Is a secured credit card possible in Ireland?

One that doesn't require a regular deposit into a bank, but is secured by funds from an account? Possible in the US, Ireland appears to insist on a minimal taxable income in Ireland and regular deposits.

igotadose said:

but is secured by funds from an account?

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Wouldn’t this be a debit card?

No. It's a credit card with a limit, with credit card rules and rates, secured by some funds. Common in the US:

Debit cards are completely different.

I don't see your problem. I've credit cards from AIB and BoI but my current a/c is with the TSB. I just applied for them.

I’ve never heard of such a product in Ireland.

I applied for a credit card from a well-known provider recently and they sought no proof of my declared income. Offered credit limit of over twice my net monthly income too.

PMU said:

I don't see your problem. I've credit cards from AIB and BoI but my current a/c is with the TSB. I just applied for them.

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Same. I have an AIB credit card and apart from my Ulster Bank mortgage that recently moved to them I have no other accounts with AIB and haven't had for 15 years now. I don't even live in Ireland anymore and they are happy to keep my credit card going, taking the balance from my German current account every month and sending me the statements to my German address. I don't even pay stamp duty on the card as a non-resident ;-)

I kept it because it has a "silly Celtic Tiger" limit, it's free to own and I like having it as an emergency card, especially on holidays. I don't use it apart from the odd transaction to tell AIB I am still alive because it doesn't provide any air miles/member rewards.

I'm not sure what the OP is asking. It is very easy to have a credit card with an institution other than the one you bank with. My credit card is with Avant and I just transfer the money each month from my bank account.

The US is completely different when it comes to paying for things, they use credit cards for everything whereas in Ireland, we mainly use our debit cards. Credit card debt in the US is $1.08 trillion

I don't think they want a regular credit card.

Bunq have recently given a 'credit card' to customers. I didn't want another credit card because of the €30 stamp duty so I looked into this a bit more. Apparently it's a pre paid debit card but coded as a credit card for payments so it can be used for booking hotels/car rental etc. But it is not a loan facility so you need to top up first.

I'm not sure if that's what you mean?

I think secured credit cards are used in the US by people who don't have a good credit score to build up and improve their credit score. @igotadose - We don't do credit scores here. You don't need to take out loans and credit cards here to build up a credit score and give you access to better rates or more credit.

Hi all, I am new to this forum and have read through the posts here so appreciate all the feedback.

Please excuse my somewhat long explanation.

For my situation, I am in need of an actual credit card (rather than a Visa/Mastercard debit card).

The reason for this is I need to be able to rent a car in California - in the US the car rental companies accept debit cards with Visa/Mastercard logo (with a deposit) but only if you have an in state licence. I have a NY State driver licence so was declined.

My Irish credit card was cancelled after a couple of months of default but I paid more than the minimum thereafter for 8 months and then zeroed the balance recently. So might not be eligible for a new card due to my credit score.

Is there no option for a secured credit card in Ireland (whereby I deposit a set amount to the bank and that is my “credit limit”).

There is no loan risk to the bank as they already have my money - therefore no risk and the bank can use my funds to invest in the markets with my money.

The bank makes money if they invest my funds wisely or is it that they are playing loose and fast with arbitrage (immediate currency traiding currencies based on minor fluctuations in currency conversion rates) and worry about that risk?

I don’t understand why a se red credit card is not possible in Ireland.

Any clarification would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

johndoe101010 said:

Is there no option for a secured credit card in Ireland (whereby I deposit a set amount to the bank and that is my “credit limit”).

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I have never heard of such a product in the Irish market.

There are about half a dozen credit card providers in Ireland. Maybe one of them will give you one despite your credit history.

A US bank may give you one alternatively as you must have lived there if you have an NY license.

A New York state drivers license suggests that @johndoe101010 is a resident of New York state. If so, no Irish bank will open a credit card account for him because:

1) he is not a resident of Ireland.
2) he has no earned income in Ireland.

Revolut might work for him. It's a few years ago now, but on a number of occasions I used Revolut to book, pay, and drive off from the Hertz and Alamo rental locations at Boston's Logan airport. This was with an Irish driver's license. It wasn't supposed to work but it did, possibly because European debit cards seem to present as a credit card in the US. And the nice thing about a Revolut card is that it doesn't say "debit" on it. Just says "Visa" in the bottom right hand corner.

If anybody plans on trying this, I suggest loading plenty of $$$ on the card, prepaying online with the card, and purchasing the Collision Damage Waiver. This reduces the amount of "hold" that the rental company will place on the card. Also, renting at an airport location might increase the chances of success, as does renting a sensible car, in other words, don't try for a Porsche or a Mustang.

TLO said:

Revolut might work for him. It's a few years ago now, but on a number of occasions I used Revolut to book, pay, and drive off from the Hertz and Alamo rental locations at Boston's Logan airport.

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This was the same experience for me with hotels in the US.

What was supposed to be a hold on a credit card limit was cash deducted from my dollar balance on a Revolut debit card.

It was returned within two days of checking out.