Santander Embossed Visa Debit

samwsmith1

HSBC issued me a proper embossed card at 13 (First Solo, later Visa Debit), so don't know why Santander won't issue one.
As another poster said, why not move to a proper bank before it becomes a hassle?

reclusive46

Its a shame really. Because me nor my son have had any other issues

jambosans

I believe it is fairly common practice not to issue embossed cards to customers who cannot use their debit card offline.

Any card transaction made using an "old fashioned" imprinting machine would be "offline" (i.e. available funds not checked at time of sale), therefore an account that can bare credit facilities is normally required to ensure the payment is honoured. An under 18's or basic account cannot (normally) bare credit, therefore embossed cards are not required.

reclusive46

jambosans wrote: »

I believe it is fairly common practice not to issue embossed cards to customers who cannot use their debit card offline.

Any card transaction made using an "old fashioned" imprinting machine would be "offline" (i.e. available funds not checked at time of sale), therefore an account that can bare credit facilities is normally required to ensure the payment is honoured. An under 18's or basic account cannot (normally) bare credit, therefore embossed cards are not required.

True but they still have to call the banks with these payments anyway to confirm it now whereas they still cannot take unembossed cards as they need a print.

Also I thought his would be an offline card but he tried it on a plane and it worked just fine. So maybe this youth cards aren't so offline lol

stclair

I think that its strange that its only santander who choose not to emboss there debits cards for under 18s.

As every other bank does even the halifax offer a visa debit card now on there express cash account which is targeted at 11-15 year olds.

jambosans

_reclusive46 wrote:

True but they still have to call the banks with these payments anyway to confirm it now whereas they still cannot take unembossed cards as they need a print.

I'm pretty sure there will be ways around taking a carbon copy of the card when their payment system goes down, but I take your point.

_reclusive46 wrote:

Also I thought his would be an offline card but he tried it on a plane and it worked just fine. So maybe this youth cards aren't so offline lol

It shouldn't be, but again, as I wasn't privy to the scenario you've described, I take your point - but imagine you are mistaken about the card being offline.

stclair wrote: »

As every other bank does even the halifax offer a visa debit card now on there express cash account which is targeted at 11-15 year olds.

I'm pretty sure the Easycash Visa Electron is not embossed.

My general point is embossed cards are designed for what many would regard as a legacy card transacting system, therefore not entirely relevant now*.

*There's obviously an argument to be made for the durability of embossed cards, but my general point revolves around the original function of the embossing on cards.

savagej

Thing is when a retailer has to revert to the fallback position of using an imprinter (zip-zap) machine, all transactions must be authorised by telephone otherwise there is a chance the bank will not pay for them. This is why 13 year olds have embossed Visa Debit cards as this is Visa's policy worldwide, so even if they are on holiday in a country where there use is more common the bank can still refuse to pay for transactions. Otherwise they would not be issuing them.

stclair

jambosans wrote: »

I'm pretty sure there will be ways around taking a carbon copy of the card when their payment system goes down, but I take your point.



It shouldn't be, but again, as I wasn't privy to the scenario you've described, I take your point - but imagine you are mistaken about the card being offline.



I'm pretty sure the Easycash Visa Electron is not embossed.

My general point is embossed cards are designed for what many would regard as a legacy card transacting system, therefore not entirely relevant now*.

*There's obviously an argument to be made for the durability of embossed cards, but my general point revolves around the original function of the embossing on cards.

I was speaking about express cash rather than easy cash:

http://www.halifax.co.uk/bankaccounts/other-bank-accounts/expresscash/

http://www.halifax.co.uk/bankaccounts/other-bank-accounts/cardcash/

stclair

OP the following banks issue embossed Visa debit cards maybe consider changing to one of them:

• Natwest
• RBS
• Lloyds TSB
• Bank of Scotland
• Halifax (Suggests it on the website however TBC)

thenudeone

savagej wrote: »

Thing is when a retailer has to revert to the fallback position of using an imprinter (zip-zap) machine, all transactions must be authorised by telephone otherwise there is a chance the bank will not pay for them.

I'm not sure that's true. The retailer will probably have a floor limit below which transactions need not be authorised, (although the limit me be nil in some cases).