Well, surprise, surprise. It seems that the Clydesdale Bank shifting me from a Maestro card to a MasterCard Debit card does have some added advantage after all. It could be, without a hint of irony, the greatest single advantage ever in the history of banking. Yes friends it seems that a great swathe of online retailers don’t even have an OPTION for a MasterCard Debit card. A few, like Amazon, have got a MasterCard option to be sure, but does that option cover both credit and debit varieties, or only the credit ones? Some types of services are restricted specifically to debit cards. The National Lottery website won’t accept the card because it believes it’s a credit card, and their rules prevent people using credit cards on the site as party of their, very responsible, gambling policy. I’m not sure about Play.com right now because their site doesn’t have a drop down box to describe the card type. I guess I’ll just have to plug the card details in and hope for the best next time I try to order something.
Well I’m sure it’s an advantage somehow…
Is anyone else sick of this “card activation” crap from the banks? I can see the reasoning behind phoning up and saying that you’ve received your card in principle, but really it just seems a thinly veiled excuse to try and peddle unwanted crap. I phoned up today to activate my new Clydesdale Bank MasterCard Debit Card that they so excitedly heralded in the letter I received a few weeks ago. Low and behold the number doesn’t go through to the Clydesdale call centre, but to third party: a company by the name of CPP. The operator on the end of the line was pleasant enough, but I couldn’t help but wonder at the irony of a third party being involved as a go between for confirming receipt of my card. I presume, and sincerely hope, that CPP have only very limited access to account information because it seems to me there’s little difference between phoning them up, and getting Manky Jimmy the town layabout to phone the Clydesdale on my behalf.
The first time I had to call one of these things I didn’t even realise that I wasn’t talking to the Clydesdale Bank itself. Well not until the real reason for having to go through a third party manifested itself. CPP are in the business of providing card insurance and identify fraud insurance policies. As soon as the operator has dispensed with the two second job of asking for your name, address and date of birth to activate your card they launch straight into the sales script. The worst element of this badly disguised thing is that the bank gives you no alternative manner to activate your card. If you don’t call, and set yourself up for the sales pitch, then you’ve automatically shot yourself in the foot because your original card will stop working within six weeks of the new one being issued. In the meantime you’re stuck because the new one won’t work until you phone to activate it.
Now all credit to the CPP operators as they stop the pitch, wish you a merry Christmas as and ring off as soon as you tell them you’re not interested, but I wonder how many people have sat and listened, or even taken out the policies simply because they thought they were dealing with one of those “nice folk at the bank.”
My dearest banks, I appreciate that card activation is an important safeguard, but could you do it without the involvement of a third party and the associated hard sell.
Please?
After years of faithful service, and a few odd hiccups, it seems that the Clydesdale Bank has finally decided to retire their poor old Maestro cards. I’ve just got a letter through the door telling me that I can expect to receive a shiny new MasterCard Debit Card through the post in the near future.
I’m not sure what the immediate advantages are to me as the main selling point on the accompanying leaflet seems to be the fact that I can use it in millions of places around the world. Not much use when I’m a famously insular Scot that refuses to go anywhere that I can’t walk to in a day. I’ve been through the leaflet twice and I can’t see any other advantage mentioned so I guess that’s my lot.
Not entirely sure why Clydesdale have chosen to change this as Maestro is operated by MasterCard anyway so in effect it’s the same service… Isn’t it?
Barclaycard seem to be getting pissed off. I’ve just got a letter today telling me that I’m a lucky man. My Graduate Barclaycard has now been upgraded to a wonderful new Barclaycard Cashback. I assume this is because I’ve not actually bought anything with my current card since 2006 and have just recently finished paying off the last of the outstanding balance. I suppose it’s my own fault for listening to people when they told me I should keep it in case of “emergencies”. If I’d gotten rid of the card in the first place
The letter is a big glossy mail shot written in a friendly and encouraging tone with details of all the amazing features of my new card. The top line is a blazing azure headline that reads “Good News – You’re Being Upgraded”.
First of all I get an amazing 1% cashback on the first £20,000 of purchases I make each year and 0.5% cashback after that.
Double cashback on contactless purchases.
They’ll also lower my purchase APR to 21.4% and give me 0% on any balance transfers that I make until September 2010 (3% fee of course).
They also gave me a £10 House of Fraser voucher…
So in very simple terms I’m to be highly excited by a card that rewards me with virtually nothing unless I spend a huge amount. Additionally I would have to instantly pay off all the balance as soon as the statement arrived or my diminutive cashback “reward” would instantly be dwarfed by the amount added on to my account in interest.
I think this upgraded card will be joining it’s pal in the drawer.