Visa Debit card, Laser and AIB

Butch Cassidy

Is there any chance of the other Irish banks adopting the Visa Debit card? or would the banks that set up Laser be shooting themselves in the foot? I'm with AIB and of course just want a card to use for online purchases. I really don't fancy changing banks as I've not much money anyway and I like avoiding hassle. I think I saw a thread there about Permanent TSB offereing the Visa Debit card which I suppose is a good sign along with Ulster Bank now using it.


Is the non-acceptance of Laser outside of Ireland down to the bank's not negotiating and facilitating it for online use? ie. many businesses you hear saying how Laser has a poor security measures hence why they don't want to accept it.

yuloni

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Butch Cassidy

Ah yeah I know all about the prepay cards and I've been around the mill with them!

I'm just looking to talk about the possibility at all of the Irish Laser banks offering Visa Debit. There's probably no possibility of them giving up on Laser and offering Visa Debit card as then no one would need their credit cards. Must be so many people in Ireland with credit cards purely for online shopping.....

yuloni

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Bob Z

I would say the eaiest thing to do is openan ulster bank? it might be hassle but aas you say its easier than 3v or any of the prepaid credit cards plus its probably free

Alkers

You wouldn't even have to use the ulster bank account as your main account, just set up a direct debit into it or use online banking to transfer funds whenever you want to buy anything.

RoadKillTs

PTSB is going to start issuing them this later this year.

BuffyBot

Is the non-acceptance of Laser outside of Ireland down to the bank's not negotiating and facilitating it for online use?

No, not really. The Maestro system isn't designed in the same way that the Visa system is. Really, it's a hodge-podge of many old national debit card systems (Laser in Ireland, Switch in UK) all of which operate on different systems etc. That's the short version of a much longer explanation

Bob Z

If you set up an account with ulster bank how long before they give you a debit card?

And how does Ulster bank compare with Bank Of Ireland?

Butch Cassidy

I'm interested in the longer explanation. I know that there's UK Maestro cards that can be used online as Maestro. I heard/read that you can only charge in Euros on a Laser card though I can use my card in some shops in Britain.

Is there any chance that we'll get a Laser/Visa Debit card? ie. the Laser card will be Visa Debit on it rather than Maestro?


I'm going to take a wild assumption that no, we're stuck with the poxy useless Laser forever and won't be able to use it online outside of Irish websites ever but ye know... might as well poke some discussion

BuffyBot

Butch Cassidy wrote: »

I'm interested in the longer explanation. I know that there's UK Maestro cards that can be used online as Maestro. I heard/read that you can only charge in Euros on a Laser card though I can use my card in some shops in Britain.

There is a couple of threads about it on the forum - a search should dig them up. And no, charging in Euro's isn't necessarily correct: As you've seen they can be used in some places abroad.

Is there any chance that we'll get a Laser/Visa Debit card? ie. the Laser card will be Visa Debit on it rather than Maestro?

I'm not sure what you mean by "we": but we do have them. Ulster Bank are issuing Visa Debit cards. Halifax were, and soon PTSB will be offering them. Eventually the big two will probably have to decide on some move, as Laser isn't really compliant with future regulations.

Butch Cassidy

Sorry, "we" as in the two big banks - BoI and AIB. Will one of them adopt the Visa Debit and move away from Maestro.

Again, like so many people I just want a card to buy junk off of ebay or whatever and don't want a debt card and don't want to pay each time I top up a prepay card and don't want to pay a % charge each time I use a prepay card etc. etc.

People in England can use their Maestro to buy online in most cases no bother. I'd imagine many people would be happy with that.

Would it be fair to say that Ulster and PTSB issuing the Visa Debit is a good thing ie. it spread to the others? or would they want to hang on to the Laser/Maestro combo?

Dum_Dum

The Laser card is deliberately crippled to encourage the take-up of credit cards - which are extremely profitable for the banks. The internet hit the cultural mainstream back in 1995 - in other words the banks have had 15 years to make Laser compliant.

tawfeeredux

Simona1986 wrote: »

You wouldn't even have to use the ulster bank account as your main account, just set up a direct debit into it or use online banking to transfer funds whenever you want to buy anything.

This is what I'm hoping to do. Recently switched to BOI from Halifax, and they said they've no immediate plans to introduce a Visa debit card. So i'm applying for an Ulster Bank account also, & will transfer funds in as necessary.

buragoed

Any updates on the big two Irish bands adopting Visa Debit? Changing my bank isn't an option but opening a new account might be an idea. What sort of charges would I be looking at per year for a PTSB account?