'Virtual' Mastercard Debit Card - Seems impossible to use

YorkieMan

I was given a Virtual Mastercard debit card in payment by PineCone Research.  It is proving impossible to use.  The card provider 'Prepaid Digital Solutions' tells me I can use it online 'at millions of locations worldwide' and that I can 'Use this card right now to shop online or add the card to your favorite retailer or restaurant app' but also that 'acceptance of the card account is to the discretion of the merchant'.  They are unable or unwilling to provide me with a list of stores that accept it. As there is no user name on the card I cannot find a merchant that will accept it.  Furthermore, if I could get past this hurdle I cannot use it in part payment, neither can I add value to it to match an amount of any order I might make.  This appears to be gigantic swindle.  Has anyone had any success (or otherwise) in using such a card?

IvanDP

I have 3 "virtual" cards

Revolut
Monese
Boon
The Revolut and Monese are linked to my account, the Boon is just an app with a virtual card.
I have used them all online, and with Google Pay.
So far I have had no problems with any of them.
There is no user name on my virtual cards either, but when a merchant asks for the cardholder name, it is your own name as that is who the card is registered to.
You should be able to add funds to your card, just as you would do with any prepaid debit card.
Out of curiosity, are you trying to spend on the card with no funds loaded to it?

YorkieMan

Hi Ivan.  Amazon & John Lewis won't accept payment split over two cards. National Lottery won't accept it what version of my name I enter and attempts to register card with ebay just come up with an error.  There is no mechanism to add any value to this card (which I would be reluctant to do if I cannot use it!)

IvanDP

Ah, I have just had a look at the Pinecone website, and it seems that the card is more of a gift card.
Whatever value is actually on it is the total you can spend. It can't be topped up.
TopCashBack have a similar product, which unless loaded with a significant amount of money is pretty much useless.

Link to FAQ:
https://www.pineconeresearch.co.uk/faqs.asp

YorkieMan

I've been with Pinecone Research for several years and usually get Amazon Vouchers or payment to my PayPal account.  They are not proving very helpful in resolving this issue.

IvanDP

YorkieMan said:

I've been with Pinecone Research for several years and usually get Amazon Vouchers or payment to my PayPal account.  They are not proving very helpful in resolving this issue.

Fingers crossed you get it sorted 

Fingerbobs

I have no experience with this particular card, but here are a few suggestions, which you may or may not have already tried:

• Top-up Amazon Gift Voucher balance (minimum £1)
• Ad-hoc payment to a Utility account (e.g. Gas, Water etc.) if your supplier allows
• Deposit into a Savings account that allows card deposits (e.g. NS&I Direct Saver (minimum £1))
• Payment to a Credit Card account
  

YorkieMan

That's for the ideas.  Amazon tells me there is an error when I try to use card in this way.  I tried to add to my Lottery account with the same result.  I'll certainly try the other two later today.  Thank you.

YorkieMan

Success.  After the problems with Amazon yesterday, a chat with their Customer Services who told me that I could not use the card and a rejection when I tried to top up my gift card balance, I once again tried to add it to my account getting an error message.  However, going into to the 'Top up my Balance' section the card was indeed there and I was able to add the value from the card to my Amazon account.  Perseverance seems to be the key!  Thank you Ivan and Fingerbobs for your input.