To take out a personal credit card in my name, to pay for company goods??

[JokersToTheLeftOfMeClownsToTheRight]

I have been asked by my work (a community shop in a village - run mostly by volunteers, but with paid daily management - including me) to take out a personal credit card. I would use this to pay for food orders etc for the shop. And they will pay it off each month. Maybe spending £500 - £1000 a month.
This is because the committee member in charge of finance, says the bank will only issue committee / board members with debit / credit cards - none of which seem to work for paying for goods online (we have tried - the pin doesn't work, and it doesn't even send an authorization code).
My husband says this is ridiculous - and has put his foot down, saying it effects him / our family as well (ie: if anything goes wrong).
For background - the committee are all very well-off retired people, who probably don't understand that it's not quite as easy for me financially! So it's not them trying to pull a fast one, and I am positive I would not be left out of pocket, but I am worried it might effect my credit rating. As well as just not being very professional!
But what justification do I give them for not doing this? Without looking difficult? (And I know I have every right just to say no! But I don't want to offend anyone - and they all think this is a brilliant idea that will solve the issues we are having).
Any advice, would be brilliant! Thanks!

God no don’t do that!!

First post nails it 😬

You would be personally liable for the debt. If the shop went under, or if they didn’t reimburse you on time then it would all fall on you.

No.

Absolutely do not do that.

The bank issues company cards will work for paying online. They just don’t want to.

You will be personally liable for any debts incurred - can you afford to repay £500-£1000 a month if the business doesn’t come through?

Just no.

And you can be added onto an account. Just needs a visit to bank to sort it all.

If you want a good excuse just say your husband said no. Blame the husband. 😂 or you can be honest and say you shouldn’t need to get a personal credit card for the business, and for them to ask you sounds very alarming so it’s a no from you.

Your husband is right.

Definitely say no.

You would be exposing yourself to all sorts of risk, financial (if they don't reimburse) plus any accusations of fraud/purchasing for yourself are going to be harder to deal with.

This shouldn't even be a question. A hard no as soon as they asked is the only response.

Could a prepaid card work instead? (Not in your name?) Or they pay you in advance and you provide a receipt -i wouldn't like this if it was my business though.

Or they need to set up an account with a proper wholesaler / supplier that accepts payment in a form they can make.

The charity accountant would not be happy with this and it is absolutely a no. You should never have been asked. They should be invoiced with a system of payment via their treasurer. You are put at risk but so is the charity if you then spend on it for personal gain, I am sure you would not but it does happen. This is very poor charity governance.

I would do it but I would get a prepaid credit card so they would load funds onto it first.

Or a PayPal account with card but funds must be loaded onto the account in advance.

I wouldn't do anything that required me to make the payment up front.

This is just so irregular I don't understand why you're even considering it @JokersToTheLeftOfMeClownsToTheRight

That's a no! As others have said, if there is a dispute about what's bought, or they have cash flow problems it's you that's personally liable.

Do not do this! What they are asking is fraud. They are scamming you. Forget the silver haired ooo they must just be a bit useless with money appearance, the #1 age group that commits financial crimes like this are over 60.

No no no because then they can accuse you of misspending money, embezzlement and demand you repay the funds.

Absolutely not.

Apart from all the other reasons already given I immediately thought about the tax implications and completely screwing the accounts if it’s not going through the books as wholesaler spend but is down as expenses repayment? And potential tax risks for you.

They need to find a way to fix it, it’s not up to you to do this.

Why can't they get the card that has already been issued working properly?

If it's informal and you trust these guys (which it sounds like you do) then either open a new bank account, get them to pre-fund that and use a debit card, or a pre-paid card as mentioned above.

Revolut or similar would probably work well. I actually think this is a pragmatic solution and we should not always be suspicious of creative ways to solve minor problems!

But if you don't trust them obviously that is totally different!

This is because the committee member in charge of finance, says the bank will only issue committee / board members with debit / credit cards - none of which seem to work for paying for goods online (we have tried - the pin doesn't work, and it doesn't even send an authorisation code).

It’s very alarming that the person in charge of finance cannot sort these cards out. It’s a huge red flag! It would take someone one phone call to sort the cards out so that it can be used to buy stock.

Do NOT under any circumstances get a personal card.

Id just tell them you are not happy to do this because it is not the correct way to do things, and if the committee cannot sort out one simple business card it does not bode well for the future if the shop.

Honestly do this. I've done it before in similar situations. Husband won't mind. What an absolutely CF request. Please, please don't do this. It's hard enough claiming back personal expenses!

Absolutely not. You dont need to give a reason, just say no, you're not comfortable doing that. And repeat as needed.

They need to sort out their banking. That's not your problem.

No don’t

its more concerning that board members do not appear to want to use the appropriate bank card for the intended purpose - why is that?

No personal liability should be exposed

Absolutely not. Not ever. ‘You’ll have to find a way to pay for the food /whatever without making it my personal liability.’

Not if everything you spent was agreed in writing up front.

Purchase request and corresponding reciept.
Records kept to show that only what was requested was purchased.

If the op actually wanted to help out without putting herself at risk of being left out of pocket there are ways to do that is all I'm saying.

I'm sorry but I don't think you need to dress it up

You can just say it's not appropriate for me (or anyone individually in their name,) to take a credit card out for the company

Anyone with any sense would see that