If someone stole my Visa Electron...

[NoFastMem]

...I probably wouldn't even bother to cancel it, since chances of them being able to actually use it somewhere are pretty much nil. :evil:

Just been trying to buy tickets to London for next week and was just about to pay when I got declined. According to GNER, they're "bound by a rail industry trade agreement" not to accept Electron cards.

WTF. :-( I'll have to ask someone at work who isn't a second class citizen to buy them for me.

[X-ray]

What is Electron?

[CannonFodder]

X-ray wrote:
What is Electron?

It´s a ¨debit¨ card that they give to people who have a poor credit rating.

Most places take it now, but a lot don´t as the transaction isn´t guaranteed by the bank.

If one was to buy a ticket on a train with a normal debit card and the account attatched to the card had insufficent funds to pay for it, then the bank would still pay the transaction and the account would go overdrawn, even if the account has no overdraft facility.

In the same situation with an electron card, the bank would refuse to pay the transaction to the seller.

IIRC

[mel_zoom]

Is this the same GNER that have trains Ive seen in Manchester that look bad compared to those in Bangladesh?

[NoFastMem]

CannonFodder wrote:

X-ray wrote:
What is Electron?

It´s a ¨debit¨ card that they give to people who have a poor credit rating.

Most places take it now, but a lot don´t as the transaction isn´t guaranteed by the bank.

If one was to buy a ticket on a train with a normal debit card and the account attatched to the card had insufficent funds to pay for it, then the bank would still pay the transaction and the account would go overdrawn, even if the account has no overdraft facility.

In the same situation with an electron card, the bank would refuse to pay the transaction to the seller.

IIRC

Right, except that the Electron will decline on the spot if you don't have the required funds. If you do, they become immediately unavailable upon the transaction and disappear from your account balance within a couple of days.

In other words the perceived risk isn't there in practice. I'm switching banks anyway since the Halifax is a bloody joke, hopefully I'll be able to get a Maestro card or something remotely useful.

"Hopefully," he said, as though in any sane world one's credit rating should have such a bearing on eligibility for a debit card. The banks never seem to worry about my ability to pay the bills when they're charging me for not having any money.

Sigh.

[X-ray]

Oh I see.

Well, speaking of credit and cards and things, lemme tell you all a story.
Draw up close, kids and listen to Uncle X-ray...

When I was working on minimum wage back in 1990 in Dorset (£2.25 per hour IIRC) I was paid weekly in cash. I never had a bank account because my whole aim in life was simply to save enough money to buy an A500 (which I eventually did). It was a silly thing, not to open an account. Because:

Fast forward to 1995. I had studied radiography in South Africa and came back to the UK to seek my fortune. But...nobody wanted to know me (none of the banks that is). Even though I had about £4000 that I could deposit straight away, I couldn't open the account because I didn't have an address and utility bills to prove that I wasn't Al Capone's great grandson. Fortunately the landlady had a contact at RBS and when I went to see him, he opened a very basic current account for me. That's all I could get.
When I left the UK at the end of 1996 I had the good sense not to close that account. I kept it open and came back to seek my fortune (thus far not found) in the year 2000. I didn't have much money when I arrived (less than £1000) but I had organised a job pretty sharpish before I got on the plane
So after a few months working I was able to go in and ask for a savings account with better interest. They saw I had been a customer of theirs for some time and gave me another card.

But what I really wanted was a credit card. I asked RBS for a credit card and they said I need to provide a bank statement and a utility bill. I said cool, here are all my RBS statements going back quite a while and here is a direct debit notice from one of my board registrations.

You know what they said? They said I can't provide a statement from the same bank at which I am applying for the credit card!
I said wtf man, you know me. Are you trying to say I have this current account under dubious circumstances?
They weren't interested. They said I can't do that, I must produce another bank's statement. When I asked them if the credit card division was the same as the savings account division, they said no, they are separate entities. I said what's the problem then? They couldn't explain, all they said was no. You know the attitude "The computer says no"

Fine.

I applied for a Capital One card and they gave me the lowest of the low with a credit limit of about £200. Well it was better than nothing and I made sure I used that, but also paid the account off in full before they could charge me interest. Steadily the credit limit was increased and they gave me a better deal.

Now this is where it gets interesting. After the very first payment I made via RBS cheque to Capital One, I got a letter from RBS offering me a credit card.

Wtf, eh?

You know what I think...they keep track of who your payees are and use that for cold calling. Ever since I have had that Capital One card, I have had RBS trying to crawl up my arse with all sorts of tempting offers. I have had them phoning me, writing to me, sending offers in the mail, you name it.
And I have said no each time. Why? Because when I needed their credit card they wouldn't give it to me. And I had not established any kind of extra trustworthiness in the interim. So they can stick their credit card.

And that's my story for you. It has taken a while, but I have now built up a decent credit history. Of course I had good credit history in South Africa but that doesn't count. I don't own any property and I don't have a lot of money but my credit limit is ten times better now.

The secret is: paying on time and paying it all if possible. To be honest I don't use the credit card in a way that the bank can milk me. It is a convenient way to pay for online purchases and that is why I like it.

[NoFastMem]

mel_zoom wrote:
Is this the same GNER that have trains Ive seen in Manchester that look bad compared to those in Bangladesh?

I didn't think they operated trains in Manchester, but maybe they sold off some old ones, which would account for the disrepair. :-)

[CannonFodder]

Right, except that the Electron will decline on the spot if you don't have the required funds.

Not when you use it on the train with the hip swipe machine.

If they allowed them on the station machines they would have to allow them on the hip machines too.

Technical reasons are usually given as the reason.

[mel_zoom]

NoFastMem:

These were easily the dirtiest and smelliest trains Ive seen in a first world country. I am surprised they feel they are in a position to turn down a paying customer!

[NoFastMem]

mel_zoom wrote:
I am surprised they feel they are in a position to turn down a paying customer!

Funny you should say that, as their parent company is on the verge of bankruptcy...

[NoFastMem]

CannonFodder wrote:
If they allowed them on the station machines they would have to allow them on the hip machines too.

Hmm, for the benefit of what? Consistency? Because that goes out the window once you accept one Visa card and not another.

I dunno, it just does my head in that I can't pay with a perfectly good card for the sake of a few simpletons who might not get their heads around the need for the charge to process before goods or services are provided.

[CannonFodder]

NoFastMem wrote:

CannonFodder wrote:
If they allowed them on the station machines they would have to allow them on the hip machines too.

Hmm, for the benefit of what? Consistency? Because that goes out the window once you accept one Visa card and not another.

I dunno, it just does my head in that I can't pay with a perfectly good card for the sake of a few simpletons who might not get their heads around the need for the charge to process before goods or services are provided.

The banks don´t give a sh!t about your custom, or your conveniance.  That´s why they gave you an Electron Card.  Otherwsie you´d have a VISA Debit or a Switch(Maestro) Card.

[mick_aka]

Paying money to use the train system in this country is a waste of time, coutless times ive not had my ticket checked on trips to London and back and to be honest as I usually end up standing through my entire journey on a crappy, smelly, overcrowded poor excuse for a train whay should I pay anyway?

And they want people to give up their cars!! HA!

[mel_zoom]

NoFastMem:

"Funny you should say that, as their parent company is on the verge of bankruptcy."

Looking at their trains Im not surpised!

[PMC]

Definition of electron: 'Has a charge but carries no weight'