How do I make payments to my Virgin credit card account after Jan 21?

onlyfoolsandparking

For the more tech savvy of you I have a question (may be a stupid question but hey ho) I am familiar with Virgin stopping their online presence from Jan 21 and know that I will have to download the their app in order to service my account. I have been pondering on how this will work for me regarding making overpayments which I usually do on all my cards at various times. Let me set the scene. At present when I want to make an overpayment I log into my account and select make payment by debit card, follow the instructions sometimes get a OTP from Natwest (my current account) and make the payment no problem BUT.....

 The last payment I made I had to 'approve' on my Natwest app, appears to be a new feature? (which is on my phone obviously) to complete the payment which did work without hitch thankfully. My question is If I'm using the Virgin app (because I've no choice come Jan 21) for my credit card account AND I go to make a payment, how would that work with me potentially having to 'approve' it via my Natwest app, in other words IF I've got my Virgin app open attempting a payment and Virgin show on screen they need it approving via Natwest app I would have to close Virgin app, then open Natwest app and this would surely cancel my 'pending' payment or log me out of Virgin or mess up the payment and I would have to start again??. It looks complicated to me and I'm even losing my train of thought whilst typing, does anybody know how all this works?

As an afterthought I assume 'faster' payment transfer would be either another or better option. I've never paid any card by bank transfer although I have paid friends and family off my phone so I am not completely clueless but how does that work regarding making sure my payment goes to my credit card account and not just into Virgin's current type account? I know when I am looking around the Natwest app on the 'make a payment' section it makes some suggestion regarding bringing up a list of popular payees, I assume this is all the major banks, utility companies, supermarkets etc.

So in essence can I pay app to app so to speak and If not does paying by bank transfer seem a better option. How would Virgin know which credit card account to allocate my payment to if I'm just using their account number and sort code, I assume they use and I use (Card number?) some sort of reference in order to identify me? Apologies for the long winded post and I don't usually ask questions like this, I'll always have a read around to find answers but cannot find anything, this has got me confused.   
          

[Deleted User]

Making a payment directly from your current account is the easiest way. You just need to use the account details provided.

onlyfoolsandparking

That would be Virgin's account number and sort code I assume, I get that bit but how would they know to allocate the payment I make to my credit card account, that's what has got me a little stumped. I know when I've paid friends and family I only need their account number and sort code and their is an option to put a reference which sometimes I use, sometimes not but that's it nothing difficult but as I say I'm a bit stumped on making a payment to Virgin, I know that if I make a payment and it goes to the wrong account/department I've got a bit of an uphill battle to sort it.   

nick74

You use your Virgin credit card number as the reference. That's how Virgin know which card to allocate the payment to.

onlyfoolsandparking

Am I correct in thinking trying to do all this via apps is not the right way, looks complicated to me and I've only just got used to using my Natwest app although I must admit it is quite easy to make payments to friends/family, just cannot see how it is possible to have 2 apps open at the same time??

Thanks for the quick replies.  

bradders1983

Modern phones let you have as many apps open at the same time as you want, if you dont know how to switch between them maybe get a young person to show you

onlyfoolsandparking

bradders1983 said:

Modern phones let you have as many apps open at the same time as you want, if you dont know how to switch between them maybe get a young person to show you

Sounds like a good plan

onlyfoolsandparking

How dim am I? (It's rhetorical so don't answer that lol) After doing a bit more digging I think I've sussed it

If I put Virgin's account number and sort code into my phone in the 'pay someone new' section on my Natwest app and then use my 16 digit card number in the reference box this in theory should work fine, am I correct? Also my OH has a Virgin credit card too so I assume when I want to pay her card I just change the reference to her card number and the payment will go to her account instead of mine, again am I correct? and if I am correct I had no need to write that 'War and Peace' opening post but better safe than sorry I always say and it might just help others who like me are not big fans of the new world order lol

Thanks again for the help though, it's what makes this forum a good place.  

bradders1983

Yes thats exactly how making a bank payment works. You only need to put in a reference when more than one person shares the sort code and account number.

Be aware though Natwest may not let you change the reference once you have set it up. You may have to set two different payees up.

GrumpyDil

To be honest I would get someone to show you how to switch between apps as that's exactly what I do if I get asked to verify a payment.

jonesMUFCforever

onlyfoolsandparking said:

How dim am I? (It's rhetorical so don't answer that lol) After doing a bit more digging I think I've sussed it

If I put Virgin's account number and sort code into my phone in the 'pay someone new' section on my Natwest app and then use my 16 digit card number in the reference box this in theory should work fine, am I correct? Also my OH has a Virgin credit card too so I assume when I want to pay her card I just change the reference to her card number and the payment will go to her account instead of mine, again am I correct? and if I am correct I had no need to write that 'War and Peace' opening post but better safe than sorry I always say and it might just help others who like me are not big fans of the new world order lol

Thanks again for the help though, it's what makes this forum a good place.  

Much better to set up separate payments. As far as I know some bank's apps will not let you change reference numbers once set up. (You would need to delete and re-set up)