Barclaycard cancelling all Mastercards and transferring to Visa

fifeken

Feral_Moon wrote: »

I use a Halifax Clarity card when overseas but can't remember whether it's Visa or MasterCard.

It's a Mastercard.

planteria

that's right, it is a Mastercard.
http://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/clarity-card/

System

20aday wrote: »

I know a few years ago RBS/NatWest moved from Visa to MasterCard for their credit cards.

Interesting. When I opened my Natwest CC account I was given both a Visa and a Mastercard.

I find it quite handy as OH is a 2nd cardholder. She uses Visa and I use Mastercard. We get a statement for each so its easy to see who spent what

chanz4

yet Barclaycard business has gone from visa to mastercard at christmas

chuckley

had no idea BC used MC.

But what's the issue anyway?

20aday

peter999 wrote: »

Is that right, I didn't know that.

Searching the forum, it seems Barclaycard are now restricting people to 1x Barclaycard, plus possibly a partner card.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/69834988#Comment_69834988


I already have a Barclaycard Platinum Visa card.

I have a Barclaycard Platinum Mastercard which will now be converted to another Barclaycard Platinum Visa card in March.


So I will have 2x Barclaycard Platinum Visa cards in future.

I'm pretty sure the Freedom Rewards card was certainly MasterCard branded a few years ago when the product first launched.

In terms of opening more than one Barclaycard account it used to be possible to have more than one but they've changed their minds (last few months I believe).

The only time I can recall only Visa cards being accepted was at the 2012 Olympics.

chattychappy

fifeken wrote: »

I don't think Barclaycard offer any good cards for overseas, so no effect there, but might help others.

A nice quirk of Barclaycard is that for foreign ATM withdrawals, you get hit with the 3% loading, but there are no further fees (except any locally applied) AND they treat it a bit like a purchase - ie you get up to 56 days interest free.

Still not as good as using Clarity and paying off promptly, but better than most.

chuckley wrote: »

had no idea BC used MC.

But what's the issue anyway?

The OP referred to the short notice. Perhaps for some it will be a hassle because of CPAs they have set up which begin to fail.

planteria

chattychappy wrote: »

A nice quirk of Barclaycard is that for foreign ATM withdrawals, you get hit with the 3% loading, but there are no further fees (except any locally applied) AND they treat it a bit like a purchase - ie you get up to 56 days interest free

so using a Barclaycard Creditcard rather than a Debitcard to withdraw cash abroad makes sense? and earn a bit of cashback to repay the fee in the process? Amex the same loading fee as the Visa on Barclaycard Cashback accounts?--if so, the 'fee' would in effect only be 2%. plus also we would have some protection if something went wrong..

chattychappy

planteria wrote: »

so using a Barclaycard Creditcard rather than a Debitcard to withdraw cash abroad makes sense? and earn a bit of cashback to repay the fee in the process? Amex the same loading fee as the Visa on Barclaycard Cashback accounts?--if so, the 'fee' would in effect only be 2%. plus also we would have some protection if something went wrong..

I said they "treat is a bit like a purchase". They do for interest purposes - ie you get up to 56 days free credit. But I don't think I got any cashback!

Before I had Clarity, I only had Santander Zero as a cheap way of getting cash. But that is limited to £300/day. So I used Barclaycard quite frequently. But now I also have Zero, I use Barclaycard less often. But still a handy backup.

SnowTiger

Generally, for customers, there isn't much difference between Visa and Mastercard.

Mastercard tends to offer a slightly better exchange rate, however the minimum Chargeback you can do is £10.

I've never encountered a retailer that accepts one brand but not the other, however anyone buying tickets for the London Olympics did:

Sports fans who want to buy tickets by card for the London 2012 Olympics will only be able to use the Visa payments system.

The restrictions are part of the sponsorship deal struck between Visa and the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Visa credit and debit cards will be the only ones accepted at shops or cash machines at Olympic venues.

The competition enforcer the Office of Fair Trading said it was looking into the matter.

A statement said: "The OFT and the European Commission are aware of these issues and are currently in discussion about what action, if any, should be taken."

Visa has been the official card for Olympic events since the Seoul games in 1988.

A London 2012 spokesperson said this kind of arrangement was the norm: "Visa will be the official card and payment system for London 2012, in the same way as for the Beijing Games in 2008 and the Vancouver Games earlier this year. Visa has been a top partner for 24 years, so this is not new."

Visa is the dominant debit card supplier in the country with 53 million customers compared with 17.5 million for Mastercard.

In credit cards, Mastercard has more customers with 36 million holders, compared with 22 million for Visa.