pre paid credit card issues

lostcause82

Hi does anyone else use these and have problems with them declining in shops? I just tried to use my cash plus visa in a coop store and it declined despite it have sufficient funds. Mortified was not the word. Also have a freedom one which declined in an asda petrol station shop. I was wondering if there is a list somewhere of places somewhere to save my embarassment.

CrispieS

is there a reason why you need to use a prepaid card rather than a regular card? My other half had one of these and used it for ryanair flights but when abroad couldnt use it anywhere.

Now uses a regular card but keeps the limit right down (you can ask to decrease limits if they put it up and you dont trust yourself)

duchesspink1

perhaps the OP can't get a regular card.

I thought the pre paid credit cards were always recommended for use abroad and here. Anywhere that accepts mastercard should accept a mastercard one.

fairfx is a great one and i've never had it refused anywhere, I've used it in the UK, America, Hawaii, portugal.

prepaid cards are great for taking travel money abroad but work out a bit expensive to use as your regular credit card (in my opinion)

Plxply

Prepaid cards are online cards meaning that they always need authorisation from the issuer, which does pose problems if the terminals are offline or if they can't contact them issuer temporarily due to an issue.

It could also be that the merchant hasn't updated their BIN's to include your card, I've had problems abroad in retailers with my Metro Bank Debit MasterCard which normally happens when a new card type is used.

You should be able to ask the card issuer as they can tell you if they declined the transaction or if the request even got to them.

lostcause82

I would struggle to get a standard card as due to some very silly mistakes I made as a teenager I was finally made bankrupt in 2008. I haven't got into any trouble since but it won't drop off my credit file until 2014. I chose cashplus in particular because it has the credit builder option. I am hoping that will help along with the contract mobile I have. I will just have to make sure whatever shop I use there is a cashpoint near by as I can draw cash from it.

Anthorn

First of all, prepaid cards don't generally work for petrol, hotels and car hire because an advance debit is required which can't be done with prepaid cards. I think this problem is mostly in foreign countries but I have heard of it happening in the U.K. too.

Does the co-op accept any kind of credit card?

Have a look on your online account management and see if the funds are actually on the card and also are available to spend.

I currently have a Kalixa card and I had a problem the first time I used it but no problems since. The same was true of my previous Cashplus card.

lostcause82

I know it doesn't work on pay at the pump but have used them to pay for the petrol in the actual shop. Fortunately when it declined I had money in my bank to cover it so just used my other card but my worry is it happens when I don't as I have two cards one that I use for food shopping and one for petrol.

lostcause82

I am assuming the coop accepts credit cards as its just a supermarket.

Anthorn

lostcause82 wrote: »

I am assuming the coop accepts credit cards as its just a supermarket.

I don't shop at the co op so I don't know. Not all supermarkets accept credit cards: Lidl for example only accept major UK debit cards.

lostcause82

I will double check with them. If I ever shop there again there is a cash point in the shop so would have to withdraw cash instead. Its not too much of a problem its just it always seems to happen when there's a massive queue of people and it is embarassing.