Clarity vs Pre-paid card?

benjus

free_korps wrote: »

not wanting to hijack this thread but... :-) ... just wanted to ask one further question, there are so many with similar topics I've read, certainly helped me choose which cards i wanted, just annoying that N&P & my own bank(for clarity) rejected my applications... anyway I ordered the pretty much next best thing in the globe passport for forthcoming trip to thailand, cambodia & australia. I'm also going to get a Kalixa card for purchases, not ideal way of doing things but my hand is kinda forced. My question is that I would still like the option of a Visa, other than the previously mentioned are there any others out there worthy of an application / purchase? (heaven forbid i'll stumble upon the same problems opening a bank account for a nice visa debit, if i lived in london i'd be giving the metrobank a chance!) All the pre-paids seem to be mastercard & i like the idea of a reasonable option rather than ever need to resort to a "card from hell" halifax visa debit...

Don't be misled by the whole "card from hell" thing, which is a bit exaggerated IMHO. It refers to the fact that you get charged for purchases as well as cash withdrawals abroad. Halifax charges £1.50 per purchase/cash withdrawal plus 2.75% load - not great, but if you only want it as a backup to your other cards it's not that bad (just use it for large, infrequent cash withdrawals or large purchases and you shouldn't get hit that much) and less hassle than getting yet another prepaid card.

zagfles

benjus wrote: »

Don't be misled by the whole "card from hell" thing, which is a bit exaggerated IMHO. It refers to the fact that you get charged for purchases as well as cash withdrawals abroad. Halifax charges £1.50 per purchase/cash withdrawal plus 2.75% load - not great, but if you only want it as a backup to your other cards it's not that bad (just use it for large, infrequent cash withdrawals or large purchases and you shouldn't get hit that much) and less hassle than getting yet another prepaid card.

Yes I'd agree - if it's only for emergencies there's no point worrying too much about a few % should the unlikely occur and you need to use it.

May even be worth getting a few hundred in GBP TCs for emergency use as an alternative to cards - there's usually around a 1% charge for buying them but if you don't use them that's all you'll pay. Also the commission for changing them, should you need to, is much more reasonable in SE Asia and Australia then typical forex charges here.

zagfles

stilltheone wrote: »

Edited.

It doesn't stop anyone from opening an account.

Caveat with Cumberland is that it is area specific. Not impossible to get around.

free korps has highlighted for you that it is transactions that are important with the recommended N&P account, not deposits.

Thanks - do you know if you can open a MetroBank account online/by post or do you have to visit a branch? Their website wasn't clear.

stilltheone

zagfles wrote: »

Thanks - do you know if you can open a MetroBank account online/by post or do you have to visit a branch? Their website wasn't clear.

You have to visit a branch. Though once the account is open, there will be no reason to have to visit a branch again.

free_korps

thanks for advice, can't get over the fact that the N&P a/c would make things SO much easier so I'll fire off a letter & see if they'll change their mind. please common sense prevail.
it would be amusing for me to want to pay for something & have Kalixa rejected, try Globe, try halifax classic credit card, then that'd be 3 mastercards in a row before resorting to my visa debits from halifax or rbs. okay i'm not likely to carry all cards with me at same time but it's possible!

dzug1

free_korps wrote: »

thanks for advice, can't get over the fact that the N&P a/c would make things SO much easier so I'll fire off a letter & see if they'll change their mind. please common sense prevail.

Trouble is that from the bank's point of view they want customers who use the account 'properly' and not those who only want it for the free overseas usage. So it's commonsense for them to turn down applications that appear to be that way.

free_korps

the thing is I would actually use the account every month for shopping, joint purchases, direct debits for utility bills,etc as it would be my first joint a/c with the missus. probably more to do with our credit footprint than anything else. renting house from her parents, she's never had credit card, whereas perhaps having credit available on mine doesn't help? (despite fact i pay it off in full every month). if they'd looked into our bank accounts & savings we'd be fine. shame that's not really focussed on in the report. that's my gripe really, if they'd actually asked our intentions & got all the backing up information & then still turned us down that's fine I'd accept it more whereas I feel the "fairest" system of equifax check is complete rubbish - for all my financial associations are false (apart from the N&P one). Listing subsequent past loans based on this false information. Listing a credit card from when i was 1 years old.etc. it's not that difficult to work out sometimes people have same first name as their father!