visa electron - can you do this?

Morba

Morba

Morba

Caporegime
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I always thought that electron cards were the lowest form of debit car you could have, almost being no better than a bank card, so when asked the following question I assumed the answer would be "no", but thought some people here might have a better idea...

walk into a bank that didn't issue your electron card, pay money into someone elses account via the card, not with cash.

is that possible? for some reason i am thinking it wouldnt be!
 
If the bank has chip and pin machines i dont see why not. Its a transaction they would have to process like any other card, using a chip and pin terminal.

I cant say its something i have ever done with any card ive had, ive always got cash out and gone to the counter with that.
 
The only limitation on Electron cards is that the authorisation cannot be deferred, it has to be instant. This is why you cannot use it on trains as they do batch authorisations at the end of the day.
 
philjohn said:
The only limitation on Electron cards is that the authorisation cannot be deferred, it has to be instant. This is why you cannot use it on trains as they do batch authorisations at the end of the day.
Click to expand...

At least you can use them at the stations now!
 
philjohn said:
The only limitation on Electron cards is that the authorisation cannot be deferred, it has to be instant. This is why you cannot use it on trains as they do batch authorisations at the end of the day.
Click to expand...

oh right, thought it was a lot more limited than that
 
You also can't use it on a lot of websites for over 18's (poker sites etc) without extra age verification as it's issued to 16 year olds. Other than that, and the instant authorisation, it's the same as any other debit card.


A lot of websites still refuse to take it, but they can often be fooled into believing that you're using a Visa credit card. This is especially handy if buying off foreign websites that normally won't accept British debit cards. Tho, for obvious reasons, using a credit card is safer.
 
Cob said:
You also can't use it on a lot of websites for over 18's (poker sites etc) without extra age verification as it's issued to 16 year olds. Other than that, and the instant authorisation, it's the same as any other debit card.
Click to expand...

I have encountered very few problems when purchasing goods with my Visa Electron.

I am 16, and have successfully ordered alcohol, 18 rated DVDs, 18 rated games and many other items that have no age restriction imposed.

Seems pretty much like free reign, imo :)
 
apeZ said:
I have encountered very few problems when purchasing goods with my Visa Electron.

I am 16, and have successfully ordered alcohol, 18 rated DVDs, 18 rated games and many other items that have no age restriction imposed.

Seems pretty much like free reign, imo :)
Click to expand...

That's more down to lax site checks than the card. Have you tried using the card to make a deposit on a gambling/betting site that requires you to be over 18?
 
I haven't tried gambling sites, no. I would assume that they have more strict checking, not sure.

Surprised how many sites don't though, had no trouble purchasing small quantities of alcohol from most major supermarkets. Would only require a quick check (I assume) to prevent it :/
 
apeZ said:
I haven't tried gambling sites, no. I would assume that they have more strict checking, not sure.

Surprised how many sites don't though, had no trouble purchasing small quantities of alcohol from most major supermarkets. Would only require a quick check (I assume) to prevent it :/
Click to expand...

My mate got id'd by a tesco delivery man for alcohol. It was his mums order, but she wasn't in and i had to go over with my id (i was a couple of months over 18 at the time, he still wasnt) and say it was all mine. Stupid idiot the delivery guy was.
 
Electron is good sometimes because you often don't get charged a booking fee when booking flights whereas you do with any other card.

As for your question I've not found a bank over here (in NI) yet that has let me pay money into another account using my debit card. Even for paying credit card bills I've had to withdraw cash first although I think if it's the same bank that you are with you might be able to do it.
 
I can confirm that i have gone to the bank i am with, given them my card and said i want to transfer blah amount to blah's account(with a different bank) They say it will take up to 3 days. That was with an old debit card, i think it may have said electron on it. It's worth a go, and if they say no, just withdraw money with it and do it that way. :)
 
philjohn said:
The only limitation on Electron cards is that the authorisation cannot be deferred, it has to be instant. This is why you cannot use it on trains as they do batch authorisations at the end of the day.
Click to expand...

Depends which train company, southern you can't, south west trains you can.

Deferred authorisation is true though, but satellite card terminals are common place now.
 
If i remember right from when i was issued my electron card years ago, one of the differences from a visa debit is that an electron card can't spend money that is not in your account, if the transaction would take you into overdraft then the payment will be refused, unlike a vista debit which would allow you to go into overdraft.
 
My electron lets me into my overdraft, same as my visa debit.

Same account.

Had an electron only on the overdraft for 2 months before I got the visa debit too.
 
think he means it wont let you go over your agreed overdraft limit ,which it shouldnt because as said above it can only be used when authorisation is instant. if you dont have the money then it just gets rejected by the shop

unlike with visa debits where you could just spend and spend and spend
 
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