Credit card fees for topping up Barclaycard bPay band?

itm2

I've just received my Barclaycard bPay band for contactless payments on public transport etc. My question is: when you top up with a credit card is it processed as a quasi-cash transaction, and hence attract the associated credit card fee? (3% in some cases). I asked my credit card company (Santander) and they said that they had no idea how Barclaycard processed these transactions.

Barclaycard simply say that credit card companies "may" charge a fee for top-ups, which isn't very helpful.

Does anyone know??

wealdroam

From bpay band's faqs:

What will a bPay band cost me?
Your bPay band is absolutely free and there’s no charge to use it, however you may be charged when adding money from your credit or debit card onto your bPay account. Please check with your card provider for details.

As you say, that isn't clear.

It really depends on how barclaycard present the transaction to your credit card co.
Do they indicate it as a purchase or a money transfer?

Anyway, all that aside, why don't you just use your Santander credit card directly, as a contactless card for the transport?
If your credit card isn't currently contactless, speak to Santander about that.

If you want to pursue the interaction between bcard and santander, I suggest this is probably best done on either the credit card board or the banking board.

itm2

wealdroam wrote: »

Anyway, all that aside, why don't you just use your Santander credit card directly, as a contactless card for the transport?

I wanted the convenience of a wristband, rather than having to ferret around for my credit card whenever I pass through a payment point. It sounds like Barclaycard are making that an expensive option.