I have two identical BCP cards - can I give the other to someone else?

[bluedoggiant]

Hey guys. So I have two BCP cards that are identical, same name and card number and everything, only difference is that the member since date is different.

I am planning on taking one of the cards with me to college and leave the other one with my parents. If my parents use the card (and mind you GA and MD are quite a ways from each other), would AMEX flag my account for fraud since the same exact card is being used in two places? Thanks guys.

[SunriseEarth]

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@bluedoggiant wrote:

Hey guys. So I have two BCP cards that are identical, same name and card number and everything, only difference is that the member since date is different.

I am planning on taking one of the cards with me to college and leave the other one with my parents. If my parents use the card (and mind you GA and MD are quite a ways from each other), would AMEX flag my account for fraud since the same exact card is being used in two places? Thanks guys.

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Why not just add them as AUs?

[-Wade-]

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@bluedoggiant wrote:

Hey guys. So I have two BCP cards that are identical, same name and card number and everything, only difference is that the member since date is different.

I am planning on taking one of the cards with me to college and leave the other one with my parents. If my parents use the card (and mind you GA and MD are quite a ways from each other), would AMEX flag my account for fraud since the same exact card is being used in two places? Thanks guys.

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sure you can,,,,,,,,,,, but they will flag or stop payment if using the card in different states. It's best to add one of them as an AU

[triedtogetacardandcouldnt]

Uhh...this doesn't sound like a good idea to me. Both cards are yours, with your name and info attached. If for some reason your parents ran up a bill they couldn't pay, you'd be on the hook for it.

Let them use their own cards.

Yes, I know, your parents would never do such a thing. I speak as someone whose mother stole $900 in student loan refund money from me when I was 19, so I tend to be extremely leery of combining finances with parents.

Part of me wants to know why they don't have their own cards and want to use yours. If you have a card you don't need, maybe you should just cancel it. But overall, no, I don't think this sounds like a good idea at all.

[SunriseEarth]

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@triedtogetacardandcouldnt wrote:

Uhh...this doesn't sound like a good idea to me. Both cards are yours, with your name and info attached. If for some reason your parents ran up a bill they couldn't pay, you'd be on the hook for it.

Let them use their own cards.

Yes, I know, your parents would never do such a thing. I speak as someone whose mother stole $900 in student loan refund money from me when I was 19, so I tend to be extremely leery of combining finances with parents.

Part of me wants to know why they don't have their own cards and want to use yours. If you have a card you don't need, maybe you should just cancel it. But overall, no, I don't think this sounds like a good idea at all.

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+1.   This is why I feel that adding them as AUs would be preferable, if you wish to give them access to your account.   This way, you can set a limit to what the AU can charge.  

@Often, mixing family and money issues can get complicated, so that would be my suggestion.  @tried, I'm very sorry that happened to you, and it's a very common story, unfortunately.

[triedtogetacardandcouldnt]

Honestly, even the AU thing makes me uncomfortable.

Why would someone want to use their child's credit card? In my opinion, people who want to use anything--a checking account, credit card, anything--belonging to their child screams "sketchball" to me.

In my eyes, NO decent parent touches their child's money, credit cards, or possessions. A bit harsh, but my life has given me that particular value. My mother ran up a bad library record in my name, stole student loan money, stole from my piggy bank, and more. 

No proper parent uses their child's credit card. Sorry if this offends someone, but that's how I see it.

[bluedoggiant]

My dad is the one who transfers money into my bank account to pay all my bills and he hasn't faltered in allowing to pay $15k worth of CC bills of the past year on time - so theres no issue of trust, and to be honest they wouldn't even want to use my card as my dad would want to use his own, but it was just an option.

I understand now its not a good idea anyway cuz of the different states issue. I'll just bring the '13 card with me as a backup. Thanks guys.

[SunriseEarth]

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@triedtogetacardandcouldnt wrote:

Honestly, even the AU thing makes me uncomfortable.

Why would someone want to use their child's credit card? In my opinion, people who want to use anything--a checking account, credit card, anything--belonging to their child screams "sketchball" to me.

In my eyes, NO decent parent touches their child's money, credit cards, or possessions. A bit harsh, but my life has given me that particular value. My mother ran up a bad library record in my name, stole student loan money, stole from my piggy bank, and more. 

No proper parent uses their child's credit card. Sorry if this offends someone, but that's how I see it.

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A lot of it depends on the family.   For example, my SO tends to offer financial help to his mother, as do the rest of his siblings.   In my family, however, my parents have usually been the ones to financially help me or my siblings.  

I can't judge the OPs situation, but I think we certainly all want the OP to make the best credit decision possible on this matter.   This is why I think adding parents as an AU and limiting the card may work well for the OP.   It probably wouldn't be a decision you or I would make, but it's a viable option that the OP should consider, IMHO.

[SunriseEarth]

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@bluedoggiant wrote:

My dad is the one who transfers money into my bank account to pay all my bills and he hasn't faltered in allowing to pay $15k worth of CC bills of the past year on time - so theres no issue of trust, and to be honest they wouldn't even want to use my card as my dad would want to use his own, but it was just an option.

I understand now its not a good idea anyway cuz of the different states issue. I'll just bring the '13 card with me as a backup. Thanks guys.

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I think so.  It'd be better for you to have in case you lost your CC.  However, AMEX will usually expedite replacement cards, so you wouldn't have too much downtime.

For the record, I keep my '14 BCE in my safe and my '98 BCE in my wallet.

[triedtogetacardandcouldnt]

Right...I realize MOST parents aren't thieves, but wanting to use your child's cc is a red flag and a potential sign of trouble for me in any case. Where I've found that, I've found parents stealing their kids' money and running up large balances.

My experience was that my mother said she would "hold" a check in her account for me because I didn't have a bank account at the time. She said she would give it all to me once the check cleared. Weeks passed and I realized she wasn't going to give it back, and she never did. She had stolen the money.