MSE News: Aqua axes 3% cashback credit card – should you ditch and switch?

mikebeaches

Like others, my other half and I were disappointed to receive the letter about the Aqua cashback card. We have found it useful in a number of ways:

Obviously, getting 3% cashback!

No fees when used overseas (which we use a lot)

There is never a tedious secondary security check when making online purchases, like there frequently is with Mastercard and Visa (no idea why, but that is how it has been for us).

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Quite a few people have mentioned the relatively low monthly credit limits, which is certainly the case on our card. But nobody has mentioned how easy it is to 'pre-load' the card with additional funds if you think you might exceed the credit limit.

So when we go touring around Europe in our camper for a month or more, we just transfer money into the Aqua card account whenever necessary. Obviously with the cashback capped at £100 pa, it's only good for spending circa £3,000 pa for maximum cashback in any case. But we like using it overseas.

And with the cashback being reduced to 0.5%, then obviously the annual spend can be much higher. So we're planning to keep the card, but at the same time we will explore other options too.

We recently had our £100 cashback, so intend to hit the card as hard as we can between now and 22 January, transferring extra funds to the Aqua account as described above and max the 3% cashback again.

lisyloo

But nobody has mentioned how easy it is to 'pre-load' the card with additional funds if you think you might exceed the credit limit.

It's been discussed a lot.
Are you aware your money is probably uninsured if there is fraud/theft?
You might also get your card stopped for breaking terms and conditions and that could be inconvenient abroad.

If you've got away with it, that doesn't mean it's ok, it just means you were lucky to not have your card stopped, lose your cash back or lose your own money through fraud.

but at the same time we will explore other options too

I would certainly have other options whilst abroad.
Your luck might run out and your card might be stopped at some point.

mikebeaches

lisyloo wrote: »

It's been discussed a lot.
Are you aware your money is probably uninsured if there is fraud/theft?
You might also get your card stopped for breaking terms and conditions and that could be inconvenient abroad.

If you've got away with it, that doesn't mean it's ok, it just means you were lucky to not have your card stopped, lose your cash back or lose your own money through fraud.



I would certainly have other options whilst abroad.
Your luck might run out and your card might be stopped at some point.

Thanks for your observations. However, I'm not sure why or how 'pr-loading' the account could possibly contravene the terms and conditions. And in fact we spoke to Aqua on the phone soon after we first got the card and they said it was fine, provided we didn't ever exceed our credit limit.

I'm also unclear why there should be any increased financial risk from fraud or theft? And we're hardly talking about life-changing sums of money in any case....

And yes, we always carry alternative cards in the UK and abroad, but none of them offer 3% cashback.

lisyloo

I'm also unclear why there should be any increased financial risk from fraud or theft?

You'd need to check with Aqua specifically, but normally credit card companies insure their own money (read - debit balance) against fraud and theft. They don't normally insure your money (read - credit balance) against fraud and theft.
But as I say for this specific product you'd need to check with Aqua.

adindas

mikebeaches wrote: »

Thanks for your observations. However, I'm not sure why or how 'pre-loading' the account could possibly contravene the terms and conditions. And in fact we spoke to Aqua on the phone soon after we first got the card and they said it was fine, provided we didn't ever exceed our credit limit.

I'm also unclear why there should be any increased financial risk from fraud or theft? And we're hardly talking about life-changing sums of money in any case....

And yes, we always carry alternative cards in the UK and abroad, but none of them offer 3% cashback.

What you mean pre-loading probably to do interim Faster Payment before you pay the full balance by DD on statement month to reduce your balance to zero and therefore you could use your credit card again up to the limit.

I am not quite sure about Aqua Card (need to check it) but the vast majority of credit card will not allow you to be in credit as it is against the T&C. There are already quite a few instance where people credit card get blocked while abroad because of pre-loading.

mikebeaches

Thanks both for your further comments. It will be interesting to see if our strategy comes unstuck, in the manner you suggest it might. Hope not, but only time will tell...

blon

Other half and I got the dreaded card withdrawal notifications for our two Aqua Reward cards. Since the Luma 4% card is off the market at moment, I have now applied for the Amex Platinum at 25 GBP/year but have no response yet (moved to the UK 1.25 years ago which can make me look "unstable" to potential creditors) which is why I never get a response straightaway but need to convince some "human" of my qualities as a borrower. Fingers crossed I get through.

Calculated that with this 1.25% card we could make about 180-200 GBP a year after the annual fee, and would be in any case much better off than with one of the 0.5% cards now on the market (already have the Capital One Classic Extra that pays that rate). Not sure if we will apply for the new Aqua card, only true reason would be the additional spending possibilities as the Capital One card has a very low credit limit. For FX transactions, I have a very good EUR card from Luxemburg that charges no conversion fees but pays a little cashback.

redacted_2

Aqua are a seriously nasty bunch of scum anyway. As soon as I'm done with them and the Ombudsman, I can't get rid of them fast enough.

guesswho2000

redacted wrote: »

Aqua are a seriously nasty bunch of scum anyway. As soon as I'm done with them and the Ombudsman, I can't get rid of them fast enough.

I've never had an issue with them personally. I had one in my younger days as a credit builder, and I currently have the reward (albeit with an awful limit) for the cashback. They've never given me any problems.

masonic

Has anyone else received a statement from Aqua since the announcement? I opened my December statement today to find the usual cashback summary section to be all zero...

Previous cashback earned £0.00
Cashback earned this month £0.00
Total cashback earned £0.00

This was the last statement I'll receive before 22nd January, but it sort of implies I didn't earn any cashback for any of my spending during December. If I'd known that was going to happen I'd have used a different card.

My understanding was that cashback wouldn't be paid out until a couple of weeks after closure - presumably early February, so I don't know why my previous cashback would disappear so early.

Edit: Nevermind. I see from the other Aqua thread that several others have had the same issue and it is a mistake.