Virgin Pre Paid Mastercard Great If You Cant Get Credit!

BONJOEY

just been browing and not sure if this has been posted,

its for the virgin pre paid mastercard , which is ideal if you need a mastercard/visa for holiday or in the uk, you just preload for free, and off you go and at least you wont go into debt lol!


:T :T
http://uk.virginmoney.com/pay-as-you-go/

relaxsoon

it seems to look ok .

King_Of_Fools

http://uk.virginmoney.com/pay-as-you-go/fees.html

It costs £9.95 to buy the card and there is a 2.95% transaction fee.

geoffwebb

There is also the Cashplus card http://www.cashplus.co.uk/
It is also £9.95 to start and then either £4.95 per month and no transaction fees, or no monthly fee and £1 per transaction. These prepayment cards are often very expensive to use outside UK, worth checking charges.

John_in_the_city

If you just require some no-hassle plastic which allows you to make purchases then thses may eb a solution. BUT, you need to bear in mind their limitations. They are NOT Credit Cards. They are pre-paid cards. Try checking into a hotel or renting a car with one and you will hit a brick wall.

They can be used for making purchases, but they cannot be used to "reserve funds" against the card. For example, when you check into a hotel they get authorisation to cover the possibility of say mini-bar or restaurant charges; and when you rent a car they get reservation for gas-refuel charges for the car. Then, when you check out or return the car, the final bill is settled and either they release the difference back onto you available credit line, or request yet more funds.

Pre-Paid cards cant do that. You swipe for solely the cost of the transaction.

So if your "holiday" plans include Hotels / car Rental then you may need to think again.

Hope this helps.

wayoflife

geoffwebb wrote: »

There is also the Cashplus card http://www.cashplus.co.uk/
It is also £9.95 to start and then either £4.95 per month and no transaction fees, or no monthly fee and £1 per transaction. These prepayment cards are often very expensive to use outside UK, worth checking charges.

and also as there is no credit checks involved, you get no benefits to build up your credit history...

Ok if you absolutely cannot get credit (bankrupt, IVA e.t.c.) then I think it is better to pay by cash, or travellers cheques.

there is literally no benefits to this card whatsoever

geoffwebb

I agree. Limitations are too frustrating, even petrol paid by card at the pump is a no go.
As a discharged bankrupt with a credit history you could't invent, I applied online for a Co-op bank account and got a basic one. The difference between this and most other basic accounts is that the cash card is also a Visa Electron which so far has worked for petrol, hotels and everywhere I've tried so in fact I have just cut my cashplus card in half and closed the account. Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale have just stopped issuing accounts with a Maestro facility to those of us with a poor credit history so now it looks like the Co-op is the only real choice if you need flexibility.

Gemmzie

Wouldn't you be better off getting a Vanquis type card and spending a little and paying it off in full each month to repair your credit rating?

lemma1968

I'm trying to book a hotel room in London at the mo and all the hotels require a credit card for check-in. I have a VISA debit card from the Halifax - will that be enough to deal with it at the desk or will they insist on an actual credit card?

wyebird

I have used a debit card at a hotel check in before (Hilton group). I think it's an ID check as much as to charge against your room as you can usually elect not to charge against your room, as I always do just to make sure that I don't loose my MSE principles after a couple of free drinks at a conference :rolleyes:

geoffwebb

A bit late, been away, but anyway, most hotels will accept all the lesser visa/electron/maestro cards over the phone or sometimes on internet, but often they are rejected when you check in. My recent experience was that the Best Western hotel wouldn't accept the card but their cash machine would, with an extra £1.50 fee. So now my idea is to book with a card and take cash to pay for the room on check-in and pay as I go without charging things to the room - less tempting that way.

Another thing - recently I got the lowest room rate on the internet with a hotel reservation site then I called the hotel saying I couldn't to make the booking because of a problem with their website. They asked what rate I was quoted, I reduced the quote by £5, and they said OK. Worth trying again maybe.