Faulty Mastercard hologram? (Santander)

foxtrotoscar_2

...so it's not really actually faulty then?

TheShape

jrawle wrote: »

I don't want to risk having a defective card as this is the card I rely on when travelling, and may actually need to hand it to someone to pay in person.

Terry_Towelling wrote: »

No retailer ever looks at it because the card is either tapped (contactless) or self-inserted into a CHIP reader.

As quoted above though, the OP does use the card abroad where there is the possibility that the card may need to be presented rather than used with contactless or self-inserted into the reader. I'll admit I've personally only found that to be common in the US but imagine it might also be the case elsewhere.

TheShape

foxtrotoscar wrote: »

...so it's not really actually faulty then?

It appears not.

I have to say though that having checked my most recently issued Mastercard the Hologram does look as though it's 'half-printed' and I'm not at all surprised that someone would think it looked faulty.

jrawle

While I'm not going to dignify some of the comments with a reply, I should point out that I explained that I use the card abroad and am concerned a defective card could be rejected. For example, I sometimes visit Taiwan and often they do take the card, examine it and manually put it in a reader. Sure, I carry other cards with me, but the point of Santander Zero is that it has no foreign currency fees. This is MSE after all, and I don't want to have to pay 3% extra just because I couldn't be bothered to check the card for defects when I received it. (You have to sign the card, which is right above the hologram anyway.)

I did originally search to see whether I could find any images of a new Mastercard hologram, but could not, even on the Mastercard site. There is lots about a new logo, but not about a hologram, and it seemed strange that only a small portion of the silver circles should actually be holographic.

I did just search for Starling Bank (which I've never heard of) as one poster suggested, and this does show the rear of a card, but only debit cards, which have a hologram with "Debit" written across it, which looks nothing like the credit card one.

But thanks anyway to the posters who left useful comments. I am assured that the card is correct, so can happily activate my new one.

Marchitiello

jrawle wrote: »

, ....but only debit cards, which have a hologram with "Debit" written across it, which looks nothing like the credit card one.

I have new Mastercards, both Debit and Credit and the hologram is exactly the same, with the debit version and the word “debit” over imposed the credit card standard hologram.

I am a bit OCD myself and do not see any offensive meaning in using as a description in such a context, but I repeat that if you had called Santander for example and talked about noting that the Hologram at the back of the card looked different instead of talking about faulty or defective, I am pretty sure that it would have avoided any confusion. The new design has been around for well over a year, so in my opinion it may not have been at the forefront of the customer service representative that you were concerned with the new design.

jrawle

Marchitiello wrote: »

I am a bit OCD myself and do not see any offensive meaning in using as a description in such a context, but I repeat that if you had called Santander for example and talked about noting that the Hologram at the back of the card looked different instead of talking about faulty or defective, I am pretty sure that it would have avoided any confusion. The new design has been around for well over a year, so in my opinion it may not have been at the forefront of the customer service representative that you were concerned with the new design.

A friend's husband has genuine OCD and it is not a pleasant condition for them to have to live with. It really isn't about someone who prefers things to be tidy or correct, and using the term to describe such people (or even yourself) is offensive to people with the genuine condition.

Credit cards seem to have three or four year validity, so most people receiving a new Mastercard won't be familiar with a logo that was introduced even "well over a year ago". Perhaps some people compulsively apply for new credit cards each year to ensure they keep on top of the latest card designs, but most people just want one card that is correct and valid so that they can be sure it will be accepted when they need to use it.

Marchitiello

You do not need to keep up with the latest design... you received a card that looked different (the front logo has also changed, it could also be faulty under your logic as it did not spell MasterCard as before, however this did not concern you), and perhaps it would have flagged in other people that the design had changed and pose the question to customer service in a more appropriate way. My focus here is that you have alleged poor customer service and I am trying to reason with you that being a fairly old change, it may not have been at the forefront of the assistant on the phone, in particular having received a call about a defective/misprinted/faulty hologram .. I guess you live and learn and hopefully would approach a similar scenario in a different way in the future

gt94sss2

I have also just got a couple of new Mastercards - the credit card from Halifax has the same hologram design as in the OP, while the new debit card from Curve also has the word "debit" appearing within it.

Purely from a design point of view, the hologram doesn't look as nice as the old version which showed a flat map of the earth