Card for low income without Verified by Visa/Securecode

Porcupine

I've been asked to look for a card for someone who is on a low income (£8K).
It would also be good to pick a card where it's possible to opt out of Verified by Visa / SecureCode as those are really broken.

They're planning to pay it off every month, so rate isn't too important. Already have another card with a few hundred quid a month transactions so the credit history shouldn't be a problem.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

dylanuk

Why is Verified by Visa / MasterCard SecureCode broken?

With most banks you have to register for it, although some do based any fraud guarantees on you having registered (e.g. you're not covered against online fraud if you've not registered). I think the auto-enroll happened by banks when it was first launched.

seeya23

vanquis dont use Verified by Visa with there card
Vanquis Visa http://www.vanquis.co.uk/home/home.aspx

Porcupine

dylanuk wrote: »

Why is Verified by Visa / MasterCard SecureCode broken?

Because, unless you're technically acute, it's almost impossible to tell the difference between VbV/SC and a phishing site. You get sent off to some random website (eg securesuite.co.uk which looks like a typo) and are asked to enter your card password. If you do get phished and complain about a phantom transaction, the bank will say 'the transaction used your genuine password, it must have been you' and refuse to refund you.

It's designed solely to protect the merchant - if the right password is used, the merchant can wash their hands of the fraudulent transaction. It does nothing whatever for the cardholder. If the password is used, the bank will dump responsibility on the customer.

Porcupine

seeya23 wrote: »

vanquis dont use Verified by Visa with there card
Vanquis Visa

Interesting. But the £250 credit limit could be a bit low. And 40% APR. Ouch!
(getting hit for even a month of that if you missed the payment date wouldn't be nice)

cos_2

I think Verified by Visa is entirely optional, so no-one needs to use it he doesn't want to. It's optional for merchants as well, as I've noticed when buying stuff online. I have chosen to sign up but not all sites put me though the VbV route.

/edit - I meant to add that VbV also presents your phrase or word back to you, plus your username. It would be pretty clever if a phishing site could throw that up to you! I do appreciate that you have the right to be concerned, of course. And I expect you or your friend will never purchase online due to these concerns. It's a sair fecht...

mab2000

When i registered my cards for securecode, I was asked to provide a personal message that comes up every time a website asks you to enter your securecode. I think the whole point of this is so that it confirms to you that you are viewing the genuine website to enter random digits of your securecode in.

hunnycat

mab2000 wrote: »

When i registered my cards for securecode, I was asked to provide a personal message that comes up every time a website asks you to enter your securecode. I think the whole point of this is so that it confirms to you that you are viewing the genuine website to enter random digits of your securecode in.

this is true with halifax, i set it up with some totally random word so i know its a genuine site. nationwide just use a user name but still its more secure. The thing i dont like is if you forget the password it lets you change it there and then if you have all card details and date of birth.

duggie1982

I thought it was down to the website to decide if you need to sign up when going through their checkout. I know its done that with me a few times with new cards but did not see anything to opt out.

rb10

Once, shortly after VBV was introduced, I made a purchase online that required it, but I couldn't remember my password. So I clicked 'Cancel' on the VBV screen, yet the payment went through as always.

No idea if this still works though.