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Advantages:
Increased Online Security, Will Eventually Replace The Visa, Excellent And Fast Customer Service, Usually A Good Account Package (From My Experience With Barclays And The Abbey National)
Disadvantages:
7 . 5 million outlets in the UK accept the card . 11 . 8 million do not, and most smaller shops havent even heard of it . Online usage is still very difficult as most sites still dont accept it .
Whilst the Visa Electron, the new 'Electronic Use Only' card from Visa, seems like a fantastic idea since it offers increased security for internet transactions, and a long needed update to the Visa system, and a host of other things your 'Personal Banker' will speil off at you, the card has one quite major flaw. Unlike its father the Visa, which has become the global electronic currency, the fledgling Electron is not accepted in very many places at all.
In fact, apart from your large chain stores like Woolworths and Tesco, it's hardly accepted anywhere at all. And on the internet, which, as the name suggests, is the main area your card is meant to be used, it is hardly accepted anywhere! I do alot of internet surfing and consequently alot of shopping too, at the major sites like amazon.com,whsmith.co.uk, and tesco.com, and at some of the smaller ones too, and the only place I have been able to spend money using my Electron card is Teleflorist.co.uk! And apart from mother's day, thats not a site I use very often!
Whilst an electronic use card is a good idea, I think Visa should have made sure the facilities for more people to accept the card should have been installed before it's launch. The literature boasts 7.5 million outlets take the card. What it fails to mention is some 11.9 million that dont! Not to mention the problems using the card abroad, where apart from the odd ATM, the card is useless...
For now, I'd advise people to request a regular Visa instead of a Visa Electron until it is more widely usable. Though unfortunately for many people, like myself, the Electron is the only card available unless we change our account or our bank. For us, we can only put pressure on the banks/building societies to allow us a regular Visa.
Regards,
The Midnight Falcon
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Good op, but you don't mention that the Electron card is in fact a debit card, not a credit card, so I'm sure it won't be replacing the standard Visa!
sue.51 28.05.2001 22:15
Good op - I am aware that there are few places in this country that take it, although this increasing somewhat - something do do with the shops updating their Automated machines - abroad - even 3 years ago, we saw signs for it all over the place, including Puerto Rico (Gran Canaria), Majorca and Cyprus, and in Cyprus where you couldn't use it, they also didn't take formal credit cards such as Visa and Mastercard.
Sue
Ladychatterbox 02.05.2001 23:11
Brilliant op on a crap card. I too am the proud owner of a visa"useless" Electron.
Advantages: Helps you to manage your finances, Available even to people with a bad credit history. Disadvantages: Still not accepted everywhere. You can still go overdrawn - somehow!
nicolemorgan 19.10.2008 (19.10.2008)
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Review of VISA Electron
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