You've just placed your first order online. It set you back all of £100 and using the sites secure server, you paid with your switch card. BIG MISTAKE!
Issued to most current account holders with good credit history, the switch card (and its competitor Visa Delta) is accepted by thousands of shops across the country. It's not an internationally recognised symbol but many debit card issuers include other transaction services (such as Cirrus & Maestro) along with a cheque guarantee to make this one of the most useful bits of plastic you could have.
So why would handing over your Switch card number online be such a big mistake? Unlike a credit card (Visa or MasterCard), your purchases do not have an additional insurance provided by the issuer. Instead, you will have to rely on the goodwill of your bank to make a refund if the retailer goes under. In this modern age of 'e-tailing', I think this is a big disadvantage.
Switch cards also have a big security risk. If you do lose them, not only do they have your signature on them, but your switch card number, your bank sort code and account number. I wouldn't be too keen on letting anyone get his or her hands on all that information.
Transactions will normally show up on your account the next day, which makes budgeting and book balancing much easier than with a credit card. As they are part of a current account, you also have the advantage of tracking your purchases online as most banks now offer this facility.
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Advantages: Simple-to-use, reliable site, which could save you quite a bit of money! Disadvantages: You might need to pay your current supplier quite a bit of money too!
SueMagee 30.05.2003 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
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