Natwest Advantage Gold

NewUser1972

Good day, this is my first post in the forums although I have read many threads in the past.
I have just switched to Natwest after being with Smile for years. I travel regularly and never had any problems using my debit card with my Smile account. However since I switched to Natwest my debit card has been declined a number of times. Having read these threads it seems that it is because my Natwest debit card is Blue, online and not full service. This explains why paying for airport parking, train tickets etc wasnt working. My question is... what is the best way of addressing this - should I write to Natwest Card Services or to my branch? Does anyone have any experience of this?
Also, I have just upgraded from Select to Advantage Gold - will these issue a new debit card?
Many thanks

thegoodman

If I was you I will telephone the customer service and ask them the questions you have.

NewUser1972

Indeed and I did. Unfortunately the customers service agent didnt even know there were two different debit cards so not much use...

stclair

You will have to speak to your branch/telephone banking to see if you are illegible for a purple offline visa debit card.

chambta

NewUser1972 wrote: »

Indeed and I did. Unfortunately the customers service agent didnt even know there were two different debit cards so not much use...

The problem is that the bank have been very unclear in training staff to know the difference.

SnowTiger

NewUser1972 wrote: »

Good day, this is my first post in the forums although I have read many threads in the past.
I have just switched to Natwest after being with Smile for years. I travel regularly and never had any problems using my debit card with my Smile account. However since I switched to Natwest my debit card has been declined a number of times. Having read these threads it seems that it is because my Natwest debit card is Blue, online and not full service. This explains why paying for airport parking, train tickets etc wasnt working. My question is... what is the best way of addressing this - should I write to Natwest Card Services or to my branch? Does anyone have any experience of this?
Also, I have just upgraded from Select to Advantage Gold - will these issue a new debit card?

I thought Advantage Blue was only available on Natwest's Basic and student accounts. It's certainly not mentioned on their current account comparison page at http://www.natwest.com/personal/current-accounts/g1/compare-our-range/promo.ashx. I thought, again, the only difference between a Select account and the Silver and Gold alternatives is the fee and the extras listed. There's no mention of additional features when you use the card abroad.

Are you sure you haven't upgraded from a Basic account to an Advantage Gold account?

Dunno if you'll get a new card; I have a Select account and mine is the standard blue. A friend who has a Silver account has a purple one.

Agricolae

NewUser1972 wrote: »

Good day, this is my first post in the forums although I have read many threads in the past.
I have just switched to Natwest after being with Smile for years. I travel regularly and never had any problems using my debit card with my Smile account. However since I switched to Natwest my debit card has been declined a number of times. Having read these threads it seems that it is because my Natwest debit card is Blue, online and not full service. This explains why paying for airport parking, train tickets etc wasnt working. My question is... what is the best way of addressing this - should I write to Natwest Card Services or to my branch? Does anyone have any experience of this?
Also, I have just upgraded from Select to Advantage Gold - will these issue a new debit card?
Many thanks

At NatWest the type of card you get issued depends on the bank's view of your credit position (you get credit scored on application for the account). You would certainly have been credit scored for the Select Account and possibly again when you went to upgrade (but not necessarily).

There are three types of debit card at NatWest, all of them Visa Debit, but with different "internals":
Basic (only issued on Basic Accounts. This has restricted ATM access)
Visa Debit Full Auth/Online (Blue-coloured. Must be able to contact the bank for authorisation of payments or it will decline)
Visa Debit Offline (Purple card. Has no notable restrictions.)

Customer services can order you an upgraded card (only if you've been assessed for one) however I would expect 75% of basic frontline staff not to know how to do this. My personal recommendation would be to write in. If you write to your branch they will forward your mail onto their customer service centre, who will look into your request. You can write to a customer service centre directly, but you need to know the address.

SnowTiger

Agricolae wrote: »

Visa Debit Full Auth/Online (Blue-coloured. Must be able to contact the bank for authorisation of payments or it will decline)

Ah, that would explain why my Select card is blue and not purple. I tend to only use it at cashpoints--I use a credit card for most purchases--so it doesn't really make a lot of difference to me.

NewUser1972

Thank you everyone for your comments. I spoke again to Customer Services and explained what I had read online and my experiences of having my Blue card declined in the Paris Metro and Heathrow parking. They initially told me there was only one card - the Blue one and that I had a 'full authorisation card' and there was nothing else to add - it should work everywhere! I then asked about the Purple one she was a little confused before explaining that the only difference was the amount you could withdraw per day at a cashpoint. I pressed her on it and asked again if it was a 'full service' card - yes she said. I gave up confident that she probably didnt understand my question let alone the correct response. I will now write to them and ask them to upgrade me and see what happens.
I applied for a credit card with them the other day and although it came up with a suggested limit at the end they then wrote to me and asked me for proof of income. I have supplied this so I assume I will get the card (with the limit the system displayed?) so my credit scoring/checking should be ok.
I'll update my progress!

agrinnall

I don't think you should assume that you'll get the credit card just yet, RBSG have a unit (whose name escapes me but someone will know) who scrutinise applications and are known to reject them even after you've been told you've been accepted. Hopefully you'll be fine, but don't rely on it until it arrives.