Curve Card

Former_MSE_James_F

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Curve Card

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lr1277

I think you are remiss in not mentioning the reward card provider cancelling card accounts for those fronting their credit card with Curve. This particular card provider still took the annual fee, didn’t transfer any points accumulated by spending to the associated hotel points scheme nor did they make good on the promised free night in the hotel for said fee.
Apparently NS&I were unhappy with Curve users buying their products particularly when the underlying card was a credit card. Something about not getting into debt when buying government backed products.
When withdrawing cash abroad I understand fee free only works on weekdays. I don’t know how this is affected by time differences. If withdrawing cash at the weekend, I believe fees apply.
For those wanting to know more you could trawl the daily chat threads on Headforpoints since 1st September. Though many code words are used. As a starter I think ‘bendy’ means Curve. There are a few articles on the subject.

in my case I have a card from a high street store but I don’t spend much money in that shop. However I want them to remain as a presence on the High street. So I make them money by spending on their card. I suspect Curve reduces the fees they receive for each transaction.

Perhaps the article could be updated to discuss what fees are sent back to the underlying card provider? Especially if the customer changes  the underlying card used for a transaction after the event. Also what is the transaction date shown on the underlying system/statement? Again what is the transaction date if the underlying card is changed after the event? I ask because I keep track of my transactions and reconcile them against my statements.

WillPS

The only cards to have been cancelled which I'm aware of are those from Creation, who are clearly winding down their UK operations anyway.

Other than that, the worst that's happened is card issuers changing their terms to apply charges to anything processed via Curve (Tesco and Natwest Group).

lr1277

WillPS said:

The only cards to have been cancelled which I'm aware of are those from Creation, who are clearly winding down their UK operations anyway.

Other than that, the worst that's happened is card issuers changing their terms to apply charges to anything processed via Curve (Tesco and Natwest Group).

I am not entirely sure about that. I am under the impression that people who used their Creation card without Curve continue to have use of their card. Could be wrong on that front though.

older_wiser

i used curve with the creation cashback card  but only to make the odd purchase not to use with NS&I 

i did get a text message afew months ago saying i was no longer able to use curve with the CC but i think everyone got that 

my card is still active and i've had no emails/letters to say mine is being closed so i assume people who did use curve to get bonus points are the accounts that are being closed ?

WillPS

lr1277 said:

WillPS said:

The only cards to have been cancelled which I'm aware of are those from Creation, who are clearly winding down their UK operations anyway.

Other than that, the worst that's happened is card issuers changing their terms to apply charges to anything processed via Curve (Tesco and Natwest Group).

I am not entirely sure about that. I am under the impression that people who used their Creation card without Curve continue to have use of their card. Could be wrong on that front though.

That's correct - what I'm suggesting is that Creation are looking to wind their book down (despite having contractual obligations to continue running some co-branded products) - they took the opportunity to shut down a large part of their IHG book with both hands.

orange-juice

Hey, i noticed you can change the card currency for a card on the Curve app. It's set to GBP by default.

If you have/don't have a 'specialist travel card', such as aqua rewards, should you change the currency depending on your holidaying country?

grumbler

MSE: "The main Curve card is free to get and use in the UK, and the company has told us that there are no plans to introduce fees, though this could of course change in future."

However, at https://www.curve.com/en-gb/cards/ for the 'main' card I see "Card Delivery Fee £4.99"

Am I missing something or MSE article needs updating?

PRAISETHESUN

grumbler said:

MSE: "The main Curve card is free to get and use in the UK, and the company has told us that there are no plans to introduce fees, though this could of course change in future."

However, at https://www.curve.com/en-gb/cards/ for the 'main' card I see "Card Delivery Fee £4.99"

Am I missing something or MSE article needs updating?

There's been some recent changes with Curve, as discussed here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6368337/change-to-curve-card-price-levels-and-new-curve-x-level/p1

Given the MASE article was last updated in March, it's likely out of date.

Devizes2008

Hello, I joined Curve card recently. I got an email from PayPal announcing that I could use paypal now in shops, which got my attention! I paid for the lowest tier and after a few days got my physical card but could use mobile payments right away. Because I like to use Paypal I thought that this was an excellent system, however, very soon I got stung with cash withdrawal fees from my LLoyds credit card account. When approaching LLoyds they advised me to stop paying with that new card because they would continue charging me cash advance fees. So the way I have this setup is: Curve card uses PayPal as the underlying payment method and PayPal in turn uses my Lloyds card as underlying payment solution. Somehow Lloyds is aware of what PayPal is using the money for. 
Is Lloyds correct in considering these shop payments as cash advance? PayPal tells me that they don't charge Lloyds CC in any other way (before activating the Curve card), they don't know nor can they help me :-(

crumpet_man

You are not using the Lloyds credit card to make purchases in shops.  You are using it to fund an e-wallet.

Whether or not you think it is correct, Lloyds are going to charge you fees for using the card that way.  

How does it benefit you to use the credit card behind PayPal and Curve rather than using it directly at the shop?