Has anyone seen prepaid credit cards yet?

techguy

Just wondering has anyone seen them yet? A friend told me about them briefly but I haven't seen them anywhere over here yet. I have seen them on the american Visa website though and have been waiting for these to come out for years as they will be handy for purchasing from the net..

Thanks,
Hakko

KdjaCL

www.3v.ie

out a good while now


kdjac

techguy

***Pulls head out of cloud***

Thanks..

onedmc

They have been available in the middle east for at least 15 years.

They havnt been made available here because there is no money in it for the banks. They make nearly all of there money on the interest charges.

dmeehan

there is quite a hefty charge for using the 3v vouchers, which is why i havent used mine yet

JohnCleary

dmeehan wrote:

there is quite a hefty charge for using the 3v vouchers, which is why i havent used mine yet

A fiver isint it?

ButtermilkJack

hakko1872003 wrote:

Just wondering has anyone seen them yet? A friend told me about them briefly but I haven't seen them anywhere over here yet. I have seen them on the american Visa website though and have been waiting for these to come out for years as they will be handy for purchasing from the net..

Thanks,
Hakko

Yes, they're called Laser Cards

watty

You can't use a Laser card with PayPal or online.

Some folks object to Credit cards on religious grounds (not just Muslims).

Some discover they over spend and have to not use them any more

Some can't get a Credit card.

There cards in theory could be available no matter what your credit rating and allow anyone even under 18 to order on-line.

A great idea.

I have no idea why the Laser card is so useless that it can mostly only be used in a Shop.

BTW in Lidl (which does nOT accept credit cards or cheques), a Laser card actually will give you credit.

I tackled my bank manager about this ant she admitted under pressure that in fact a Laser card is NOT a pure cash card.. Some retailers are allowed what they call a Float. You can concievably spend over 100 Euro you don't have. I suppose a reason why Lidl can't offer cash back..

onedmc

watty wrote:

I have no idea why the Laser card is so useless that it can mostly only be used in a Shop.

Coz a laser card is irish and its a debit card not a credit card. Not much difference from a user point of view if you have an overdraft facility.

But there is alot more information associated with a credit card transaction. Information like transaction purpose or descriptions which may be required for international trade.

also exchange rate, max transaction value

vector

While its great that the 3V "card" exists... its looks like a rip off.

techguy

Your right but its good to know its there...

Hakko

fintan

While the laser card is classified as a debit card there is in fact a credit element to the card.

When you buy something with laster in a shop and if it is under €100 only 1 in 5 or 1 in 10 (can't exactly remember) will it actually check that you have money in the bank to pay for the goods.

Hence the ability to get over drawn on your laser very easily.

As for pre-paid credit cards - I had that idea about 5 years ago and did a business plan and concluded the biggest competition would be from visa or master card offering the "solo" card in Ireland.

Solo is a debit card issued by Visa but can be processed like a credit card.

3v seems to have all the right backers and its a great idea so it will make the company a lot of money and im not bitter at all

Would be interesting to find out what safe guards they are taking against money laundering

Our man in Havana

Would be interesting to find out what safe guards they are taking against money laundering

None apparently, as there is no ID check when registering a card, you can used a unregistered phone to obtain the security information. Ideal for those that wish to hide their identity.

onedmc

fintan wrote:

Would be interesting to find out what safe guards they are taking against money laundering

Does the money laundering only apply to transactions in excess of 5K ?

fintan

onedmc wrote:

Does the money laundering only apply to transactions in excess of 5K ?

Not quiet sure what your question is, could you rephrase it?

But looking at the 3v site the max you can spend is €350

So a possible way a criminal could launder cash is set up a front business selling some sort of service with credit card processing facilities.

Have his cronies buy large quantities of these cards (with his ill gotten money) using prepaid unregistered mobile phones (meteor are giving sim cards away for free) and pay the company for the service.

He now has a legimate source for his income, less the cost of 3v card, credit card processing and time. But since criminals are willing to lose up to 50% in order to clean the money its actually very cost effective.

I read about it in a book called "Capitalism's Achilles Heel: Dirty Money Business's Little Secret" it was a really interesting read, would highly recommend it.

Cheers

Fintan

antoinolachtnai

Money laundering reporting requirements relate to any transaction that is 'suspicious', not just big ones.

The big issue with international money transfer is use of money for terrorist purposes, rather than just straight money laundering.

The way that 3v is engineered, you'd need a lot of people standing in queues to move a substantial amount of money.

Our man in Havana

antoinolachtnai wrote:

Money laundering reporting requirements relate to any transaction that is 'suspicious', not just big ones.

The big issue with international money transfer is use of money for terrorist purposes, rather than just straight money laundering.

The way that 3v is engineered, you'd need a lot of people standing in queues to move a substantial amount of money.

Agreed.

But 3v would be ideal for buying dodgy porn and other low value dodgy items.

fintan

Your right on the large number of people to launder the money, but that does happen, they call it "smurfing".

Our man in Havana

But the costs would be prohibitive.

techguy

Sorry for bringing this thread back to life..but,

I recieved my 3v card the other day in the post then recieved the same thing a few days later, why?

I am still a bit curious as to how they work.. I top up with just say, €100 then go and buy something online for €50. Can I go to another site and use the other €50 or do I have to pay €1.50 to redeem this excess €50 into another voucher??

Also, why do they issue a plastic credit card like card if I dont even use it? I cant purchase something in a shop with it can I?

MrPudding

Bond-007 wrote:

But the costs would be prohibitive.

I don't know that they would. Laundering huge sums of money has always been a fairly labour intensive process with big overheads. I don't think this would nessecarily be much worse.

MrP