The no UK resident maybe a slight issue even though I have a UK salary paid into my UK account.
Within the next few weeks when I am in the UK I will be on the hunt for a credit card. It just seems weird not having one after the bank never renewed my last one due to lack of use. This seemed damn right crazy and I will take this up with the bank when I am there. It could also be that I am not a resident, but that was never a problem since 2004 and they stopped my card fairly recently.
The bank account is looking rather healthy these days after the policy payout ad see no reason why they would reject me on any grounds besides non resident lol. If they do then I guess I am looking for a new bank and will be happy to take my custom elsewhere even though I have been with this bank for 25 years. The other alternative is to take the basic credit card even if it has a £2K limit and load extra funds as required. I have heard of work colleagues doing this in the past ad have never tried it and do not know even if it is possible and will look into this.
I am no fan of credit cards, but they do serve a purpose for when you are travelling otherwise I pay cash for all purchases. The convenience factor is what I am missing and would pay the credit off within the 30 day period. If I had known the no use could see my card disappear I would have made a small purchase to keep it safe. The lockdown period did not help because I would normally have travelled to visit family and would have used the card for hotels etc.
Keeping my bank account open in the UK even though I don't reside their was a no brainer as having multiple banking facilities outside of South Africa is a must have. The Rand is depreciating every year and it is a safety blanket knowing I have GBP if and when I require it in the future. The policy if paid into my SA bank account would just be losing continuous value and not something I would ever contemplate doing.
A good example is I bought my Durban property back in 2024 with GBP along with a mortgage and the GBP has depreciated by more than double since then. In 2004 it was R10.81 to £1 and today it is R23.19 so it has depreciated by nearly 2.2 x. My property needs to do a 2.2 x increase in value just to break even after 20 years! I may just do that, but this is not getting ahead.
Back to the credit card and I will need to compile a list over the coming days to see what banks are offering what so at least I have a good idea when I am there. Like I said I don't actually need the credit card, but this is only for convenience sakes and nothing else. If I cannot afford something I don't buy the item and would rather pay cash when I can. I live debt free besides the bond/mortgage and plan to keep it that way mainly because credit is expensive and I can afford not to use it.