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Lending my credit card to my mum...?
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- Lemon Slice
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Lending my credit card to my mum...?
I have a Halifax Clarity Card I use for overseas.
My mum is going overseas shortly (nice modern 1st world English speaking country) and I was going to lend it to her - not enough time to get her own named card on my account, but obviously I trust her!
1. I suspect that completely contravenes T&Cs?
2. That aside, what if the worst happens and it gets lost/stolen/fraudulently used while she is away? I am the cardholder so I'd have to ring up, but then am I opening up a world of pain and strife as I am not with the card overseas?
TIA
Sats
My mum is going overseas shortly (nice modern 1st world English speaking country) and I was going to lend it to her - not enough time to get her own named card on my account, but obviously I trust her!
1. I suspect that completely contravenes T&Cs?
2. That aside, what if the worst happens and it gets lost/stolen/fraudulently used while she is away? I am the cardholder so I'd have to ring up, but then am I opening up a world of pain and strife as I am not with the card overseas?
TIA
Sats
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- Lemon Half
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Re: Lending my credit card to my mum...?
I think the real answer is to read the T&Cs for your card.
In reality I suspect its all fine - but you are liable for anything that happens.
You could also be starting the process of getting her as a named person on your card, even if that finalises after she has left.
didds
In reality I suspect its all fine - but you are liable for anything that happens.
You could also be starting the process of getting her as a named person on your card, even if that finalises after she has left.
didds
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Re: Lending my credit card to my mum...?
Make sure she doesn't try to use it anywhere that ID is checked as well, such as a hotel or car hire. Could be embarrassing.
Unless she has the same name as you, of course.
Scott.
Unless she has the same name as you, of course.
Scott.
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- Lemon Quarter
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Re: Lending my credit card to my mum...?
swill453 wrote:Make sure she doesn't try to use it anywhere that ID is checked as well, such as a hotel or car hire. Could be embarrassing.
Unless she has the same name as you, of course.
Scott.
Embarrassing - or worse!
It's just not worth the risk of potentially being arrested if caught, just to save a few quid.
(I'm assuming that Mum has a credit card in her own name but would like to benefit from the lower exchange charges the Clarity card offers.)
Watis
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Re: Lending my credit card to my mum...?
didds wrote:I think the real answer is to read the T&Cs for your card.
They say "You must:...do all you reasonably can to prevent anyone else finding out your security details."
I'm guessing that includes telling her the PIN
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
https://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/h ... rity-card/
swill453 wrote:Make sure she doesn't try to use it anywhere that ID is checked as well, such as a hotel or car hire. Could be embarrassing.
No, it'd just be to buy stuff and (mainly) withdraw ATM cash. Everything else is paid for already.
Watis wrote:(I'm assuming that Mum has a credit card in her own name but would like to benefit from the lower exchange charges the Clarity card offers.)
She does yes, and exactly that. I thought she'd got her own Clarity card as we discussed it when I applied for mine. (However it transpires that, for someone who self-proclaims never to be influenced by advertising
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif)
I'm still not sure what happens if things go wrong though. Although I guess I don't have to say where I am physically sat if I had to make any such call though? I'll add her trip details (you can set up planned destinations and dates) and will be monitoring the usage regularly online - and mum will be contactable throughout too.
Sats
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Re: Lending my credit card to my mum...?
But seriously, if you breach the T&Cs then you potentially won't benefit from protection if a thief abuses the card up to the credit limit.
Scott.
Scott.
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- The full Lemon
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Re: Lending my credit card to my mum...?
I have loaned credit cards to other people, without any problem at all.
It's actually easier to do these days because often all that is needed to use it is a PIN. No need to sign or produce ID.
I've no idea whether it is disallowed by the T&C's, but personally I wouldn't care about that either way. I see nothing wrong with the practice.
It's actually easier to do these days because often all that is needed to use it is a PIN. No need to sign or produce ID.
I've no idea whether it is disallowed by the T&C's, but personally I wouldn't care about that either way. I see nothing wrong with the practice.
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Re: Lending my credit card to my mum...?
Snorvey wrote:I'm still not sure what happens if things go wrong though
Deny all knowledge of lending anyone anything, report it stolen and name your mother as the prime suspect.
You'll be in the clear and I'm sure your mother will understand understand after she gets parole.
