Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

Could someone please tell me:

1) Are the credit cards offered by local TRNC banks sponsored by Mastercard/Visa, or just bank-sponsored? If the former, do Mastercard/Visa offer the same protection against dodgy retailers as they do in the UK, for example?

2) Can the credit cards offered by TRNC banks be used in other countries?

If the answer to both questions is no, is there any advantage to having a TRNC credit card, as opposed to just using a TRNC debit card (or cash) for purchases?

Thanks to all.

1) No, No
2) No
The money that you have to keep in the account (& which defines your 'credit limit' ) does earn interest...

i have used a credit west card in uk.

Come on Keith , be honest, in reality they are pretty useless outside of the TRNC aren't they?

Creditwest Bank is offering Mastercard credit cards, which can be used abroad and also for internet shopping, I am sure other banks do as well.

We have used our Iktisatbank card over the border, so if that
isn't in another country I don't know where is.We also know of
other people using them in other countries.

I can only comment on TRNC HSBC credit cards sponsored by Mastercard. We have used ours in the USA, UK, Turkey and RoC without problems and for internet purchases. Cannot comment on protection offered as never had occasion to put this to the test.

I can not answer your first question but when I first got my credit card (mastercard) from a TRNC bank (Iktisatbank) I did ask that question & was told it can be used any ware in the world.

I have used it to hire a car back in the UK many times also for normal shopping in the UK.
I have also used it in Europe on a few occasions & over in the South to, no problems.

Maybe KC and I should have a recheck with our respective banks then!

Well, that is much better news than I expected. Not TOTALLY 'embargoed' then. Thank you.

Sorry about that!

I (and possibly sophie), appear to be the only people with useless cards!

You win some, you lose some...

We have found having a TRNC credit card with Credit West very worthwhile.

Not only do you get a decent % return on the locked amount eqalivent to your credit limit you get points which can be discounted against flights and removes the need to withdraw cash from ATM which will bear a charge or discounted exchange rate.

Yes, but you can't withdraw Sterling at Credit West can you or are you saying you can use a Credit West credit card at say Garanti Bank to withdraw sterling?

Hi Keith, as you know we go to Turkey each April for 6 month, we take HSBC and CREDIT WEST card with us both are Master Card. We have no problem at all, and Credit West even phone us when our credit card deposit is low, we top up over the phone with no problems.
We may even travel to Bulgaria this year and from a friend they take N/Cyprus cards.
Mel.

sophie wrote:Yes, but you can't withdraw Sterling at Credit West can you or are you saying you can use a Credit West credit card at say Garanti Bank to withdraw sterling?

By using the cc instead of money it saves you from withdrawing penalised cash from an ATM,then you repay the debt at the due date and it's not cost you anything to manage your money effectively

Just as an aside, the HSBC mastercard is a proper credit card in that you do not have to have the amount of your limit held in an account with the bank.

HSBC is not a TC bank - it is a Turkish bank and therefore it doesn't have to follow the same rules. One example is that it doesn't require a reserved account to back up a credit card - also it can convert directly between foreign currencies (eg UK£ to Euro) instead of via TL as local banks must.

No-one on here seems to know the answer to your original question blueparrot so perhaps you need to speak to your bank then you can enlighten us all. As for no benefits. Certainly, with HSBC you get airmiles for all purchases made with your credit card and we used ours to get two return flights to Washington (only cost us TL740 to top of the points) so there is at least one advantage.

blueparrot wrote:Could someone please tell me:

1) Are the credit cards offered by local TRNC banks sponsored by Mastercard/Visa, or just bank-sponsored? If the former, do Mastercard/Visa offer the same protection against dodgy retailers as they do in the UK, for example?

2) Can the credit cards offered by TRNC banks be used in other countries?

If the answer to both questions is no, is there any advantage to having a TRNC credit card, as opposed to just using a TRNC debit card (or cash) for purchases?

Thanks to all.

http://www.creditwestbank.com/en/person ... d/?lang=en

Can anyone tell me if you can have a paypal account linked to your TL or STERLING account? Im with Garanti Bank and have a Mastercard /Debit card which I've used to purchase online for a UK website - they took the TL equivalent out of the TL ACCOUNT.

We continue to use our HSBC credit and debit card in Panama,Aruba,Nicaragua, Belize in fact anywhere we have travelled with no problem at all.