Santander Zero Credit Card

Mr_Chumbley

Z0id.berg wrote: »

Has anyone applied for this card and not had to wait weeks for it to arrive? I go on my honeymoon in 7 weeks today so need it before then!

I recently applied for one of these cards online, think it took about 3 weeks to arrive.

However - About 2.5wks in, I did call the check on how the application was progressing, only to be told they had no record of my application on their system - they are currently having 'issues' with their online system though, so probably just that - suggested I apply again online and hopefully it'll go through this time.

I arrived home that night to see the credit card had arrived in the post :huh:

Hopefully I just got a hopeless callhandler, but it is a touch concerning that their back office systems are quite what they should be...

willstewart

I applied for one of these around 2 months ago online and have had no searches done or heard anything from them. I'm assuming I must have somehow failed their criteria in the first place for some unknown reason.

blowstar

Chinkle wrote: »

This looks like a good card for overseas spending, so thinking of applying ahead of my hols.

However, would be an even better deal if you could pre-load the card so that it was in credit thus avoiding interest oncash withdrawals. I've checked the forums and some say that's allowed and others that it is against the T&C.

Can anyone clarify?

There's a nastly little wrinkle in the credit/debit card system that if you over-load the card with pre-payments, for example ahead of holiday spending abroad, you are not covered for loss or fraud whilst the card is in credit.

Technically the card company only insures ITS money, not YOURS.

So if you lose the card abroad and someone uses it, or someone copies the number from a payment slip and uses it whilst the card is still in your possession, YOU WILL NOT GET YOUR MONEY BACK from the card company.

Might this be covered by travel insurance? Haven't seen a test case but I'm fairly sure they'd also wriggle out of any obligation.

blowstar

Joe65 wrote: »

That's an interesting interpetation.

Sounds like something their call centre might have dreamed up though.

Wonder if it's ever been tested in the courts.

not dreamed up by a call centre, explained to me in detail by a manager at MBNA.

chattychappy

blowstar wrote: »

There's a nastly little wrinkle in the credit/debit card system that if you over-load the card with pre-payments, for example ahead of holiday spending abroad, you are not covered for loss or fraud whilst the card is in credit.

Technically the card company only insures ITS money, not YOURS.

So if you lose the card abroad and someone uses it, or someone copies the number from a payment slip and uses it whilst the card is still in your possession, YOU WILL NOT GET YOUR MONEY BACK from the card company.

Not true....

christhedon

Does anyone know what benchmark they use. One of the customer service representatives said Bank of england. But I checked

http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/mfsd/iadb/Rates.asp?Travel=NIxIRx&into=GBP



and it doesn't tally up to the statement. It also doesn't tie up to https://www.mastercard.com/global/currencyconversion/index.html.

As usual the rates on both those sites are more favourable to the customer...

Really they should provide a benchmark on the web that they use for exchange rates?

macalloa

Looks like Santander have dropped their Zero current account to new clients (even if they meet the savings criteria etc.) as of 5th March 2012.

This was the debit card account which had no fees when used abroad in ATMs.

No wonder Santander are regularly highlighted as UK's worst bank for customer service etc.

chattychappy

macalloa wrote: »

No wonder Santander are regularly highlighted as UK's worst bank for customer service etc.

Not sure how this follows from the announcement.

andyt8

Santander have also revised their T&C for existing holders of Zero accounts and included revised conditions which if you do not meet them then your Zero account will be transferred to another one (not specified which one).
I am still with the old Abbey Cheque account and never changed but got a leaflet in the post from them today.

BartyBoy

I applied for the Santander Zero card 3 years ago (I think). I did it because I wanted a card to use on a holiday aboard. I gave it a month in advance to apply this card, and in the end this card did not arrive with me before I left the country. It was a pity, but then I thought I could use it on my next holiday aboard instead but I never did.

Anyway, what I wanted to say is, after having the card for some years, I had to cancel and close the account last November, the reason for that is because Santander wrote to me to say they were going to increase the APR on my Zero card. I thought that was rather odd and unacceptable, so despite the fact that this card gives such good advantages to use aboard, I just feel Santander is taking the 'p' to increase the APR. I guess it's just a way to force a customer to give up using the card. Besides, I know banks are getting tougher on credit card applications now...