Offshore credit cards are

credit card A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...

s issued by an

offshore bank An offshore bank is a bank regulated under international banking license (often called offshore license), which usually prohibits the bank from establishing any business activities in the jurisdiction of establishment. Due to less regulation and ...

in a jurisdiction that is different from that of the cardholder. Real 'unsecured' offshore credit cards with credit lines are very difficult for the average person to obtain because banks refuse to issue them. Most banks will need possession of reliable credit histories and a means of getting their money back. If a customer is somewhere 'offshore' the risk of extending a credit line is too great and so as a result these cards are only issued to clients that have long standing relationships with the bank in question. Therefore, an 'unsecured' offshore credit card advertised online may be a scam.

Secured cards

Since most banks will not offer credit lines without some kind of

security Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercive change) caused by others, by restraining the freedom of others to act. Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be of persons and social ...

, they offer 'secured' offshore credit cards as an alternative. Secured offshore credit cards involve depositing a certain amount (usually 125-150% of the credit line) to cover what you borrow. For a credit line of 20,000 USD for example, a deposit of 25,000-30,000 USD may be required. This aside, the card operates to all intents and purposes like a normal credit card, and most carry a major label such as

Visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

or Mastercard.

Debit cards

Another type of card often marketed as a credit card is an offshore debit card. Offshore debit cards are linked to an offshore bank account and do not involve any extensions of credit whatsoever. The only money that may be spent is the amount stored in the offshore bank account itself. An offshore

Visa Debit Visa Debit is a major brand of debit card issued by Visa in many countries around the world. Numerous banks and financial institutions issue Visa Debit cards to their customers for access to their bank accounts. In many countries the Visa Debit ...

card or

Debit Mastercard Debit Mastercard is a brand of debit cards provided by Mastercard. They use the same systems as standard Mastercard credit cards but they do not use a line of credit to the customer, instead relying on funds that the customer has in their bank ...

is accepted worldwide just like a credit card.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Offshore Credit Card Credit cards