have a Solo card. I have no choice in the matter, as many of you will know, I was the victim of fraud, and have yet to clear my name with the credit reference agencies, so on paper, I am a bad risk for credit. Not being able to get credit does not bother me too much, as I just save hard. I have a mortgage with the Abbey National who saw me as more than a blemished credit record. Anyway, I have got off the subject for a moment then.
I bank with Natwest, and the only account they could offer me was a Step Account, which comes with a Solo card. Initially, I was disappointed as I was used to having a cheque card, but as the fraud had happened again with LloydsTSB, I had no choice but to close that account. In a way, I felt like a second class citizen, as I only had a Solo card, but as I did some research, I have found that it is not as bad as it first seemed.
In today's society, you are frowned upon if you do not have some form of plastic, but now there is a class system of cards!! Solo is lower class and is just above the Electron card.
Solo is the sister card of Switch, and it has a purple symbol with an 'S' in it. Like Switch, it can be used as a cashcard, and also a debit card at selected outlets. With Solo, every transaction is authorised by Solo, so there is no way you can spend money that you do not have, which is fine by me. The authorisation process at the checkout is no different from when you use a standard credit card, as it is all done remotely through the computers. The payment is then debited from your account within 2 days, although the amount debited will immediately be unavailable to you.
The only problem with Solo, is that is not accepted everywhere, so I make sure that I either check beforehand, or take enough money to cover my purchase.
The card is accepted at (to name a few) ASDA, new Look, Spar, Safeway, Tesco, Ikea, ToysRUS, Next, Argos, HMV, Iceland and M&S. If they offer a cashback facility, you can also take advantage of that up to a fifty pound limit
It is not accepted at Boots, Etam, Aldi, WH Smith, Pizza Hut, Woolworths and Allsports. (Plus many more).
I have adapted to using this now, and it means that you can only buy what you can afford, which is the best idea all round I think.
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Comments about this review »
Calypte 18.01.2003 18:23
The only think I'd ever heard about Solo cards was the number of places that didn't accept them - to be honest, I was wondering why people bothered with them if that was the case! Thanks for the explanation, and good luck getting everything sorted out.
Advantages: Fairly widely accepted and you can pay for things with it Disadvantages: Marketed as idiot-proof but will allow you to go over your limit and be charged penalties
JL008 03.09.2004 (03.09.2004)
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Jan 14th, 2003
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