Paying Credit Card with Curve and an Underlying Credit Card

[joseph.newman]

Hello! Just a quick one… I have previously on rare occasions, purely to keep my credit card at £0 but keep my credit score high, paid my credit card with Curve and an underlying credit card. Previously my credit card provider (either end) have never considered it a ‘cash advance’ type payment which of course incurs additional interest (HUGELY affecting credit score), and it just goes through like a normal debit card payment. I understand this is still possible with a small charge, but my question is;

Does it NOW show/flag to the underlining card provider that you have used your credit card to pay a credit card? The only reason I ask, is NOW you get a message saying something like ‘your credit card provider may charge you interest for using the card like this’.

That message had never previously come up. Again, previously if I paid my 0% MBNA CC with Curve (using my HSBC CC), it would just work like a DC payment, and no ‘cash advance’ interest or anything. I’m aware CURVE will charge you a fee, and this is obviously private and separate from the actual transaction… it’s just that warning message that’s spooked me!

Thanks in advance guys.

[LDPIX]

They’ll let you do it once probably. Then they’ll realise it was a curve card, with the potential of an underlying credit card payment to pay off another credit card, they’ll send you a letter telling you you’re no longer allowed to use it for that purpose. They will also limit the number of cards you can use to pay off your credit card bill in each calendar month period.

[joseph.newman]

But why has that system changed? I could previously do it as regularly as I wanted… now, the only implemented change is Curve’s fee… so I just wonder what else in the clogs has changed that could alert the credit card being paid, that it might need to be treated as a ‘cash advance’ type transaction?

[Dann]

Curve added the Curve Fronted fee, which is in place where you have to pay a 1.5% fee with curve for any transaction where you use a credit instead of a debit, in situations where credit isn’t accepted.

More info here: https://support.imaginecurve.com/hc/en-gb/sections/360001104337-Curve-Fronted?mobile_site=true

[jrg]

What’s changed is somewhat irrelevant: paying off a credit card with a credit card has always been against all (UK) cardholder agreements* even if they had no way to prevent it.

(* that I’ve ever read been a party to.)