Visa Prepay CitizenCard

Ladygrim

Hello all,

Sorry if this is in the wrong thread.

Ive been looking into getting something to use as photo ID. I have an old paper driving licence and my passport has expired and will cost over £70 to renew, so I was wondering if one of these would be a good idea:-

http://citizencard.com/visa-prepaid-or-classic-.html

Ive looked around the website, and Im quite interested in getting this card. Has anyone got one? What do you think of it? Please let me know.

LG

P.S I would DEFINATELY be in the 21+ band

innovate

I don't have one of these but if your main reason for wanting the card is to have photo ID, I reckon you could do better with a photocard driving licence. But it's down to personal preference. If you are into using pre-loaded cards anyway, you might find the card more attractive.

1. DL is accepted as proof of ID everywhere in the UK. Even is accepted as proof of address in places
2. DL costs £20 and is valid for 10 years (unless you are careless, of course...)
3. Citizen Visa costs £15, then £9 for renewal (every 4 years)
4. Citizen Visa can double as cash card - - though free loading (from bank account) can be timeconsuming. Fast loading is expensive as well as timeconsuming e.g. Post Office charges 2%
5. Your DL has no further charges. Charges potential on the Citizen card is quite high http://citizencard.com/visa-prepaid-citizencard-fees.html

azurflyer

New DL costs £50 (it's a replacement that costs £20) so DL not quite such a good comparison. Also note: there's no need to load funds onto your Visa CitizenCard at all; free loading by bank transfer takes at most one working day; if card is lost/stolen, the replacement fee is £5 less than for DL; £9 renewal fee is optional - card works as ID indefinitely.

Provided you load or spend at least once every 3 months, the card can be 100% fee-free (fees generally apply only if you withdraw cash from an ATM or load cash via Post Office or Paypoint).

Also there's £3 off the cost of a Visa CitizenCard (reducing cost to £12) if you use discount code VISA3 at citizencard.com

pmduk

Are provisional driving licences accepted as ID?

azurflyer

pmduk wrote: »

Are provisional driving licences accepted as ID?

Yes, a provisional photo-driving licence is accepted as ID. But at £50 it's £35 more expensive than either a Visa CitizenCard or Classic CitizenCard.

Ladygrim

Thank you Azureflyer,

Your post has been most helpful, especially the £3 saving. I think I will get one of these as I am quite happy to use online banking to load up the card, and happy to use cashback in the local businesses if I wanted any cash in my pocket.

I also think one of these would be useful for my granddaughter (she's over 12) as it would teach her responsibility with a card before being able to have a checking account at a bank.

Thank you all once again for your advice

LG

dalesrider

azurflyer wrote: »

New DL costs £50 (it's a replacement that costs £20) so DL not quite such a good comparison.

But the OP has a old style paper licence.
So the £20 is the correct amount in this case.

So there is only a saving of £5 by getting a CitizenCard. DL is valid for far longer. And at a guess will be far better known at many places.

azurflyer

dalesrider wrote: »

But the OP has a old style paper licence.
So the £20 is the correct amount in this case.

So there is only a saving of £5 by getting a CitizenCard. DL is valid for far longer. And at a guess will be far better known at many places.

Yes, conversion from paper to photo licence is £20. But, as an ID, the CitizenCard does not need to be renewed so it lasts just as long as a driving licence. Plus it seems the OP will find it of use as a Visa card - and it is ideal for a teenager especially as you cannot get into debt with the card.

As to recognition all the major UK retailers and trade associations recognise CitizenCards and other PASS cards as valid ID, even UK airlines for domestic flights so the OP shouldn't have problems using it (PASS cardholders mainly have problems at the door of clubs, but that's more to do with the ignorance of certain bouncers).

pmduk

azurflyer wrote: »

Yes, a provisional photo-driving licence is accepted as ID. But at £50 it's £35 more expensive than either a Visa CitizenCard or Classic CitizenCard.

I'm not disputing that, I suspect the Visa Citizencard will solve a few problems for me. I'll wait a while and see how readily companies accept it. There's certainly a need for some sort of recognised photo ID for those of us unable to drive (through medical reasons) and who have no need for a passport.