more purchases treated as "cash"

dmmm

Hello,

Since Jule 2021 in, latest being September 2021, Lloyds notified  that starting 15 October 2021 they will treat some credit card purchases as cash transactions. They shared a non exhaustive list of transactions that will be included in their new definition of cash transactions. I called them and they confirmed the list is not exhaustive and pretty much anything could be treated as cash transaction such as gift card top up, I would get no warning prior to a transaction or after a transaction if it is going to be treated as cash (even if no cash is involved), and that they would be unable to help if I was fooled to do a 'cash transaction' as a result of the vendor not notifying me in advance. They also do not offer the option to set a 'cash' transaction limit of 0 to my card.

I am getting nowhere with the Lloyds complain process and Ombusman. They think as long it is communicated, definition of cash is a Lloyds commercial decision. Anyone got any other suggestions?

Cheers

Nebulous2

They wont want to give a definition, as people will then try to find ways round it. It might be frustrating, but it's hard to argue that topping up a gift card is a purchase and isn't cash or near cash. 

I'd avoid these transactions. You aren't going to get a cash charge for buying your shopping, or filling your car with fuel. 

Or you may want to get another card, which doesn't have as stringent a definition of cash transactions. I suspect however that many of them will be heading in the same direction. 

Ebe_Scrooge

It's usually based on the MCC, but pretty much all cards will treat gift card top-ups as a cash transaction, along with buying foreign currency, most gambling transactions and such-like.  Most "treated as cash" transaction are fairly obvious - just stick to buying standard goods and services on your card and you'll be fine.

Fingerbobs

Ebe_Scrooge said:

It's usually based on the MCC, but pretty much all cards will treat gift card top-ups as a cash transaction, along with buying foreign currency, most gambling transactions and such-like.  Most "treated as cash" transaction are fairly obvious - just stick to buying standard goods and services on your card and you'll be fine.

Never have I had a "Gift Card top-up" treated as a cash transaction. They just go through the till as a normal purchase, so the card provider has no way to know it was a gift card purchase/top-up. If you want to be certain, just buy some normal shopping in the same transaction. They're not going to put two transactions through with different MCCs. 

The one case that is often cited online was someone purchasing a gift card from a Bureau de Change, which is why it was treated as cash, not because it was a gift card. 

Sandtree

Ebe_Scrooge said:

It's usually based on the MCC, but pretty much all cards will treat gift card top-ups as a cash transaction

Never had one treated as cash either and I would contest that it is "cash like" on the basis you cannot get the cash back in any way with the vast majority of gift cards unlike gambling accounts where you can cash out or FX where it is literally cash they are giving you. 

I buy/top up Apple USD gift cards from Amazon regularly to maintain subscriptions to the likes of HBO Max so its not a case of possibly not spotting it. 

born_again

dmmm said:

I am getting nowhere with the Lloyds complain process and Ombusman. They think as long it is communicated, definition of cash is a Lloyds commercial decision. Anyone got any other suggestions?

Cheers

As is their right.

Only answer is to vote with your feet & go elsewhere.

Thrugelmir

Never had a transaction treated as cash. No doubt there people attempting to exploit loopholes in the system though. Enabling them to draw cash before defaulting on the account. When identified the loophole will get plugged. 

crumpet_man

Lloyds have charged me a cash fee of 5% of the transaction when buying a gift card through an employee rewards website.  All they sell are gift cards at a discounted rate.  I have not previously (or since) been charged when using other credit cards at the same website.

Luckily for me, I usedy Curve card for the purchase and when I spotted the cash fee appear on my Lloyds account I worked out what it was for and used the Curve "go back in time" feature and moved the purchase to a different credit card.  The cash fee was automatically refunded on my Lloyds card.

[Deleted User]

It's a fairly recent thing with the whole Lloyds stable of cards.

I bought a mobile top up for an overseas prepaid sim and it was charged as a cash advance on Halifax Clarity. I used my debit card this time and have ditched Clarity. 

Alex9384

I bought

Fingerbobs said:

Never have I had a "Gift Card top-up" treated as a cash transaction. They just go through the till as a normal purchase, so the card provider has no way to know it was a gift card purchase/top-up. If you want to be certain, just buy some normal shopping in the same transaction. They're not going to put two transactions through with different MCCs. 

Same here. Last time I tried in 2019, I believe it was in SuperDry. It was treated by Barclaycard like a normal purchase.

dmmm

I also use the card to top up via employee benefits portal. So far it does not seem they get treated as 'cash'. However the vague defnitions and lack of warning have me worried - they can treat ANYTHING as 'cash' at any given time.

If they want to treat certain transactions differently fine, calling them 'cash' or 'cash like' is a scam in my opinion, especially if they do not let you know in advance if they will treat it as cash.

I will stop using this card and look for other options but since the inept regulator allows that scam to go on, it is a matter of time before all lenders succumb to greed and do the same. They will just keep extending the 'cash like' list of transactions.