I'll lend her a tin mug to rattle on the bars too. I won't be heartless about it
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
swill453 wrote:But seriously, if you breach the T&Cs then you potentially won't benefit from protection if a thief abuses the card up to the credit limit.
Scott.
yes, that's a good point, thank you.
Lootman wrote:I have loaned credit cards to other people, without any problem at all.
It's actually easier to do these days because often all that is needed to use it is a PIN. No need to sign or produce ID.
I've no idea whether it is disallowed by the T&C's, but personally I wouldn't care about that either way. I see nothing wrong with the practice.
It is, it falls under the auspices of revealing security info I think. I'm sure it happens - as indeed you say yourself.
Hmm. Need to make a judgement call I suspect. Thanks all.
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Re: Lending my credit card to my mum...?
Satsuma wrote:swill453 wrote:But seriously, if you breach the T&Cs then you potentially won't benefit from protection if a thief abuses the card up to the credit limit.
yes, that's a good point, thank you.
It's your call of course. But to me that sounds a fairly hefty risk for the sake of saving a couple of quid on transaction charges. Why can't she just use her own cards? The 2.75% barclaycard charge for overseas transactions still makes them cheaper than most other sources of foreign currency.
Gryff
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Re: Lending my credit card to my mum...?
Satsuma wrote:I have a Halifax Clarity Card I use for overseas.
My mum is going overseas shortly (nice modern 1st world English speaking country) and I was going to lend it to her - not enough time to get her own named card on my account, but obviously I trust her!
1. I suspect that completely contravenes T&Cs?
2. That aside, what if the worst happens and it gets lost/stolen/fraudulently used while she is away? I am the cardholder so I'd have to ring up, but then am I opening up a world of pain and strife as I am not with the card overseas?
TIA
Sats
I lent my Halifax Clarity Card to my son for a trip around the US. Because of transactions in various locations it triggered a fraud alert and Halifax blocked it.
He telephoned me to say the card wasn't working and I called Halifax on my landline to explain that I had lent it to my son. They said 'no problem' and asked me to verify a number of transactions which I did with my son on the mobile, relaying the answers.
They said "OK" and unblocked it.
No issue with me having lent it.
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- The full Lemon
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Re: Lending my credit card to my mum...?
swill453 wrote:But seriously, if you breach the T&Cs then you potentially won't benefit from protection if a thief abuses the card up to the credit limit.
First off, that is an event with an extremely low probability of happening - maybe a tiny fraction of one percent. i have held cards for 45 years and have maybe lost two. Rational people take much bigger risks with those kinds of odds.
Second, even supposing that unlikely series of events happens, how will the CC company know that their T&C's were breached? For that to happen either myself or the person using the card would have to volunteer that information, and clearly neither of us would.
Now, maybe there might be a charge where a name was used, e.g. a car rental or hotel booking. But even so, you are talking about a small percentage multiplied by another small percentage.
Is the risk non-zero? No. Nothing is. Is it negligible and the kind of number that no rational person would ever take into account unless they were paranoid? Absolutely.
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Re: Lending my credit card to my mum...?
Lootman wrote:Now, maybe there might be a charge where a name was used, e.g. a car rental or hotel booking. But even so, you are talking about a small percentage multiplied by another small percentage.
The risk, surely, is that poor old mum will get stopped and kept waiting for a couple of hours somewhere inconvenient while the cashier impounds the card and calls the police to check out the suspicious situation? Not really what you want while you're on holiday.
Speaking of which, I have just had a wake-up call of my own. I have three credit cards in my wallet, and to my consternation I now notice that I have never signed two of them.
![Embarrassed :oops:](./images/smilies/icon_redface.gif)
BJ
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Re: Lending my credit card to my mum...?
Why not call Halifax and ask them?
If they say "no way" at least you know their attitude should the proverbial hit the fan, but if they say "OK, that's fine" then make a note of the time of the call and the name of the person telling you, even ask for a follow-up email, and note the date/time (calls are recorded...).
VRD
If they say "no way" at least you know their attitude should the proverbial hit the fan, but if they say "OK, that's fine" then make a note of the time of the call and the name of the person telling you, even ask for a follow-up email, and note the date/time (calls are recorded...).
