Travelex Supercard

Sophie33

Great to hear all the good experiences but since this is a trial product I wanted to post my less good experience for information.


The card worked once for me, in the UK purchasing ferry tickets online in euros. Once we were in Greece it was declined every time. Initially twice in different chip and pin machines and at an ATM. So I rang Supercard who said 'it had been blocked but was now unblocked'. So I tried again twice at an ATM. Declined again so I emailed them. 'Card was blocked but is now unblocked' (again). So I tried another chip and pin machine. Declined again - I contacted them a third time and was told:


'We have checked our records and we can confirm that the transactions were declined due to a time out. If the transaction takes over three seconds to process this will result in a time out and it will decline.
Due to the unique way in which Supercard card works, each transaction is funded from your linked bank card in real time. For each transaction to go through the following 3 stages must go through without any problems;

• We approve the transaction is our system (this is based on the type of transaction you are doing, some transactions you cannot do with your Supercard such as Toll Booths)
• We send the information of the transaction through to the linked bank card.
• The linked bank then releases the required amount of money to fund the transaction.

The above process all needs to take place with 3 seconds. If this takes longer than 3 seconds the transaction will time out. You can try the same transaction again but there is no guarantee this will work.
This type of transaction decline can be more apparent in older ATM’s or Card readers.
As this a pilot scheme we are constantly looking for ways in which we can improve the Supercard. As we continue to improve the scheme we hope to be able increase the time in which a transaction will go through in the near future'.


I no longer have any confidence in the card which is a shame and it has cost me an additional £25 in debit card charges that I was hoping to avoid. Next time I will take a prepaid card ...

c-m

What's the deal with it not working in toll booths? Do they somehow do some strange type of transaction that Tuxedo's systems can't handle?

It's post pay, so not like there needs to be any pre-authorisation.

glentoran99

c-m wrote: »

What's the deal with it not working in toll booths? Do they somehow do some strange type of transaction that Tuxedo's systems can't handle?

It's post pay, so not like there needs to be any pre-authorisation.

Are they maybe offline or something? I mean it doesn't go through for authorisation So they are processed later so they can't be sure funds will be there?

c-m

That would make some sense. Thanks

SnowTiger

c-m wrote: »

Nope you're wrong.

At least in the instances I came across in Spain. I found that unlike UK terminals, some of the terminals in Spain often asked for a pin without the amount being shown on the pin entry screen.

It's the same here in the Philippines. I try to look at the till screen if I can and check the receipt afterwards (and keep it).

Insistently, there's often three or four payment machines lined up here behind tills. All payment machines are till-side. I guess various payment systems are used.

solentsteve

Whilst the card is clearly a great idea there are still significant processing problems. I received my card in June and have used in Spain in all establishments using chip and pin with no problems whatsoever. I then travelled to the States and again even though their system is slightly different it was accepted everywhere.

Jus recently I have returned from Portugal where it was declined at every retailer, cash point including UK banks. I have reported this to Travelex on numerous times and each time they say that it is a 'time-out error which is clearly not true. I have proved this to them by using the card in the UK and it has been declined again.

They have now decided to refer this to the developers for comment. Please be aware that you should take a back up card abroad until this issue is resolved.

c-m

solentsteve wrote: »

Please be aware that you should take a back up card abroad until this issue is resolved.

This is just good sense that you should always follow regardless of whether you're using a 'beta/trial' product like supercard or not.

That backup should also be a card that is good for travel, as oppose to a debit/credit 'from hell' as MSE puts it.

Tony49D

Like others in this forum, I have used my Supercard very successfully in the south of France, but a recent trip to Turkey has shaken my faith in the product. It would not work in any of the five different ATMs I tried, and it would not work in either of the two vendors payment machines I used.

Customer service told me all about how the card works and that the failures were due to "time-outs" as the transaction was not completed fast enough by the various processing banks. Whilst this is only a "beta test" of the product, they will have to fix this problem before I shall use it again. Fortunately I have alternative cards, but had I known in advance, I would have taken more cash as the rate is perfect with no charges.

It has therefore cost me money rather than saving on this trip. I also find it embarassing when a card is refused.

Tony

c-m

I think a lot on people jumped on the Supercard without fully considering that it's a beta product, and not the finished/polished article.

It will be interesting to see if Tuxedo and Travellex sort these out before doing a proper launch.

marksmith99

We spent 6 weeks in New Zealand in the summer and the Supercard probably worked 1 in 4 times.

Problems to do with the completion time of the transaction I think, but there was little pattern to when it worked. Small places in the middle of nowhere would sometimes be fine, bigger shops in larger towns would fail. Same with ATM's, some banks it seemed to work in better with, but it failed in all of them at least once I think.

The app showed all attempted transactions whether successful or not which worried me to begin with, but I don't think any of the incomplete ones actually made it through to my linked account.