Abbey and unsolicited debit cards

cathyb

My mother has had an abbey current account for many years. She has run this quite successfully using the visa debit card supplied with the account. This week she received an electron card through the post. This was unsolicited and unrequired but she simply assumed that it was a replacement for her current visa debit card. She did not pick up that it was an electron card. She tried to use it with her normal pin and of course it didn't work. My mum is old and doesn't really know what is happening with these cards. Does the original one still work for instance? When she went into Abbey, they told her to wait for the new pin - which would leave her unable to access her money via atms until it arrives if her old one no longer works. Also my understanding is that an electron card is a lesser beast than a visa debit so why would they downgrade someone who's account has always been in good order?
Has anyone else had this experience?

howmuchcaniget

cathyb wrote: »

My mother has had an abbey current account for many years. She has run this quite successfully using the visa debit card supplied with the account. This week she received an electron card through the post. This was unsolicited and unrequired but she simply assumed that it was a replacement for her current visa debit card. She did not pick up that it was an electron card. She tried to use it with her normal pin and of course it didn't work. My mum is old and doesn't really know what is happening with these cards. Does the original one still work for instance? When she went into Abbey, they told her to wait for the new pin - which would leave her unable to access her money via atms until it arrives if her old one no longer works. Also my understanding is that an electron card is a lesser beast than a visa debit so why would they downgrade someone who's account has always been in good order?
Has anyone else had this experience?

I'm not certain but it could have something to do with how much is credited to the account each month. For instance if the account is credited with less than £1000. Get your Mum to call them when you are with her and she can give permission over the phone for them to talk to you - you can then ask all relevant questions if your Mum doesn't feel confident enough to. Sorry I haven't been much help.

PBA

Sounds like she had an Electron card originally, which at some point was upgraded to a Visa Debit card. When the upgrade was done, the old card would only have been cancelled if she specifically requested it, and it's more likely she cut it up and threw it away without thinking. Chances are the old Electron card would have expired this month, so she's automatically getting sent a replacement. Assuming the Visa Debit card hasn't expired, she can carry on using it as normal and take the Electron card back to a branch, making sure they cancel it so this won't happen again in a couple years time.

bargains83

PBA wrote: »

Sounds like she had an Electron card originally, which at some point was upgraded to a Visa Debit card. When the upgrade was done, the old card would only have been cancelled if she specifically requested it, and it's more likely she cut it up and threw it away without thinking. Chances are the old Electron card would have expired this month, so she's automatically getting sent a replacement. Assuming the Visa Debit card hasn't expired, she can carry on using it as normal and take the Electron card back to a branch, making sure they cancel it so this won't happen again in a couple years time.

Yeah i've had this, I had an Electron card as my only card with them until last year, I phoned to request a Visa Debit card and they told me I could continue using the old Electron card as well unless I wanted to cancel it. For me, its a benefit having two different cards. I keep the Visa Debit in my wallet for use out and about and the Electron near the computer for when I'm shopping online/can't be bothered getting my wallet out.

I can see why for an older person though it could be confusing having two different cards.

Spark

Strange, I used to have an Electron card as well as a Debit Card for the same account, would have come handy during the card renewal fiasco of this summer, would have been able to use my electron to withdraw cash while waiting for my new Visa debit card, but my electron card was cancelled two years ago by Abbey, for security purposes. I had an Electron card first when I opened an account with Abbey, many years ago, then when they were sure that I was managing my account properly that they offered me a debit card with an overdraft.
It is definitively a downgrade, it has only a £50 guarantee on it and is not accepted in some shops and websites, I am not even sure if you can get an overdraft on it.
I thought they were phasing out the Electron card, but obviously not.
I know some people who have been downgraded from a debit card to an electron card when they had gone over their overdraft, so maybe you should check if anything happened on her account.
Or howmuchcaniget might be right, it has to do with the amount of money landing in her account each month. They probably regard older people as a reliability, as nowadays quite a few of them can get into debt, very unfair but they are all trying to minimise the risks at the moment.
Check if the new Electron card correspond with the expiry date of the debit card, and in any case call them and ask them why she was sent an Electron card, if it's to replace the debit card, and why.
Or as Abbey has got a tendency not to know what they're doing at the moment with the transfer to Santander, it might have been a mistake.

When she went into Abbey, they told her to wait for the new pin - which would leave her unable to access her money via atms until it arrives if her old one no longer works.

The Abbey branches don't seen to know what's going on much, so I would definitively call them to get some clarification, as for whether the old card works or not, why doesn't she try it to see if it still works?

LittleVoice

There is probably some logic somewhere but probably faulty!

When I resurrected an Abbey current account (from a zero balance) in order to access the 10% saver, I was provided with an Electron card instead of the cheque guarantee/debit card I had previously held. I also was beginning to pay in £1K/month (requirement of the saving account). In my case it did not appear to be the amount of the monthly deposit or previous account problems. Maybe it was that I had just turned 60 (though I have deferred taking my state pension and am working full-time).

At the time of reinstating the account, I had been thinking of switching my Abbey current account to the 8% version but then decided that the problems with Abbey meant it really wasn't worth it.

I have also decided that the 10% on the £250/month one-year savings account hardly makes the monthly moving of £1K into (and out of) the current account worth it either and probably will let the whole thing lapse again next year when the savings account matures.