natwest black card...not black?

Jariya

In the first post the Advantage Private card is the one he was sent.

Looking here: http://www.natwest.com/private/banking/current-accounts/advantage-private-current-account.ashx

There is a note at the top to say the account has been replaced by teh Black account.
This is what made me think they just sent the old version of the card to use remaining stocks up but that it will be valid to use for the new Black account.

stclair

Alls you need to do OP is report your card lost or stolen and hopefully you will be issued with the new card type.

Otherwise you could just colour your old card in with a black permanent marker lol

Atom

bengalknights wrote: »

Isnt the vanquis card usually just plain anyway i remember mine was just orange and blue with no mention of vanquis anywhere on it lol.

Mines has Vanquis Bank in top right hand corner :P

chattychappy

izools wrote: »

TBH, if you're putting a high salary through a bank and paying a large fee to hold a specific type of account tailored to your income and needs, you'd expect the means of accessing the account to reflect it's prestige status.

I fully understand the OP's position.

I could write a book on this kind of stuff. In my early 20s doing business in the far east, credibility was everything. Flashing an Amex chargecard gold/then platinum when entertaining made a tangible difference. As did what hotel you were staying in and whether you were picked up from the airport in a Mercedes or a mere.. whatever.

Now I'm older, my career's changed, my network's established, these things seem trivial. The only people my plastic would impress would be those I don't need to impress anyway.

I met a bloke who is the CEO of a listed PLC, owns a yacht and the island where he keeps it parked. He was very proud to show me the Nationwide Flex debit card in his wallet "no surcharge on foreign ATMs" he told me. He'd paid £4000 for the flight we were on.

You just have to weigh up the tangible benefits. If you need/want to impress people and a particular card can do this, then it can prove much more cost-effective than other methods.

But as for "tailored" services.. well, really the reverse is true. Eg

1) Priority Pass scheme - I'm in C class so get a lounge anyway - and usually better one that is more convenient than the PP one. I have frequent flyer cards, so can usually get into a lounge anyway even when in Economy. This situation is true of many regular flyers.
2) Travel insurance - usually I'm not covered. Most are limited to 30/90 days per trip, or 180 days per year overseas. Both of which I exceed.

The "prestige" is usually illusory. Nothing prestigious about coming out of the airport lounge to get into an economy seat. It's relative - a Natwest Black might look good until the guy you really want to impress pulls out his Amex Centurion.

Can't comment on Natwest's scheme, but when I had Amex Plat Chargecard (which at the time was their top card) they generally failed if I wanted anything out of the ordinary. You're still dealing with call centres and scripts. I had a bizarre "emergency" when I needed US$100 in cash. I was near an Amex office in London. I had my Amex card, a passport and was ready to answer any necessary security questions and pay any fee. But they just couldn't help. "Amex is a chargecard, not a credit card. We can't advance you funds".. blah blah blah. Just US$100. My monthly spend was over £10K. Straight back to a "rules is rules" service. Went to a nearby Nationwide branch where they remembered me and they let me withdraw £200 from my flex account against a photocopy of my passport even though I didn't have my card. Bought the USD from the post office.

OK ramble over. The OP is paying alot for his card and can decide for himself whether the benefits are worth it. But if they can't give him the colour he wants - it says it all IMHO.

morrbo

Yes the look of the card was important - i liked the colour...it is what it is, make of it what you will.

Anyway, i didnt want a card with the words 'private' written on it. All of this aside, i've just spoken with the credit card section and they said "As of July 4th the 'black card' is no longer available, all accounts now are merged with their private bank account and this is the card that will be received in the future" and yes it "has to have the words private written on it."

Oh and re. the people saying about the money im paying and 'lol he wants a nice looking card' i paid 24 quid a month for the private account (card comes with it as of recently) predominantly for the preferential mortgage rates - getting 2% under the normal rates is pretty good imo; i think i worked out its about 60k saved in a long long run.

The yourpoints are alright, i spend a lot on expenses a year and travel a lot so its pretty handy, mastercard is accepted everywhere (being from the UK amex just isnt worth it as its rejected in a lot of places) but yourpoints only works out ~0.5% cashback at the current prices for the rewards. The other bonuses, such as flight lounge, are worth it for me.

so..yeah, hope this helps people out in the future.

pacontracting

What's a bit worrying is the travel insurance is worse on the new 'Private Black Card' compared to the original 'Black Card'. For example, the original card still has the ability to cover your family and up to five other people travelling with you (e.g. friends, other family members). It also doesn't have any health pre-conditions. The new one only appears to cover immediate family and you have to declare health conditions. I use it to take my wife's 82 and 79 year old parents to US on holiday. If they had to pay for seperate health insurance - I dread to think the cost. I also don't need or want a Natest private current account.

To Natwest - don't dilute a really good product my making the insurance worse. Keep the card going for existing users.

chattychappy

morrbo wrote: »

The other bonuses, such as flight lounge, are worth it for me.

PP can work out well if you fly economy alot and don't accumulate enough miles to get "status" with the airlines you fly. I used it for a few years. PP is also bundled Amex Plat Chargecard and probably others.

pacontracting wrote: »

What's a bit worrying is the travel insurance is worse on the new 'Private Black Card' compared to the original 'Black Card'. For example, the original card still has the ability to cover your family and up to five other people travelling with you (e.g. friends, other family members).
To Natwest - don't dilute a really good product my making the insurance worse. Keep the card going for existing users.

This is a classic problem of these bundled deals. You sign up for the card, and then whilst you have it they change the benefits as they shop around for "delivery partners" or whatever. This happened with Amex which resulted in my mother being overseas without medical cover. Never again. (I was overseas - they sent me a letter saying they'd changed travel T+Cs effective from the next trip, my mother went overseas, I returned and opened the letter - too late. It related to pre-existings and she'd left. The said it was my fault as I hadn't opened the letter.) Just disliked the whole thing. Now I buy a bespoke insurance that is exactly tailored to what I want. Once I pay, I know it won't changed until the renewal date.

pacontracting wrote: »

To Natwest - don't dilute a really good product my making the insurance worse. Keep the card going for existing users.

Yeah, but that's the business model. A load of great benefits - get people signed up. Then dilute down but keep bringing in the fees. Then launch a higher product at a higher price. Then get people to "upgrade"... and you end up with not much more than what you had in the first place.

FOXY1

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Do people really take out accounts/cards just for the poxy design/colour of the cards?

They do ManU design cards, would you take it? Even if its 39.9%?

MoneyWasting_Expert

I have to agree if I was eligible for Barclays Premier and was given a standard Barclays card I would not be impressed. Though I think with Barclays you can buy yourself the Black card at 25 pm, eligible bankers get the benefits at no charge. I think eligibility also is the same as Natwest.

Its funny though I got a black Capital One Classic credit card, and a friend saw me use it and he said ohhh fancy new card, I told him its sub-prime, with high interest rates and low credit limit but it actually looks the business.

papercoins

pacontracting wrote: »

What's a bit worrying is the travel insurance is worse on the new 'Private Black Card' compared to the original 'Black Card'. For example, the original card still has the ability to cover your family and up to five other people travelling with you (e.g. friends, other family members). It also doesn't have any health pre-conditions. The new one only appears to cover immediate family and you have to declare health conditions. I use it to take my wife's 82 and 79 year old parents to US on holiday. If they had to pay for seperate health insurance - I dread to think the cost. I also don't need or want a Natest private current account.

To Natwest - don't dilute a really good product my making the insurance worse. Keep the card going for existing users.

Original natwest black card won't change at all for existing card holders