Metal Credit Cards

dr_adidas01

Stompa said:

Is there some advantage to a metal card over a plastic one?

They are a bit more robust and as another poster has said you could clear ice from your windscreen with it more easily than a plastic card, not that I've ever used any of my cards to clear ice from my windscreen.  Mainly because I keep an ice scraper in the boot and one in the Glovebox just in case.

dr_adidas01

ilikewatch2 said:

Stompa said:

Is there some advantage to a metal card over a plastic one?

I find them far more robust when clearing stubborn ice from my windscreen - I've split/cracked several plastic cards doing this but never had a problem with a metal card.

I've never used any of my cards for this purpose, though I know many people do.

jbrassy

Stompa said:

Is there some advantage to a metal card over a plastic one?

I don't own a car, so the answer for me is no.

Sandtree

jbrassy said:

Stompa said:

Is there some advantage to a metal card over a plastic one?

I don't own a car, so the answer for me is no.

I think the benefits of the metal card itself are minimal, I did find some embossed cards can be hard to read in low light when the paint on the numbers rubs off but 2 years on our metal cards are still perfectly painted/engraved, Mrs has a habit of sticking cards in pockets with other things and then dropping them, so far she has heard the metal card each time its dropped. Plus it doesnt suffer the delamination issues that some plastic cards do, if you care about how the card looks.

I do find the contactless on it can be a bit more picky than on my plastic cards, particularly on TFL Buses for some reason. 

sausage_time

I don't use cards any more unless I absolutely have to - my phone is much more convenient.  Even if I use my card nobody touches apart from me, it so it could be made from an old Weetabix packet as far as I am concerned.

jbrassy

I would love to use my phone all the time to pay for things, but unfortunately some places don't accept Amex contactless. For example when I shop in Asda, I have to use chip and pin to pay for things on Amex, even when I spend less than £45. Something I've never really understood.

Even so, I think metal credit cards are a bit of a gimmick. 

dr_adidas01

jbrassy said:

I would love to use my phone all the time to pay for things, but unfortunately some places don't accept Amex contactless. For example when I shop in Asda, I have to use chip and pin to pay for things on Amex, even when I spend less than £45. Something I've never really understood.

Even so, I think metal credit cards are a bit of a gimmick. 

I've come across this where places will take Amex with chip and pin but not when i've tried it with contactless and that is also true when using my phone with Amex. The retailer can't explain it and the times I've called Amex they don't know why either.

My Platinum card was plastic before it was replaced with the new metal one and to be fair for the fee it should be some rare metal not just metal......lol

Sandtree

If you pay by phone, or Apple Pay at least,the normal rules on contactless etc go out the window.Same as PayPal with B&Q or screwfix

dr_adidas01 said:

jbrassy said:

I would love to use my phone all the time to pay for things, but unfortunately some places don't accept Amex contactless. For example when I shop in Asda, I have to use chip and pin to pay for things on Amex, even when I spend less than £45. Something I've never really understood.

Even so, I think metal credit cards are a bit of a gimmick. 

My Platinum card was plastic before it was replaced with the new metal one and to be fair for the fee it should be some rare metal not just metal......lol

That’s the Centurion card,anodised titanium j

dr_adidas01

Sandtree said:

If you pay by phone, or Apple Pay at least,the normal rules on contactless etc go out the window.Same as PayPal with B&Q or screwfix

dr_adidas01 said:

jbrassy said:

I would love to use my phone all the time to pay for things, but unfortunately some places don't accept Amex contactless. For example when I shop in Asda, I have to use chip and pin to pay for things on Amex, even when I spend less than £45. Something I've never really understood.

Even so, I think metal credit cards are a bit of a gimmick. 

My Platinum card was plastic before it was replaced with the new metal one and to be fair for the fee it should be some rare metal not just metal......lol

That’s the Centurion card,anodised titanium j

B&Q don’t accept Amex cards so it’s always declined even when paying with Apple Pay (I know because I used it once without thinking) Just because you are using a digital wallet it doesn’t change what the underlying card is. 

Amex does work with PayPal and as you’ve pointed out and it would work with making a payment via PayPal at Screwfix, though it wouldn’t work if you paid direct as they don’t accept Amex cards. 

Sadly I probably don’t earn or spend enough to warrant being eligible for an Amex Centurion card, so I guess ill have to stick with an ordinary metal card.... 😂😂

WillPS

jbrassy said:

I would love to use my phone all the time to pay for things, but unfortunately some places don't accept Amex contactless. For example when I shop in Asda, I have to use chip and pin to pay for things on Amex, even when I spend less than £45. Something I've never really understood.

Even so, I think metal credit cards are a bit of a gimmick. 

It's simply because their tills do not have a profile for Amex Contactless built/enabled on their tills; when you present the card the reader sees it but doesn't know what to do with it, the same as what happens if you present a Tesco Clubcard somewhere other than Tesco.

TK Maxx, Pets at Home and Wilko used to be the same.
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I had a Platinum card briefly last year, and there was something really quite nice about handling a metal card over a plastic one, plus you get all the benefits of having a flat card design (ink doesn't rub off so the card still looks nice and uses less space in a wallet).

As is the consensus I can't justify any of the associated fees though, hopefully some day one of the lists of benefits will be enough to justify it so I can have one again.