VRD
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Re: Lending my credit card to my mum...?
bungeejumper wrote:Speaking of which, I have just had a wake-up call of my own. I have three credit cards in my wallet, and to my consternation I now notice that I have never signed two of them.![]()
I literally cannot remember the last time anyone looked at the signature strip on any of my cards.
I'm even having a hard time imagining where a thief would be able to take advantage of a blank card.
Scott.
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Re: Lending my credit card to my mum...?
swill453 wrote:I literally cannot remember the last time anyone looked at the signature strip on any of my cards.
LOL, I just tried to sign my MasterCard, and failed. The signature strip had worn so smooth that it wouldn't take biro ink at all. What am I supposed to do now? Use a pencil?
I did once have a passport rejected at UK customs because I'd forgotten to sign it. They made me go to the back of the queue and re-submit it with my newly-appended signature on it. Whoops.
![Sad :(](./images/smilies/icon_e_sad.gif)
BJ
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Re: Lending my credit card to my mum...?
swill453 wrote:bungeejumper wrote:Speaking of which, I have just had a wake-up call of my own. I have three credit cards in my wallet, and to my consternation I now notice that I have never signed two of them.![]()
I literally cannot remember the last time anyone looked at the signature strip on any of my cards.
I'm even having a hard time imagining where a thief would be able to take advantage of a blank card.
Scott.
My cousin had a stand up row in a foreign supermarket when she tried to pay with her unsigned chip and pin card; but they were still using signatures.
Her point was that she could sign it, but that would make it utterly pointless in terms of fraud given she would then just use whatever Mickey Mouse signature she'd just written to pay for her shopping.
This concept blew the mind of the checkout lady + her supervisor. IIRC, my cousin ended up literally signing her card with an X and replicated that on the sales voucher. They hemmed and hawed a bit at the X but she just stood there, and the problem finally went away (as did we!)
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Re: Lending my credit card to my mum...?
Satsuma wrote:
My cousin had a stand up row in a foreign supermarket when she tried to pay with her unsigned chip and pin card; but they were still using signatures.
Her point was that she could sign it, but that would make it utterly pointless in terms of fraud given she would then just use whatever Mickey Mouse signature she'd just written to pay for her shopping.
This concept blew the mind of the checkout lady + her supervisor. IIRC, my cousin ended up literally signing her card with an X and replicated that on the sales voucher. They hemmed and hawed a bit at the X but she just stood there, and the problem finally went away (as did we!)
My wife tried to pay for her shopping in a French supermarket some years back. I had not accompanied her on this occasion. For some reason her card was rejected and, on being asked if she had any other cards, said she had mine. Even though she did not know my PIN and it was clearly not her card,it was accepted for payment.
Watis
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Re: Lending my credit card to my mum...?
Watis wrote:My wife tried to pay for her shopping in a French supermarket some years back. I had not accompanied her on this occasion. For some reason her card was rejected and, on being asked if she had any other cards, said she had mine. Even though she did not know my PIN and it was clearly not her card,it was accepted for payment.
LOL, I'd guess that you were caught halfway between the natural officiousness of the French system and the appallingly low skill levels of French supermarket workers.
Just looking at their slow and careless rate of work, compared with their equivalents in Sainsburys or even Asda, you just know that they're being paid the minimum wage. Your one just wanted to tick the "done something" box and get you out of the store with the minimum effort.
BJ
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Re: Lending my credit card to my mum...?
bungeejumper wrote:The risk, surely, is that poor old mum will get stopped and kept waiting for a couple of hours somewhere inconvenient while the cashier impounds the card and calls the police to check out the suspicious situation? Not really what you want while you're on holiday.
I never said the risk was zero. My point was more that is probably something like one in a million, assuming even a modicum of prudence is employed by the person carrying the card.
If you never did anything that carried any risk at all, then you'd never leave your house. The key surely is to assess risk and then decide if that risk is worth taking. Not to avoid any and every risk no matter how unlikely, thereby condemning yourself to a life of paranoia, inactivity and fear.
In the US it is not unusual to be asked for ID when using a card for an expensive charge, probably because PIN's are not used there. So I'd consider the risk of doing this in the US to be measurable and non-trivial. In Europe I'd assess that risk as trivial, because of the use of PINs. (I've also loaned my debit card to someone to get cash from a machine - again a trivial risk).
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