IDT Prime prepaid debit card - Scandalous!

rhcp

My local credit union does a prepaid alto mastercard. I don't know what the charges are, but if you want a prepaid debit card, it could be worth checking out your credit union.

nomoneytoday

ArfurDaley wrote: »

There is only one reason I'd use a prepaid card over a debit card and that is I don't want the details of the card that is linked to my main account anywhere near the internet.

You're aware that banks will repay / charge back fraudulent activity?

pb3

nomoneytoday wrote: »

You're aware that banks will repay / charge back fraudulent activity?

You only have to read through this forum to see that this is not always a straightforward process.

I do have a couple of top-up cards (Tuxedo) to go with my normal credit cards. I find them useful to pay for small online purchases at sites which for whatever reason I don't fully trust.

I found the Tuxedo Maestro card particularly useful for sites which only accept debit cards. I never give out my main debit card details online. Also you can place a temporary stop on the card from the online portal if you wish.

Provided you top-up the card as needed and use it straight away and avoid the cash machines you can avoid a lot of the charges. As the balance on mine is usually zero I don't have to worry abut the dormancy charges

Do read the fine print though. The T&Cs for Tuxedo do not guarantee that they will bounce transactions taking your account into the red. Not sure about other cards. So beware.

WrenJen_2

Hi, I believe one of the the ideas of pre paid cards is to eliminate the need to pay fees/charges for airlines and some on line purchases, which is a good plan - is this correct?
WrenJen

andye979

Hi,

Sorry I appreciate no one may see this as it's an old thread but if anyone involved in this debate picks this up I'd really appreciate some advice.

I purchased an IDT prime card recently as it seemed a safer way to make online purchases but on reading the small print (as I almost always do after agreeing to the terms rather than before - one day I will learn) I discovered the 'dormant' charges.

The charges have really put me off the idea so I just want to cancel the card now and forget the whole thing. Then I discover the stuff about having to pay a cancellation charge and then having to post ID etc to Gibralter in order to cancel!! I feel massivley foolish now and just want rid of the thing.

I have never topped up the card since originally buying it and loading about £50. I did however register my name and address on the website so that I could make purchases online.

Could someone please advise if I just stop using the card now will they just take money until the balance is zero and then leave me alone? Or will they continue to charge dormancy fees making my account overdrawn?

That may sound like a stupid question, and quite possibly is, but with my history of credit cards and debt the last thing I need is an account going overdrawn that I'm not even aware of. I know it's a pre-pay card not a credit card but there's some small print in there about sometimes the card can go overdrawn and they will come after you to recover the money owed.

I did phone customer services and asked to cancel - they said they couldn't take the £5 cancellation charge of the card because the balance is only about £2 now. They advised to top up the card to cover the £5 and then they would take the cancellation fee. I suspect that is not good advice and that once I've topped up I will be more webbed up in this than I am already.

Any advice on how to proceed would be most welcome.

Thank you.

Andy

thenudeone

What am I missing?

Why does anyone ever pay for a pre-paid debit card?

Why don't they just open a basic bank account that offers a VISA electron card, then put money in it when they want to spend?

goodgrief999

weegie.geek wrote: »

I reckon you'd be better off with the 3vv vouchers. Top up in the same kind of places as IDT's card, no transaction fees, and £20 cards cost £20, no fees on top.

They post you out a card which you can take to the newsagent's and buy vouchers with. The vouchers contain the visa number. Each voucher has a different number, so an entirely new visa card with every purchase.

The only problem with 3V is that if you buy a £20 card, and then spend £19, that £1 is stuck on that card unless you can find something to buy for £1.

3V's drawback is the dead money scenario. You also can't use it for online gambling if that takes your fancy..

Thumbs up for Neteller.

You should feel privileged to be able to use 3v's services; it takes days for their cards to come through the post and if like me, your post is not running smoothly - they get paranoid, accuse you of fraud and ban you for life. My 90 year old neighbour blames me for her husband's death and is senile. The address is a bit confusing to work out in the common stair of flats, so this lady was getting roughly half my post for a while. She would return it always, 'Not Known At This Address' AFTER her husband died (from old age). Prior to that we were friends, the post was never an issue. I avoided eviction by using witnesses, but 3V stated after the second failed delivery attempt that there would be no way they would ever do business with me - banned for life. No appeals procedure available, a merchant can refuse to serve anyone with or without a reason, legally.
Also, 3v is no use, taking so long. I will give you an example of why Prime cards can be useful. Tesco will not accept debit cards - they say they are available to under 18s and won't allow a home shopping purchase with a debit card. Tesco are too stupid to use the check age verification feature of the bank whilst processing the card.
Tesco will accept a Prime Mastercard, due to the M/C brand, even although it is perfectly normal for a thirteen year old to use them, and also legal. I haven't spoken to a Tesco member of staff yet who understands that when they take the £2 verification from my Prime cards - I can't get it back. "But we don't take it - it gets returned." Answer. "My card does not accept returned money, it's a disposable card."
Presumably, they think I'm the village idiot.

zzzt

Does anyone know if it's possible to use a prepaid card online anonymously?

I've had a look at 3V and IDT Prime. 3V seems like the more reputable company. For using the card to shop online it says:

When you are shopping and you are ready to pay, select Visa as the payment method during the payment process. Enter the 16-digit Visa number, the 3-digit security code (sometimes called the CVV2) and the expiry date for the Visa number. Complete the payment process.

I assume by "complete the payment process" it means enter billing address. You must supply 3V with your name and address when you register the card, and I assume it has to match what you put as the billing address when you make a purchase with the card.

IDT Prime says:

In order for your card to work on these sites, you will have to first register a name and address online here for free. You must then enter exactly the same details when using the card to make a purchase at websites requesting this information – so make sure you enter your exact name.

Do you think I could enter a fake name and address here, and so long as it's the same, it would work?

I don't care about transaction fees or whatever. I'm gonna buy the card with cash and then make one purchase with it. The whole reason I'm doing it is that I don't particularly want the company I'm buying from to be able to tie my purchase to me for privacy reasons, although I am probably being overly paranoid here.

Would be really great if I could just use the company's address as a billing address. MaskMe seems like the perfect service for what I want, but it's not available in the UK.

forgotmyname

TIME WARP BACK TO 2008......

Due to money laundering issues the cards are not as easy to get as they were.

Put fake details and it may fail the identity check.

If you enter a fake name and address for the card you wont get the card. Enter the fake address when buying and it may get stuck on the security and the card gets blocked which will cost you money to unblock.

DaveTheMus

no-one forces people to use these cards, too expensive don't use it, simple.......they are a business, not a charity.