Rockgurl

Hello people. I'm looking to emigrate to the States this summer and am in the process of clearing up my finances. I've just paid off all my UK credit cards and am keeping them for the moment, but I would like to get a US friendly credit card while I am still in England that I can transfer to the US when I move and help me build some kind of credit rating. Can anyone recommend one? MBNA? American Express? Nobody ever accepts AE in England, so is it worth getting?

Rumplestiltskin

99% of businesses accept my UK issued Amex over here whereas my MBNA visa is often rejected...

I'd say get an Amex and then get a US checking (yes checking not chequing) account with a visa debit card for the rare occasions that Amex is not accepted.

Englishmum

Unfortunately an American Express card is a charge card, not a credit card and it will not help you build up a credit rating. However, we found ours invaluable when we first arrived in the US and we use Amex all the time as we prefer to pay off our bills in full each month *and* get airmiles for each $1 we charge to it. I don't know what we would have done without Amex.

Do apply for a US Amex card before leaving the UK and closing your British-issued Amex card and you should be given a US card immediately. We had ours sent c/o my husband's boss, so it was waiting for us as soon as we arrived - and you don't have to pay the overseas exchange rates by continuing to use a US card. We weren't even able to get an Amex Blue credit card as we had no US credit rating!

We opened a checking account with Chase before arriving (I've already written about how to apply for one if still outside the US in another thread on these boards). We did have a battle to get a Chase Visa card though, even though we had a great credit rating from the UK and Singapore; it stands for nothing when you move to the States. It's best to speak with a senior manager, not one of the regular staff. I've heard it sometimes helps if you open a bank account with your employer's bank too. Our credit limit was given as $1200 which is small when you first arrive and need to buy lots of stuff. Many people open a store account eg. Macy's, Sears dept stores. Ensure that each month you pay the bill off in full, then after about six months hey presto! you have a credit rating and each mail delivery will bring *lots* of pre-approvals for credit cards from every financial institution you can think of!

Also it may help to get hold of your UK credit reports from Experian and Equifax - they cost about 2 pounds each. The addresses can be found in the "Consumer" section - look under 'names & addresses' at: http://www.compactlaw.co.uk

Hope this helps!

Patrick

I had an MBNA card in the UK and when I moved here I rang up MBNA USA and asked for a card based on my UK MBNA card. They instantly gave me a credit card with $15,000 limit. works for me!

If you ring MBNA USA and get a cc using your UK credit they will give you a cc and you can start building credit straight away

Patrick

Rockgurl

Thank you all, for your great advice! Much appreciated.

Vicky88

Actually American Express does show on your credit report.

whatever

A few years back, I applied for an AMEX here in the UK and was refused. Do you think I would be refused if I applied in the States?

NC Penguin

The basis for refusing you an AmEx or any American credit card would solely be on how good your American credit report looks to a credit card issuer.

It is pretty much irrelevant that you were turned down for a UK AmEx card because the AmEx in the UK and US do not have a close relationship and AmEx in the US will not know of your application and outcome for applying for a UK AmEx card.




NC Penguin