www.iva.co.uk

I opened a current account with the Alliance & Leicester about 6 months ago as I am 4 years in to my IVA and currently with HSBC so there is always that little threat that my account would be closed at anytime. Well after 6 months of still using my HSBC as my main account and transferring enough money in to my A&L account for food shopping and other little bits I got a letter this morning to say they've upgraded me from a visa electron to a full visa debit card so not all banks hate us IVAers!! I'd checked my credit file so I know they did a credit check on me but it seems that A&L are slightly more sympathetic than all the other banks I tried. [:)]

Hi
I'll second this as I have a business account with A+L,opened a month after my IVA was completed[although it is still on my file]
Regards


Andy Davie
IVA.co.uk Spokesperson

About me:
http://www.iva.co.uk/andy_davie_profile.asp

IVA Helpline: 0800 197 4838
http://www.iva.co.uk/iva_helpline.asp

As the advert says..YOU GET A SMARTER INVESTOR AT THE ALLIANCE AND LEICESTER!! )

Just been talking to the Alliance and Leicester about mortgages. I told them I was just about to finish a IVA and how long would it be before they would look at giving me a mortgage. I expected to be told the usual 6 years. They said that once the IVA had been completed for 3 years they would be able to look at giving me a mortgage. So thats something to remember in 3 years time.

I am curious with your visa upgrade. As it is rare to get an upgrade even when your iva is over even after 5 years.N'Wide a case point from other posters.

If you have a visa debitcard rather than a VE card then you have access to credit?? As VD cards have a credit limit.I don't think that is permitted under an IVA? If you have no credit on that card then it is not really an upgrade. V Dedit merchant Acceptance is certainly 100% worldwide but the V Electron isn't far off. Some people have used a VE card as a visa debitcard
I use a real Maestro card, not prepaid, and in the UK, it is impossible for it not accepted in the UK.
VE is great in Far East and MiddleEast and it doesn't have that inferior image as it does here.


<<My motto:I am proud of black culture and is against racist bigotry>

Hi
A Visa debit card is not a card that gives you credit.It simply gives you access to funds that you have in your account.If you have insufficient funds then the transaction is declined.
A visa credit card is obviously different and would not normally be available to anyone in an IVA

Regards

Andy Davie
IVA.co.uk Spokesperson

About me:
http://www.iva.co.uk/andy_davie_profile.asp

IVA Helpline: 0800 197 4838
http://www.iva.co.uk/iva_helpline.asp

I had a mortgage linked to a current account before my IVA started,and my mortgage account was up to date,and my current account was not overdrawn.
I have managed to keep my debit card,cheque book etc all the way through my IVA,and my bank is my main creditor!!
Just cause you enter into an IVA doesnt mean you cant have a debit card!

From the opinions I am a bit perplex as to what the difference is between a visa electron and visa debitcard as both is suppose to allow spending on what you have in your account.No credit.

Why would the A and L upgrade someone onto a visa debitcard and do credit scoring as it does no more than a visa electron??? And why do most people here do not have a V D card apart from a mortage linked account but a visa electron instead.

People here on an iVA and have a Nwide account have not been allowed to have their VD card even five years after an IVA as someone posting here as Shazza have said

<<My motto:I am proud of black culture and is against racist bigotry>

The Visa Debit card actually can give you a level of credit. A retailer that has a floor limit (say £50), will only seek authorisation for funds on transactions above the floor limit. So in theory, in the old days you could fill your car up with petrol, say £45, and when you paid with a Visa Debit card, your card in theory wouldn't be checked for funds, so if your available funds were zero, you have in theory gained £45 credit. On the other hand, Visa Electron has the requirement that *ALL* transactions have to be authorised on the spot to check for sufficient funds (as these types of cards are linked to young persons accounts or basic bank accounts.) The same theory goes for the Solo card, which is the difference between the old Switch/(Maestro) and Solo.

This is the reason why a few years back you could not pay with a Solo/Electron card in the vast number of stores (especially petrol stations), due to the whole floor limit issue. Nowadays, technology has advanced and the Solo/VElectron is accepted more widely, obviously a lot more retailers are authorising on the spot.

This is also the reason why if you have a prepaid CREDIT card, you in theory could have your transaction declined, even if you have sufficient funds, due to the fact that authorisation couldn't be found for the transaction, whereas a proper Credit card may still authorise. (If you read the T & C on a prepaid CC you'll probably see some sort of comment about this.)

Hope that clears up some confusion... or maybe added to it!!

Thank you Wen - I knew there was a credit option on the VD not on the V electron or else why do most people get refused this card.I used to have a VISA DELTA card and that had credit of £900 linked to the O/D even though it was a DEBITCARD.

The banks need to either give a visa debit(with O/D) or electron(no credit) and not muddle the waters as to what is allowed. But as credit checkes are done before the VD is issued it is to me a CREDIT enabled card

<<My motto:I am proud of black culture and is against racist bigotry>

While the Visa Debit (ex-Delta) card has the potential to give you a level of credit (as explained previous), it should be pointed out that if authorisation if asked for at the time of transaction, and there is insufficient funds to cover, it is then at the banks discretion to authorise it or not, and could lead to it being declined.

Wen
I will have to disagree with you on certain points regarding a debit card
Having worked for years in the supermarket industry all debit cards are authorised these days,the exception may be petrol stations and the thinking behind it is that the fuel is already in the vehicle and can't be "put back"
I think,to answer Skippers question of what's the difference,that some debit cards also double up as a cheque guarantee card and hence will need a credit check to obtain one and,as you have correctly stated,an electron card has to be authourised whereas a debit card can still be imprinted and taken for the floor limit if systems that dial for authorisation,are down.
They are basically the same and only allow access to funds that you already have,in the vast majority of cases.
Regards

Andy Davie
IVA.co.uk Spokesperson

About me:
http://www.iva.co.uk/andy_davie_profile.asp

IVA Helpline: 0800 197 4838
http://www.iva.co.uk/iva_helpline.asp

Hi Andy,

When I was referring to supermarkets/petrols, I was referring to years gone by. More petrol stations allow Solo & Electron, but I do see your points.

Also the cheque guarantee card point is a good one, however I should add, my recent LTSB Visa Debit card I received mentioned nothing of a guarantee limit, so perhaps LTSB are not issuing them anymore?

I have just visited ther VISA website. I think I know the answers. There is a something called payment deferred debitcard! Pay later buy now for small things.The payment must be settled at the end of the month. This is what the poster with A and L had got as an upgrade. Whereas VE card is for pay now buy now. The VD card is a half way debit/creditcard.

The advantage of the VD card over the VE is few as many places these days take immediate payment verification.Some airlines prefer VE like Easy Jet with no surcharge. But for abroad internet purchase it would be 100% acceptance so that would be the key advantage.

A credit card would be for big purchases. So now it all makes sense.



<<My motto:I am proud of black culture and is against racist bigotry>

What I've got is a standard visa debit card that takes the payment out of my account as soon as I use it. This is the same as a Maestro card that I have with HSBC. The reason a visa debit card is better for me is that I travel abroad with work and found that my visa electron card wouldn't work in many places but my Maestro card did so a visa debit card will too.