 95. It might be a good idea for her to try to use it contactless for purchases under £30 (a bit of grocery shopping?) to get used to it. No need for PIN and the limit means she can't spend too much. Plus she won't need as much cash so that's time saved for someone.

Hi,

I got rid of my fathers and a year later he was subject to a push past theft at home. They got £50 - £100 cash but were upset there was no cards. To withdraw money he cashed a cheque in his branch. When that closed either I or my brother drove him to the nearest branch.

I thought contactless sometimes asked for a PIN even below £30. I might be wrong as I rarely use my contactless credit card, as I get cashback and prefer to use a non-contactless card.

So I would get rid off them or keep it safe somewhere for her

wuz

Contactless only asks for PIN on first time use

Thanks for all the views. I think I'll keep the debit card for her personal account and cancel the card for the joint account. I'll close the credit card account too.

Thinking about it, the last few times we've taken mum anywhere we've ended up paying on our cards as she didn't remember her PIN, so really nothing much will change!

Cheers
Ann

Wuzwine wrote:Hi,

I got rid of my fathers and a year later he was subject to a push past theft at home. They got £50 - £100 cash but were upset there was no cards. To withdraw money he cashed a cheque in his branch. When that closed either I or my brother drove him to the nearest branch.

I thought contactless sometimes asked for a PIN even below £30. I might be wrong as I rarely use my contactless credit card, as I get cashback and prefer to use a non-contactless card.

So I would get rid off them or keep it safe somewhere for her

wuz

In theory you should be able to turn the contactless feature off. Or just ask for a normal card. In any case, you can choose. As a last resort you can make a 3mm snip in the side of the card to break the antenna. But always tell your bank! Even ten years after the Financial crisis, they sometimes need reminding whose money they have in their greasy mits.


Steve

stevensfo wrote:In theory you should be able to turn the contactless feature off. Or just ask for a normal card.

IME, this is true of debit (hole in the wall) cards.

Credit cards may not offer this feature and its contactless or no card at all.

didds

I resisted contactless and use my PIN instead.

But more recently I've succumbed. Specifically, since the buses started to accept creditcard payment, but contactless only. This relieves me of messing about with cash - and specifically the annoyance of coins - when I use them.

Moral: keep your options open, for when things change and the option you had dismissed suddenly looks good.

You'd be best to keep the credit / debit cards but get a Power of Attorney. This all needs to be done before she goes doolally.
You could then keep control of the cards and manage everything online once she is incapable.

If she loses her marbles before you do the Power of Attorney, everything gets a lot more complicated and expensive.

Gan020 wrote:Contactless only asks for PIN on first time use

You will be asked for your PIN every so many contactless transactions (except for public transport use which always works offline). I've had this happen to me but it doesn't happen often as any use of the card using the PIN resets the count.