Friend using my credit card.

[BePunnyDuck]

So I owe my friend a significant sum of money- £1300 or there abouts.

I have had a really really tight month. I’m a single parent, DD has been sick the past 2 weeks and as I am self employed I have had zero income as I have been off looking after her.

Friend messaged me yesterday to ask if it was possible if I could send her £100. I only had £80 left in my account, so I told her I would send her the money the next day as my ex was due to send me money for DD, which he didn't until this evening. I had every intention of sending the money when I got his money.

I went shopping today- only for my card to decline. I checked my online banking and my friend has used my card details and paid her phone bill with my money, meaning I couldn’t get shopping. Luckily- my Dad bailed us out.

I asked her about it and her reply was “you said you were sending me money, I had your bank details (from when we booked a holiday together a few months ago) so I used them to pay my phone bill”

AIBU to think this is wrong? I wasn’t avoiding paying her the money, it’s the fact she’s used my card without my permission…

This sounds messy me.
It doesn’t sound like your friend could afford the money she gave you for your business if she’s just paid her phone bill using your account details. Either that or she’s unhappy with the situation in some way but she has crossed a line. She can’t hold the fact she lent you money as meaning she can do anything she likes.
Her using your card details is fraud. Up to you what you make of that. But I wouldn’t be happy with that at all. Get a new card.
You need to sort out your own financial situation as it’s not sustainable. If your DD is 6 she likely goes to school and I’d try find a job that means a regular income within those hours if possible. Any new business stuff is for evenings.
good luck.

All UK banks should be insisting on Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) for online transactions. This will require some form of 2FA.

For OPs friend to have used the OPs credit card means the OP has broken their contract over the account usage and therefore liable for fraud - which the bank will need reported to the police to investigate.

https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/strong-customer-authentication

You should do if its a different card from normal.

Cancel the card.
Continue to pay back the money as agreed.

I never received a code when paying directly to the company, ie payment on a phone call automated system, or buying oil.
I agree, that she should be your first priority over a food shop, I'd have transferred 50, used 30 for essentials.

I think OP made a error from debit to credit, as she had a balance of 80 on it.

I don’t even give my DH my card to pay contactless so there’s no way a friend would have my card details. You were naive to give all the details from your card to anyone. Order a new card, lesson learned the hard way.

Whether or not you owe her money, her using your card details is theft and would be seen as such by your card company. Contact them immediately and freeze the card and have them send a new one out with a new PIN.
I get that you owe her some money but that is outrageous behaviour.
In the meantime, keep a record of every penny paid back, with dates. Get this person off your back as what she has done is not ok.

Bank details or card details? If the former you need a new bank. Actually even with card details.

Payments from mine need me to authorise them. And why would your friend have your card details from a shared holiday?

This story makes no sense.

Where do I report my bank to from not doing that then?

Frankly you're talking nonsense, not every bank asks for an OTP for every online transaction

In fact this morning I've paid for something on line and all I had to input were my card details and name, not even my address

If you aren't getting 2FA then you aren't protected from fraud. The bank will claim any transaction must have been you (and you can't disprove it).

How you raise it with your bank is a matter for you and their customer service, I would have thought

That can't possibly be true

How is my bank going to make every retailer in the whole world ask for a code? I can literally buy from any business anywhere.

Amazon doesn't ask for 2FA for every transaction for example

Maybe i should not be quite so pedantic as it’s impossible to be sure of every single scenario. But using someone else’s credit card should flag up on any banking system and additional security triggered. It’s a card obviously not registered to the person paying the bill. A very easy situation for the system to check for and trigger OTP.

Shrug.

I posted the link. You work it out.

The scenario put forward by the OP was that their credit card was used to pay someone else’s phone bill. The card used was therefore not registered to that person and not the card that person usually used. That would trigger OTP I believe. There are many insecure sites out there that won’t check anything but reputable phone companies are generally as secure as you would expect.

Not necessarily, if friend phoned the company and paid by card, its the same as being in a store.
As long as she has the information. I pay Virginmedia.ie monthly on their automatic payment system, never received a security link. Same with oil company.

Same. You should have prioritised paying for food/your friend back in full rather than go on holiday. That seems common sense.

This business startup was a rash move by the sound of it. In deep trouble almost immediately, and 6 months in, cannot makes ends meet nor service a debt. I hope it wasn’t based on selling essential oils for some MLM.

I am not so sure. They ask for the name on the card. When that doesn’t match the name on the account it would trigger a security check.

She had no right to do that. She obviously consented to lending you the money you owe, you did not consent to that

OP.. if she used your card ... has it taken you over your authorised overdraft limit... because they charge big fees for that! Check with your bank/lender.

In which case the phone company wouldn’t have divulged the details of her account because the owner of the card and the account holder are not the same.

A couple of weeks ago my friend was at my home and when she was ready to leave her car wouldn’t start. When she rang the AA she found her membership had expired so she renewed over the phone so she could get help. She didn’t have any payment methods with her so borrowed my debit card. She gave the name on the card, the card number and the security code, and wasn’t asked a single question about why she was using someone elses’ card.

Where has OP said she maxed out a credit card ? And an overdraft wasn’t mentioned at all. I read it that although she said credit card in the title, she actually meant debit card - she went on to say she knew she had £80 left in her account, and when the card was declined she went to online banking and found the friend had used the balance to pay her phone bill.

OP also said her friend had kept hold of her bank details from previous use, which l took to mean her debit card. So l don’t think she’s maxed out anything. I think she was down to her last few quid and her friend used it, leaving her with nothing.

How do you arrive at the conclusion OP can’t service the debt when she’s more than up to date with the payments ? Lots of people missing this. The loan was £2000 made six months ago. OP owes £1300, so she’s paid back £700 in six months. She’s actually ahead.

The problem here is that her friend seems to be relying on OP’s payments to be able to pay her bills, which suggests she couldn’t afford to lend OP the money in the first place. And you have to wonder where the £2000 came from. I suspect her friend has actually taken out a loan or possibly maxed out a credit card to lend OP the money. Surely if the friend was lending from her own savings she would be rebuilding them with OP’s payments, not needing to use the money for bills.