Using UK Credit Cards in the U.S.
 

We are moving to Indiana next week for 14 months. Will we have any problems using our U.K. credit cards (TSB Mastercard, Barclaycard visa) in the U.S. ? It seems easier than trying to get a U.S. card for a short period of time. I will pay the bill each month from a U.K. bank account. Any advice/experience would be appreciated.

Re: Using UK Credit Cards in the U.S.
 

Will you be getting paid in the US or UK? And how will you be paying for rent etc? Ie you may well need a US bank account even if not a credit card - so you may not be able to avoid the US banking system completely.

Most checking accounts will give you a debit card - so can use that for most day to day expenses.

Other than that I can't see why you couldn't use a uk card. Obviously you won't be building up a US credit history - which could be an issue if the 14 months evolves into something a lot longer.

And there is probably a 1-2% charge for each transaction (maybe hidden on the exchange rate).

Many of the pay-at-pump gas stations have difficulty with non-us credit cards, but that's just a minor irritation.

Re: Using UK Credit Cards in the U.S.
 

Thanks fozzyb, I will have a US bank account for day to day expenses and rent etc. and my pay will be split bewteen the U.K. and U.S. It's more for the larger purchases - holidays etc. so it sounds like the U.K. card is an option.

Re: Using UK Credit Cards in the U.S.
 

That sounds exactly like the setup I had initially - which worked fine for us.
(Except for me it was initially only going to be a 6 month assignment, but that soon changed to a year, then 2 years, then was going to be permanent, then wasn't...).

One small point that didn't occur to me at the time - when its time to move back the UK - closing US bank accounts remotely can be a right pain in the a**e. And as they often have monthly charges when there isn't a salary being paid directly in - its easy to end up inadvertently getting into "debt" while trying to close the account. In hindsight I might have saved a few grey hairs by closing the account in person before I left.

Re: Using UK Credit Cards in the U.S.
 

You will need to make sure that the card issuers in the UK know you're going to be in the US. I have had British cards "locked out" if I hadn't notified the issuing bank of my travel to the US, as has my mother.

Re: Using UK Credit Cards in the U.S.
 

Make sure your UK CC does not charge a % fee for overseas transactions.

Re: Using UK Credit Cards in the U.S.
 

It almost certainly will,so make sure it is acceptable to you. :)

Re: Using UK Credit Cards in the U.S.
 

Great info, thanks !

Re: Using UK Credit Cards in the U.S.
 

Unless you're willing to stump up a deposit for a secured card, I doubt you'd get approved for a US credit card at first anyway. I used my UK cards in the US with no problems when I got here.

Re: Using UK Credit Cards in the U.S.
 

Which UK bank are you with, HSBC gave me an unsecured credit card day 1 when I moved here properly (well the card took 3 days to arrive). Also before moving here when I visited often I had an account with Citi bank in the UK, It let you have multiple currencies linked to 1 ATM card and I could just move money between accounts when the rate was good. Having a US$ checkbook was also useful as the US is more in to checks than DD (ACH here) like the UK for some reason I still don't understand.

Re: Using UK Credit Cards in the U.S.
 

Good advice and that's true of all international travel. I always report international travel to my credit card companies to minimize the chances of transaction issues (e.g. I frequently travel to Canada).

Re: Using UK Credit Cards in the U.S.
 

I know my sister doesn't pay charges on her UK CC when she comes over.

Re: Using UK Credit Cards in the U.S.
 

some have a % rate hey charge explicitly, others don't, but to really know what you are "paying" you need to compare the actual exchange rate used on a transaction to the inter-bank rate at the time, can be up to 3% different... i'm sure some hit you with both...

Re: Using UK Credit Cards in the U.S.
 

A preloaded card is hugely cheaper such as from Caxton FX I am told (I have never tried it myself yet though). It would be FBAR reportable, but that is a minor irritation.

Re: Using UK Credit Cards in the U.S.
 

Some preloaded cards don't work internationally, even if they have a VISA logo on them. Personally I wouldn't choose to rely on one until I had tested it in the country I was going to visit.