How often would someone need to take a deposit of more than £100? Rarely.
I'm not saying it'll happen often, but it is something someone considering using it needs to be aware of.
If you want to use it for a deposit to cover payment for a flight somewhere (so Mr Client doesn't get to know the name on your passport, for example) then it would need to be spread over several days (because you want to have a flexible ticket rather than one tied to specific flights and these tend to cost more than £100).
They're part of the Clydesdale Bank, using Mastercard (who operate Maestro). So I very much doubt they'd be entering a market where they'd likely to go bust.
Nope. They are "PrePay Technologies Ltd". They
use Mastercards
issued by Clydesdale (the cards remain Clydesdale's property) but they specifically highlight this bit from their terms and conditions as a significant risk users need to be aware of:
2.2 .. you have no rights against Clydesdale Bank PLC or MasterCard International Incorporated or their respective affiliates. .. In the unlikely event that we become insolvent, the e-money on your Card may lose its value and become unusable, and accordingly you may lose your e-money.
Will Clydesdale go bust in the next year or two? It's very, very unlikely - and if they did, and you have an account with them, you're covered by a scheme that will give you 100% of your first £2,000 and then 90% of the next £33,000. (This is why it makes sense to have accounts with more than one bank etc if you have a large amount of money - after this much, you're not covered by the scheme.)
Will PrePay Technologies Ltd go bust tomorrow? I've no idea. They started life in 2000 as Splash Plastic Ltd, and changed their name the next year. They've also changed the type of cards once - you stopped being able to use your old one and it looks like they charged you to transfer any balance. I'd have to pay to see their accounts or who their shareholders are, so I've no idea how much funding they have. In any case, if they did go under, it's probably going to be Farepak 2: bye-bye to your money.
(Oh - I see their registered offices are on Baker Street. If I remember, when I'm next in that bit of London, I'll have a look and see who owns them.)
These types of cards are huge success and very, very popular in the US. They should be here as well, given how many people can't get, or dont want regular credit cards.
I can see why the banks like them and want to promote them - they make a large pile of money off them. They get all the money up front and still get to charge fees for using it.
This one doesn't do this, but typically, with a pre-paid credit card if you don't spend the money within a year, the bank takes everything that's left. Ker-ching!
Topic: payments (Read 34628 times)