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Personal credit cards?

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ilke

ilke

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Oct 27, 2023
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As a Europoor, I somehow neglected the possibilities and advantages of credit cards - however, upon re-domiciling myself quite a few years ago, and also using US LLCs for some purposes, I found them to be incredibly useful.

TBH, I don't know what the corporate card is called, it's something like "Visa Business Gold Credit", but it brings great rewards as well as a 3% cash-back on many purchases and still over 1.5% on the rest - really insane, with most EU EMIs you have to pay to spend smi(&%

Well, I have 1 crypto-linked personal credit card, but the rewards are approximately equal to the fees spent on the account and individual spending.

So, my question is, are there any foreigner-accepting card programs with some effective rewards (wherever in the world, I guess) and do you have any recommendations? I have no interest in the credit, but I might as well get something out of the interchange the banks keep 😀
 
Sure. But your options depend on whether you have a ITIN, SSN or not:
https://frugalflyer.ca/blog/which-us-banks-allow-canadians-to-apply-for-credit-cards-using-an-itin/

Credit unions are to avoid as they normally don't give you anything, even with SSN.‌

Bank of America is a good starting point with their Travel Rewards card, no foreign‍ transaction fee and 1.5% cash back (more if you are preferred client). There even is⁠ a secured version now. You still probably need to go there in person to open.⁤

If you have better credit history, Citi Strata Premier could be another option.

I think⁣ for business, they mainly use Chase ink cards.
 
Well, nothing⁠ exceptional with US Premium Credit Cards.

Crypto-linked cards represent another business, apparently.

Yes, there are.
IMO, The Promised Land for Credit︁ Cards = the U.S.A. And @daniels27 is right above.
Just adding, that
– if you︂ have an account with some US bank in another country, it can help you to︃ access the US CC (yet I expect you to be well aware of this);
– if you are able to pretend well that you are pretty rich and willing to︄ spend remarkably with your card it will help you extremely;
– a basic AmEx is︅ said to be more easy to get than it seems.

Fair; but do not mention it to the︇ banker 😉

Really an interesting article; and continuously updated, as︈ I can see. Thanks for sharing!
A side-note: Frugalflyer's Cloudflare seems to be over-protective. Be︉ ready for some hacking to see the page 🙁. (If you fail, mention this here.︊ The current version of the article is already on my disk 😉 )
 
It depends on where you live and your nationality.

For example, As spooky as this sounds, I have to say that some of the credit‍ card benefits in mainland China are okay, but as a foreigner, you're not likely to⁠ get them. 😛 😛 😛 😛
 
How about for citizens/nationals of Fiji (but who do business / have bank⁠ accounts in EU)? For China, can you only apply for a card if Chinese? Or⁤ will they take any applicant (if so, which cards are good to apply for? Perks/benefits⁣ are less important just being able to have/use a personal credit card around the world⁢ (not in US).
 
There is not much outside the US that I would recommend. China does indeed have‌ some cards, but almost all of the Visa and MasterCard ones typically have foreign transaction‍ fees. You can get them but would need some visa (not Visa) or relationship with⁠ the bank. But they are not really worth it if you ask me.
 
EU does have cards but most likely no cash back worth mentioning as the merchant‌ fees are capped. And then many have foreign transaction fees of 3%. Same for Switzerland.‍
 
Hong Kong has some worth the trouble only for local shopping (discounts like 5% in‌ some supermarkets). Almost all Visa and MasterCard have foreign transaction fee. The Standard Chartered Smart‍ one being an exception at 0.56% cash back.

Only available with a valid visa with⁠ decent number of months left.

Japan hard to get anything even years after being resident.⁤
 
I have no idea about Fiji

And foreigners⁣ living in China with work contracts can apply credit card, Apologies for the inappropriate example,⁢ it's a bit off-topic.

perhaps you can try AMEX Australia or New Zealand? Although they︀ are not good choice with high FTF/foreign transaction fees
 
According to what I remember,⁤ All the credit cards in HK have FTF, and there's no good benefit overseas (out⁣ of HK)
 
UK and Canada do have some good cards. Hard to get a decent credit score.‌ Much harder without SIN in Canada, which is only available to citizens and for residents‍ while the permit lasts.
 
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All true. Yet I think that⁠ no non-US card can beat its US counterparts (admitting that an exception may exist).

(@Nigital Domad, a US card can be used worldwide, of course.)
 
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