Where to get a VISA Electron card?

dananos

Does any company offer "branded" Visa Electron cards, for example, If I wanted to offer Visa Electron cards to regular shoppers branded with "Jimmy's Shop"

NonGeographicalMan

The non Visa run website www.visa-electron.co.uk seems to be a mine of information on the current situation regarding issuing of Visa Electron cards in the UK.

They list the following banks as still issuing Visa Electron cards:-

Abbey
Bank of Baroda (the UK part of an Indian bank)
Bank of Scotland
First Trust Bank (a subsidiary of Allied Irish Bank)
Halifax
Intelligent Finance

However exploring the websites of many of these organisations it looks like they may only now issue Visa Electron cards on request and they seem to be being pushed by Visa UK to switch to Visa Debit like the rest of the UK banks/building societies. One wonders how much Michael O'Leary is offering each of these organisations to stop issuing Visa Electron.;):D

They also list the following budget airlines that normally charge a card fee, even on Visa Debit and Maestro, as not charging a card fee on Visa Electron

BMI
Easyjet
FlyBe
Ryanair
Thompson

There is also a Wikipedia page on Visa Electron at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_Electron

I think somebody should ask Visa Europe for a statement as to why nobody in the UK now seems to want to issue Visa Electron cards when Ryanair is such a fan of them. Visa Europe still clearly list the Visa Electron card as part of their product range at www.visaeurope.com/personal/choosing/thevisacardrange.jsp

They even have a list of UK financial institutions issuing their cards in the UK at:-

www.visaeurope.com/personal/choosing/getacard/main.jsp?country=United+Kingdom&submit=Go

But they don't say which of them still issue Visa Electron:mad:

Their Press & Media page lists the following contacts:-

Not a journalist?

For all general enquiries, please contact:
E-mail: [EMAIL="enquiries.europe@visa.com"]enquiries.europe@visa.com[/EMAIL]
Tel: +44 (0)20 7795 5777 - Monday to Friday, 08.30 to 17.00 GMT (except for UK public holidays, when our offices are closed)

Visa Europe press office

Contact details for journalists only:
Tel: +44 (0)20 7795 5336 (includes out-of-hours)
E-mail: [EMAIL="europeanmedia@visa.com"]europeanmedia@visa.com[/EMAIL]

United Kingdom

Hill & Knowlton
[EMAIL="visa@hillandknowlton.com"]visa@hillandknowlton.com[/EMAIL]
Tel: +44 (0)20 7413 3414

Or for their member banks they list the email address:-

[EMAIL="customersupport@visa.com"]customersupport@visa.com[/EMAIL]

They also give the following General Enquiries contact information:-

General enquiries

If you are unable to find the information you are looking for on this page, please contact us.

Cardholder or merchant enquiries – Monday to Friday, 08.30 to 17.00 GMT (except for UK public holidays, when our offices are closed)
E-mail: [EMAIL="enquiries.europe@visa.com"]enquiries.europe@visa.com[/EMAIL]
Tel: +44 (0)20 7795 5777

Switchboard
Tel: +44 (0)20 7937 8111

So if anyone wants to ask Visa why financial institutions in the UK who issue their cards no longer issue Visa Electron above are a few places you can try and put your question. I think I will email them to ask why Co-Op have indicated they are withdrawing Visa Electron on my Co-Op Cashminder account.

NonGeographicalMan

www.electronshops.co.uk seems to have a more accurate list of institutions that still issue the Visa Electron card.

I have sent the below email to Visa:-

---

Original Message

---

Subject: Pressure on UK Card Issuers by Visa Europe To Stop Issuing Visa Electron Cards?
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:46:43 +0100
To: [EMAIL="enquiries.europe@visa.com"]enquiries.europe@visa.com[/EMAIL], [EMAIL="peter.ayliffe@visa.co.uk"]peter.ayliffe@visa.co.uk[/EMAIL],
CC: [EMAIL="europeanmedia@visa.com"]europeanmedia@visa.com[/EMAIL], [EMAIL="visa@hillandknowlton.com"]visa@hillandknowlton.com[/EMAIL], [EMAIL="neville.richardson@cfs.co.uk"]neville.richardson@cfs.co.uk[/EMAIL], [EMAIL="rod.bulmer@cfs.co.uk"]rod.bulmer@cfs.co.uk[/EMAIL], [EMAIL="millarh@ryanair.com"]millarh@ryanair.com[/EMAIL], [EMAIL="greenc@ryanair.com"]greenc@ryanair.com[/EMAIL]

Dear Mr Ayliffe,

A year ago I opened a Co-Op Cashminder account with Co-Op bank so I could be issued with a Visa Electron card but now in the last few months Co-Op have said they will be replacing my Visa Electron card with a Visa Debit card.

I do not want a Visa Debit card as I have several others from other UK issuers. I want a Visa Electron card so that I do not have to pay ripoff additional card payment fees when purchasing airline tickets from Ryanair and Easyjet who say they are so very fond of your Visa Electron card as a modern low cost way to pay.

