Using your spouse’s credit card is a crime: when and what are the risks

Using Your Spouse’s Credit Card Can Be Considered a Crime

Marriage is a bond where it is commonly believed that everything is shared.
Even from a legal perspective, marriage implies a certain level of sharing, considering that the legal matrimonial regime is the community of goods, although spouses can modify it.
Surprisingly, even some serious offenses against property are not punishable when committed between spouses.
However, using your spouse’s credit card constitutes a crime.
This may seem paradoxical, especially when discovering that the criminal offense exists even when the spouse has been authorized by the cardholder.

Reasons behind the Illegality

According to the law, payment cards (credit card, debit card, prepaid card) can only be used by the legitimate cardholder whose name is indicated on the card.
For instance, to withdraw money from an ATM, identification is required, and the withdrawal by a different person is certainly not authorized.
Although the controls are often less stringent when using the card at ATMs, for online payments, or in physical stores, this behavior is still prohibited.

Regardless of the depth of identification checks, using another person’s credit card remains a crime, even if that person is your spouse and even if authorized.
It is essential to know that this specific offense not only protects the assets but also the reliability of payment cards and therefore transaction security.
Therefore, it is considered a crime against public trust.

Consequences of Using Your Spouse’s Credit Card

The crime of using someone else’s credit card is governed by Article 493 bis of the Penal Code.
Anyone who uses their spouse’s credit card risks imprisonment from 1 to 5 years and a fine ranging from 310 to 1,550 euros.
Interestingly, this is a prosecutable offense, meaning it can be investigated and prosecuted even without the spouse’s complaint.

Testifying in favor of the spouse may not have the expected relevance and, in the worst-case scenario, may not prevent a conviction.
Extreme cases are referred to, but it is advisable to take all precautions to avoid legal disputes, especially (but not only) when the use of the spouse’s card is frequent or for significant amounts that could raise more doubts.

Using Your Spouse’s Credit Card Legally

The Court of Cassation reiterated that using someone else’s credit card is not a crime if certain elements are proven:
– Trust relationship with the cardholder (if the marriage is going smoothly, this aspect is the least problematic)
– Presence of a delegation for card use
– Card use limited to what the cardholder has authorized

To use your spouse’s credit card, a general authorization is not sufficient.
Instead, you must strictly adhere to the operations previously authorized.
The best approach is to have a written authorization (our guide on how to write an authorization), specifying the intended use of the card (purchase of a certain item, withdrawal of a certain amount, etc.).

The authorization should be kept together with evidence of transactions, such as receipts.
For thoroughness, you could even ask your spouse to sign a private document confirming the return of the card.