OT FOAK, an American Express question.

Lloyds have written to tell me they are stopping Visa and moving to
Mastercard. I'm offered 2choices;

1. A single Mastercard that replaces my current Visa card - same conditions
(i.e. no annual charge).

2. A pair of cards, one Mastercard and one American Express - both with air
miles. No annual charge (currently?).

Questions;

Is Mastercard as universally accepted as Visa?

Is American Express as universally accepted as Visa?

John

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Eatmorepies

No.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - "He's hopeless, but he's honest"

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Honda GL1000K2 (Fallen apart) Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single"
Norton 850 Commando Kawasaki GTR1400

 

In

Wot he said

--
Steve Parry
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www.gwynfryn.co.uk

 

Mostly true, I think, but there are places/countries/states where Visa
is slightly more frequently accepted the MC.

Quite so.

Given that, I was trying to work out why anyone bothers with one, then
remembered that I used to have one for about ten years in the UK, when
I would not habitually pay off CC balances each month. But it seems a
drastic measure to control overspending, IYAM.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/ DS#8 BOTAFOT#3 SbS#2 UKRMMA#13 DFV#8 SKA#2 IBB#10
`\\ | //'
`\|/`
`

 

[amex]

Work policy - the corporate amex is directly linked to the expenses
system, whereas it's more of a song and dance to use my own card.

 

IME yes.

No, although Amex has much greater penetration in the US, and has exclusive
deals with some chains there. I had a corporate Amex card for a while, and
found that it was so little use in the UK that I left it at home most of the
time. If I was spending a lot of time in the US, though, I'd have one.

 

that only transfers the question to: why does your finance department
choose Amex over Mastercard or Visa?

I currently have 2 Mastercards and 3 Visas (one of these is a
corporate card, mind) - I would never consider an Amex.

Speaking of undesirable credit cards, are Diners Club still going?

 

Yes. (My CC is Mastercard and has been for the last 10 years)

No. A lot of places won't touch it as their fees are high and they push
all the liability onto the vendor.

Avoid Amex like the plague.

Phil.

 

Most of the global policies we have originate in the US, and the the
country finance people just tow the line.

 

whilst I don't have one, I do believe you are incorrect.

Or rather, to clarify, I'm pretty sure they offer credit cards
alongside their charge card.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, darsy

They do indeed. And, in fact, they also offer the ability to spread the
payments on the charge card. I've never activated that option.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - "He's hopeless, but he's honest"

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 OMF#6 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (Fallen apart) Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single"
Norton 850 Commando Kawasaki GTR1400

 

Oh sure, I know that works for lots of companies (although why they
choose amex over Visa I don't know). I've never bothered with a
corporate card, as over here (as opposed to the UK office) all
expenses incurred on the card come out of one's personal bank account
anyway, so you need to have made the expenses claim in advance, just
the same as doing it on your own card.

Then again, banks do actually charge for credit cards over here, so if
I though I could do without a personal one I might think about it -
but as the corporate one is Amex and therefore not universally
accepted I'll not be bothering.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/ DS#8 BOTAFOT#3 SbS#2 UKRMMA#13 DFV#8 SKA#2 IBB#10
`\\ | //'
`\|/`
`

 

"Toe".
--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/ DS#8 BOTAFOT#3 SbS#2 UKRMMA#13 DFV#8 SKA#2 IBB#10
`\\ | //'
`\|/`
`

 

whaaaaaat?

That's mad.

When I travelling, I just put all food/drink, travel costs, hotel etc.
on my corporate card, and then at the end of each month finance send
me a summary of what I've spent, and as long as I have an invoice for
each bit (or even just a good excuse[1]) then it all just goes away.

[1] there is a serious advantage in being the budget holder for my own
cost centre, as if they want to query one of my transactions, they
escalate the issue to...me.

 

The third choice, of course, is to get a card from elsewhere. We use
Morgan Stanley for Mastercard and Mint for Visa, both of which offer
cashback (and high interest rates which don't matter if you pay off in
full), plus Nationwide Visa for use abroad. There are probably even
better deals out there.

 

serious question, what's the advantage of using a "charge card" over a
debit card? Is it just to give you a month's worth of liquidity? If
so, are the monthly fees less than what you'd pay for an overdraft
facility?

 

Yeah, I realised that after I hit send, but LTSTPRU.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, darsy

I used to use it for some of the side-benefits (notably, airport lounge
access and very good deals on flight upgrades).

Their concierge service used to be *excellent*, but I haven't had to use
it lately. They did once get me a shirt at my hotel before 9am after my
luggage went AWOL. That let me look presentable[1] at a very important
meeting.

In fairness, I'll almost certainly bin it this year, since I just don't
fly as much these days. When I did that with the previous Gold Card,
they gave me lifetime free membership.

[1] Just **** off, OK?

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - "He's hopeless, but he's honest"

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 OMF#6 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (Fallen apart) Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single"
Norton 850 Commando Kawasaki GTR1400