Amazon to refuse VISA credit cards. What credit cards, esp. Mastercard available to IOM residents?

[The Phantom]

6 minutes ago, James Blonde said:

On a similar subject a lot of online retailers now seem to have cottoned on to Isle of Man postcodes being different from UK mainland ones (it's apparently something to do with Brexit and Northern Ireland). 

Because of it there now seems to be even fewer retailers who ship to the Isle of Man. 

I've noticed this recently too.  Lots more sites are now telling me they don't ship to the Isle, some which are sites I've ordered from in the past.  I've asked the vendors if it's due to Brexit/teller software updates, but none have really been certain.  I was actually going to post something on here to see if people had experienced the same. 

Generally however, I just called the seller and explained, they've been cool and I've just done a manual phone card order. 

[James Blonde]

1 minute ago, The Phantom said:

I've noticed this recently too.  Lots more sites are now telling me they don't ship to the Isle, some which are sites I've ordered from in the past.  I've asked the vendors if it's due to Brexit/teller software updates, but none have really been certain.  I was actually going to post something on here to see if people had experienced the same. 

Generally however, I just called the seller and explained, they've been cool and I've just done a manual phone card order. 

It's some kind of software thing, the same as you say - sites I've ordered from before you would just put the street, address and Isle of Man - the country would be UK by default. Now though you have to change it to Isle of Man. 

Some sites then say they won't deliver while others just do it as before or at a higher shipping cost. 

[ellanvannin2010]

10 minutes ago, James Blonde said:

It's some kind of software thing, the same as you say - sites I've ordered from before you would just put the street, address and Isle of Man - the country would be UK by default. Now though you have to change it to Isle of Man. 

Some sites then say they won't deliver while others just do it as before or at a higher shipping cost. 

It seems to me to be retailers that are using Shopify software and seems to stem from some update to that.

Most retailers seem to be able to  get the settings altered in a few minutes if they can be bothered and then it works fine.

[The Phantom]

14 minutes ago, ellanvannin2010 said:

It seems to me to be retailers that are using Shopify software and seems to stem from some update to that.

Most retailers seem to be able to  get the settings altered in a few minutes if they can be bothered and then it works fine.

Makes sense, assumed there would be some generic teller software update that the vendors are realistically unaware of. 

And yes, assuming they (and you) can be bothered and you're buying something worth more than a few quid they seem to be able to get round it.  However, you'll have to actually interact with them which might not always be the case.

Alternatively I have been able to use the 'checkout with Paypal' option to get round it a couple of times.

Frustrating nonetheless. 

[David13]

46 minutes ago, Andy Onchan said:

Same here.... 

Just been on to Virgin Money website. It asks

WHERE DO YOU LIVE?

UK resident / Overseas

Click Overseas gives this:

To apply for a credit card issued by Virgin Money you must be a UK resident. If you are a member of the UK Armed Forces you can add a BFPO address for correspondence when you apply. Please use your main UK residential address for this check.

[ed fournier]

19 hours ago, AcousticallyChallenged said:

AMEX offer to the Isle of Man, and they’re accepted in a lot more places than they ever were  

Plenty of free cards as well as things like the Gold card (the £140/year one) with better rewards rates. They’re often quite generous in their lending criteria too. 

I applied for one these last week (because of the Amazon thing) and have been approved no probs. 

[David13]

3 hours ago, offshoremanxman said:

You’re right another big issue for UK cards and loans is that they can’t do credit reference checks on IOM residents because of the bank ringfencing and they can’t lend money to people they can’t ascertain the solvency of. The UK consumer credit act changed about 5 years ago after the issues with Wonga and payday lending to say that as a UK issuer you can’t lend if the person Is clearly uncreditworthy and can’t afford to repay. But if the person is IOM resident most of the time they can’t establish their credit status to determine whether they’re creditworthy and can repay or not - so it’s easier to stop issuing cards to IOM residents. 

Are you sure about that? I have just looked at my credit reports from all three sources:

Two of them show scores - both very high.

They all list my credit card & bank details/history.

They also show recent identity checks from insurance companies  - I was looking for quotes.

OK, I have not made made any credit applications for a number of years ... which brings me back to my OP.

By doing a soft search with a UK address, I was accepted; with IOM address, other details the same - NOTHING!

[Ringy Rose]

38 minutes ago, offshoremanxman said:

if you have recently lived in the UK you will still have an active credit score but that’s irrelevant as for most people here they can’t establish a proper score because of ringfenced banks and local finance cos so most providers auto decline Manx addresses.

My brand new HSBC IOM mortgage shows up on Experian, so it isn't that. The only thing the credit reference agencies struggle with is the electoral roll here.

The real reason is surely much more simple: the Isle of Man is not the UK, and most credit lenders will only lend to UK residents. We're not UK residents so we can't get UK credit products. And there's a greater awareness that we're not the UK; sticking in an IOM postcode was often enough to wing it, but not now. Works both ways; insurance companies also know not to charge insurance premium tax.

I'm sure IOM banks will issue credit cards, but they're unlikely to be as attractive a product.

[AcousticallyChallenged]

50 minutes ago, offshoremanxman said:

100% 

if you have recently lived in the UK you will still have an active credit score but that’s irrelevant as for most people here they can’t establish a proper score because of ringfenced banks and local finance cos so most providers auto decline Manx addresses. Under the UK CCA you cannot offer a loan or credit to someone without having evidence that they are reasonably able to repay that loan or debt.

I can see all my balances on UK and Manx accounts through providers Experian, ClearScore (Equifax) and CreditKarma (TransUnion). It all gets fed back. 

[Ramseyboi]

On 11/22/2021 at 5:35 PM, The Voice of Reason said:

MBNA MasterCard credit card.

No benefits ( points etc, like say M &S credit card which I believe is no longer available to IOM residents)
Can’t  find any with extra benefits available to IOM residents.
Given that I pay it off in full monthly the only advantage to me is that I have a large credit limit which would be useful if I find myself in an expensive emergency hole.

You didn’t open that account in the last year though (at a guess) making your post completely useless in the context of the question asked 

[pongo]

People are mad getting loans to buy cars they cannot afford.

[AcousticallyChallenged]

Isn’t it simply just more work to enforce debts across jurisdictions from the UK to the island? 

I can see why lenders would shy away from that if there is only a small market anyway. 

[Ramseyboi]

Don’t forget they can’t get money back if you run up a card debt over here, so they don’t bother any more.

£50k on credit cards but don’t pay it back? Yes your credit score will take a hit for a few years but they won’t be able to actually make you pay it back.

[Ringy Rose]

11 minutes ago, offshoremanxman said:

Conister, Cherry Godfrey and Blackhorse etc loans don’t show up. Neither do a lot of local loans or facilities with ringfenced banks.

The mainstream banks do IME, regardless of ringfencing.

The really dodgy lenders like Cherry Godfrey don't, but if you're borrowing from them then a credit report is the least of your worries.

[Ringy Rose]

3 minutes ago, Ramseyboi said:

Don’t forget they can’t get money back if you run up a card debt over here, so they don’t bother any more.

They sort of can, English High Court judgments can be enforced here. Where it gets messy is not all County Court Judgments can be transferred to the High Court for enforcement ,and Consumer Credit Act debts (loans, credit cards, etc) can't usually be transferred. So it stops being worth their while, although most big lenders will have sold the debt on long before a CCJ gets involved anyway. Some of the debt purchasers are persistent if there's enough money in it.

We're not the UK so they don't lend here. If you speak to them sometimes they will, but in the days of computer-says-no then the price comparison sites will show zero eligibility.