Prepaid Cards Guide Discussion Area

Options
24567…52

Comments

  • anfear
    anfear Posts: 8 Forumite
    Options
    Hi all,

    I got a prepaid MC a while back. Its a payzone one. I was concerned about gaurenteed money on my card. They sent a group email to all their customers saying that all monies on the card were guarenteed up to £10,000 (the max limit). icon7.gif
  • savagej
    savagej Posts: 1,158 Forumite
    Options
    Quentin, compensation and getting your money back are not one and the same thing. James

    Edit: in addtion Mastercard rules stand for all Mastercards, companies cannot pick and choose. They even dictate the size and exact colour of the logo as printed on the card and on stickers for shop windows. They have it down to an art form.
  • Quentin
    Quentin Posts: 40,405 Forumite
    Options
    anfear wrote: »
    I got a prepaid MC a while back......They sent a group email to all their customers saying that all monies on the card were guarenteed up to £10,000 (the max limit). icon7.gif

    The card we are discussing is a utility warehouse club card. The uw operates its own ts + cs, which clearly state any money you have loaded on your card but unused would be lost should they (uw) go bust. It seems prepayments you make are in fact paid to the uw's account, rather than held in a secure account by a bank.

    The uw run their ts + cs along different lines to most utility companies (eg, if you build up a large credit balance due to your monthly direct debit payment being higher than needed for your energy useage, then you find that you agreed to this balance being non -refundable! The only way to get it back is to sign up with another supplier and switch away!)
  • savagej
    savagej Posts: 1,158 Forumite
    Options
    There is also a difference between a bank going under and losing your money because the are not part of a compensation scheme, where you get x pence in the pound and a Mastercard chargeback due to a card transaction (which is a contract) being broken by one party.
  • robin_banks
    robin_banks Posts: 15,778 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Options
    Prepaid cards are a rip off - all of them.
    "An arrogant and self-righteous Guardian reading tvv@t".

    !!!!!! is all that about?
  • Quentin
    Quentin Posts: 40,405 Forumite
    Options
    savagej wrote: »
    Mastercard rules stand for all Mastercards, companies cannot pick and choose.

    The uw make it clear that the Mastercard aspect of their card has no benefit for their cardholding members:
    Your rights and obligations relating to the use of this Card are subject to this Agreement between you and us; you have no rights against MasterCard International Incorporated or their respective affiliates.
  • savagej
    savagej Posts: 1,158 Forumite
    Options
    You are misunderstanding what is being said there.

    They are sayying you cannot sue Mastercard themselves, you have no "third party" rights to sue them.

    A chargeback is processed by merchants who process Mastercard transactions, i.e Barclays Merchant Services, BMS is not Mastercard. The money comes back from the person you paid it out too who did not keep to their side of the contract, it is not Mastercard who pay it out.
  • Quentin
    Quentin Posts: 40,405 Forumite
    Options
    I haven't misunderstood!

    Uw cover that too, and make you agree you have no rights beyond as I already pointed out:
    your only protection for Internet, mail order or telephone transactions is your statutory protection under the Sale Of Goods Act and other applicable legislation. Where the Card is used in such situations and we are unable to resolve thedispute, you will be liable for the transaction.

    I posted about this to point out there are catches to this so called "cashback" card.

    If someone is interested in a prepay cash card, then maybe now they are aware of what the uw make you agree to, they will look at another provider who doesn't have the disclaimers they include.
  • savagej
    savagej Posts: 1,158 Forumite
    Options
    The key there is "we are unable to resolve the dispute" that means we put through a chargeback and it gets declined as it was outside of the scheme rules/we made a mistake/you made a mistake/you waited too long etc. etc. Then they have been unable to resolve the dispute and yes you would be liable. There are rules to chargebacks thats why I posted the link to the merchant rules.
  • descartesmum
    descartesmum Posts: 243 Forumite
    Options
    I have a titaniumcash card which is with mastercard. I admit it, I have bad credit so this is a G-dsend which I can use for everything on-line. There's a small fee when you use it but nothing for putting money on the card.

    http://www.titaniumcashplus.co.uk/
★ ★ ★ Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 343.2K Banking & Borrowing
  • 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.7K Spending & Discounts
  • 235.3K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 608.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 173.1K Life & Family
  • 247.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards