Credit card credit limit woes - any avenue for complaint?

[intstudent]

Hi. I'm new here and came upon this website. Looks like a very useful website. =)

I'm an international student in the UK. I got a student credit card from NatWest (this is very generous on their part, as no other UK banks offer this to international students). However, their credit limit is pretty restrictive.

Recently I intend to buy a long haul flight ticket and they only accept Mastercard, Visa or Amex (no Solo or Maestro). The cost of the ticket is higher than my credit limit, so I called the Card Centre to ask is there anything I can do.

The customer services agent told me I can load up my credit card (i.e. pay in lots into my card so that it essentially becomes a debit card) and pay the ticket this way. I find this reasonable, so I did as he mentioned.

A week later after the funds are cleared, I tried to purchase the flight ticket. It was declined. Called Card Centre. Was told I could not do that (contrary to what I have previously been advised). He said, even if my card is in credit, each time I spend, I can only spend up to the credit limit. So in my case, if the credit limit is £350, even if I have more than £800 (credit) on my card, I can only pay £350 in one go. This means I can never pay online for a flight ticket which costs about £700. (it's funny that the staff never understand why I cant do split payments, i.e. £350 and £350... makes me wonder do they ever use the internet to do shopping)

I went to an university branch and made a big fuss over the matter. The manager finally agreed to my proposed solution - that I purchase the ticket from a high street agent (which is more expensive than online) and he will refund the difference. And transfer back the excess amount from my credit card to my account.

This sort of solved the present problem, but I am still not very pleased. I have the funds, but they are restricting my spending. This is not the only time I need to buy flight tickets, I need to do so many many times in the future too over my study period here. Their action will indirectly cause financial loss on my part, as each time when I purchase from a high street shop, it will cost more than purchasing online...

Do you think is it worthwhile/possible for me to bring this matter with their Customer Relations, or even to the Financial Ombudsman? What I want is a reassurance that, as long as I have funds on my credit card, I will be able to spend them (and not restricted to 'only amounts equivalent to the credit limit at one go'). So if I want to buy another flight ticket worth £500, I can top up my credit card and pay for that.

I have my worries though: I understand that not other banks in the UK grant credit cards to international students. Hence I am worried if I annoy them, they may cancel my credit card and hence I am left without a plastic (I am not concerned about 'requiring credit', the credit card is more of a tool really, as it is more universally accepted than Solo). Of course there is this thing about Lloyds TSB Visa Debit, but I am a bit tired of moving accounts here and there.

What do you reckon?

[cheddar]

Is this stated in the T&C's of your Credit Card when you signed the agreement? If so then you have agreed to understand and abide by this limit.

[anon1]

The answer is yes and No. You can complain that the person you initially spoke to told you information that was not correct, however, from reading what the branch have done they have effectively sorted out the problem. They will be refunding the difference between internet and high street payment, they will be transferring from the credit card to the main account without the charge that would normally be levied, so maybe time and inconvenience but the branch have efectively put you back to where you would have been if you had been told the correct information. I should add as an aside, if NatWest Bank offered huge credit limits on cards they would rightly be accused of trying to put students in ever increasing debt levels, so the reason it is restrictive is exactly for that reason. Also as students do not normally have a full time job while they are studying it cannot be raised higher than the level it is at.

[gizmo111]

You could get a prepaid mastercard and use that to pay over internet. have a look around for the ones with lowest charges though.

[intstudent]

Thank you for your replies.

Abagnale: I was wondering, why is it that when I have already loaded up my credit card (i.e. I am not borrowing from NatWest), they will still not allow me to make this one-off transaction? I am not going to bring them into dispute by "making me prone to bad debt". In fact, from my history with them, I have been managing my accounts well.

gizmo111: Yes I am thinking of doing so... Or perhaps open an account which offers Visa Debit.

Cheddar: According to the T&Cs, there are 2 verses that I think is related to my case.

a- You must not go over the credit limit (which I interpret as "I must not borrow more than £350 from NatWest")

b- We may decide not to give our authorization if you would go over your ‘available credit’ by making the payment on top of all other transactions we have authorized, including those not yet charged to your account. The ‘available credit’ on your account will be based on your credit limit, amounts charged to the account which remain unpaid and payments received from you which are paid into your account. We reserve the right not to adjust your ‘available credit’ by the amount of any payments received until they have been cleared. Typically, this may take up to ten working days after we receive your payment. (according to this verse, it seems that I have the right to do what I was intending to do, as my credit limit is £350, £0 for amounts charged to my account which remain unpaid and more than £600 for payments received. As such, my Available Credit is £350+£600 = £950 and as such surely should be authorised?)


From these inputs I have given, what do you think - can I still bring this matter up? I am really just concerned about flexibility issue (other than obtaining a Visa Debit or Prepaid Mastercard)

Thanks a lot!

[anon1]

I would ask that the credit card services explain why you could not do that as you cannot find it in the terms and conditions. The ones you mention do not seem relevant to your case though. The limit on credit cards specifically student ones is that there is a maximum that it will be allowed to go up to. It is based on students as a whole. As I said you are not working full time and studying full time although I appreciate where you are coming from in relation to booking the flight.

[intstudent]

Thanks Abagnale.

You wouldn't expect NatWest to retaliate by cancelling my credit card if I were to ask politely why and that I can't find it in the T&Cs is that right?

Do you think what I will get is just an explanation - and nothing much, or there could be something out of it?

The restrictive £350-in-one-payment really excludes me from making many payments over the net. It's quite funny why we can pay more than £250 using Solo (£250 is the max amount we can withdraw from cash machines) when the funds are available, but not so when using Mastecard.