Please can you explain to me why Visa Electron is still shown as being a mainstream part of the Visa Europe range at www.visaeurope.com/personal/choosing/thevisacardrange.jsp but almost no one in the UK apart from Halifax is now willing to issue it to customers who want it? I also would not be surprised to hear that Halifax also stop issuing them any time soon.

There has been some considerable discussion on this topic in the thread at http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=24191373#post24191373

I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

bublesbear

You can pick a Visa Electron Card up from the Post Office its known as a TRAVEL MONEY CARD so its a bit disguised! and you take it home with ypou the same day! it avoids having to pay for those ridiculous high card fees on budget airlines

NonGeographicalMan

bublesbear wrote: »

You can pick a Visa Electron Card up from the Post Office its known as a TRAVEL MONEY CARD so its a bit disguised! and you take it home with ypou the same day! it avoids having to pay for those ridiculous high card fees on budget airlines

That is already well known but you pay a commission to load money on to the Post Office card unlike a proper bank account with a Visa Electron card attached to it.

Have the UK banks been shutting down Visa Electron debit cards because the commission they are allowed to charge merchants is too low for them now that they need to recoup all their dodgy bad loans?

savagej

NonGeographicalMan wrote: »

The non Visa run website www.visa-electron.co.uk seems to be a mine of information on the current situation regarding issuing of Visa Electron cards in the UK.

They list the following banks as still issuing Visa Electron cards:-

Abbey
Bank of Baroda (the UK part of an Indian bank)
Bank of Scotland
First Trust Bank (a subsidiary of Allied Irish Bank)
Halifax
Intelligent Finance

However exploring the websites of many of these organisations it looks like they may only now issue Visa Electron cards on request and they seem to be being pushed by Visa UK to switch to Visa Debit like the rest of the UK banks/building societies. One wonders how much Michael O'Leary is offering each of these organisations to stop issuing Visa Electron.;):D

They also list the following budget airlines that normally charge a card fee, even on Visa Debit and Maestro, as not charging a card fee on Visa Electron

BMI
Easyjet
FlyBe
Ryanair
Thompson

There is also a Wikipedia page on Visa Electron at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_Electron

I think somebody should ask Visa Europe for a statement as to why nobody in the UK now seems to want to issue Visa Electron cards when Ryanair is such a fan of them. Visa Europe still clearly list the Visa Electron card as part of their product range at www.visaeurope.com/personal/choosing/thevisacardrange.jsp

They even have a list of UK financial institutions issuing their cards in the UK at:-

www.visaeurope.com/personal/choosing/getacard/main.jsp?country=United+Kingdom&submit=Go

But they don't say which of them still issue Visa Electron:mad:

Their Press & Media page lists the following contacts:-

Or for their member banks they list the email address:-

[EMAIL="customersupport@visa.com"]customersupport@visa.com[/EMAIL]

They also give the following General Enquiries contact information:-

So if anyone wants to ask Visa why financial institutions in the UK who issue their cards no longer issue Visa Electron above are a few places you can try and put your question. I think I will email them to ask why Co-Op have indicated they are withdrawing Visa Electron on my Co-Op Cashminder account.

Excellent post.

Visa Electron is going nowhere, it is one of their most popular cards in many parts of the world, not just as a debit card but as a credit card as well, and they are not about to stop issuing them.

I do wonder if in the UK because people see a "flat cards" as not worthy, or showing they are perhaps "poorer" than a "better" customer they have introduced something else, which is embossed but for all intents and purpose is still an electron in that is always requires authorisation.

Edinburghlass_2

Use www.entropay.com, pre-paid virtual credit card, transfer over what you need with a minimum amount of £10 which costs 50p and use as an Electron card for Ryan Air.

[Deleted User]

Thanks for this I will follow in you foot steps to A&L, as I too have paid extortionate Ryanair charges in the past, and have found it impossible to get an Electron card anywhere - most banks think you are mad to want one over Maestro.

[Deleted User]

NonGeographicalMan wrote: »

www.electronshops.co.uk seems to have a more accurate list of institutions that still issue the Visa Electron card.

I have sent the below email to Visa:-

I would be interested to hear the reply - and good for you for sticking up for the Visa Electron.

NonGeographicalMan

Domino9 wrote: »

most banks think you are mad to want one over Maestro.

But the reality is that although its issuers don't want you to know it you in fact have to be mad to pay by Maestro (or Switch as we previously knew it) for any valuable purchase or anything that has a warranty because it is basically like paying by cash and if the company you are paying goes bust or the goods are faulty, stolen or counterfeit you have no more rights than if you had met the seller on a street corner and handed over cash.:eek:

By contrast Visa choose to give Visa Debit card payers all the same rights to enter in to chargeback disputes with retailers as they provide on Visa Credit cards even though the law does not requre them to do this. They do this purely to preserve the good name of Visa so that people will consider it a trustworthy payment platform.:T