# Visa Electron Card



## z101

Is it possible to get the Visa Electron card in Ireland?? The Post Office in the UK give them out and they are supplied to them by Bank of Ireland. Why dont bank of Ireland supply them here then??
Is it possible to get them through the UK?


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## ClubMan

A friend of mine had some compensation due to flight problems (lost baggage or something) paid to him via a _VISA Electron _card in the _US _(c. $50-$100) and he could find nowhere to accept the card here in _Ireland_. However I noticed recently that _McDonald's _posters suggest that they accept them!


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## IWONDER

BOI have a joint venture with the P/O in the UK which is why they can supply them there. That's about all I know though


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## Delber

MBNA supply them here I think


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## z101

MBNA do supply them - thanks for that. They cost 5 Euro to purchase and are a one off. By this I mean you cant put more money on them. They allow you to put on a maximum balance of €350. The are called a gift card and are meant as a means to give cash gifts without giving cash. Below is a link with card for anyone interested, which if you take a few Ryanair flights you may. However please note the ceiling on the account amount. But if you like to pop across to footie games or take up on special offers when flights are really cheap then it may be worthed.


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## bond-007

Yes, many merchants in Ireland can accept the Visa Electron card. I certainly can accept them but I have never seen one. As you saw McDonalds do accept them.


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## budapest

There's no way of getting a proper Visa Electron card in Ireland at the moment.  We're stuck with Laser for the time being at least.  It's a pity as transaction charges for using Mastercard or Visa with e.g. airlines can be substantial.


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## NorfBank

Before I buy one of these gift cards, has anyone actually used one to book Ryanair flights and avoid the credit card charge?


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## z101

like i said - MBNA do them


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## dubwx

Just like norfbank, I am wondering if anyone has actually used one of these cards, obtained in the Republic, to book a Ryanair flight and avoided the credit card charge.


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## bond-007

Yes I have. But it is a long winded and time consuming method to save a few euro. €5 for the MBNA gift card, wait for arrival of card. During that time price of the flights may have moved upwards.


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## eileen alana

Is there a time limit on which to use up the credit on the card?


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## bond-007

Yes, afaik it is 3 months. 


> * 	Does the MBNA Gift! Card have an expiry date? *
> *Yes*. It is printed on the front of the card and varies depending upon when the card was purchased


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## z101

Are you saying the money on the card has to be spent within 3 months?? that cant be correct?? Can anyone who has one of these cards say how long the normaly last for?


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## bond-007

If you buy one from MBNA if must be spent within 3 months.


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## Geraldine2

But can nobody tell me where you can actually physically buy a mbna visa electron?


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## bond-007

MBNA don't sell them anymore.


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## TarfHead

have a read of this


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## bond-007

Thanks for that. Very interesting indeed.


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## askU

TarfHead said:


> have a read of this


 
Has any one here used EntroPay ?


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## askU

TarfHead said:


> have a read of this


 
has anyone here used EntroPay ?


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## bond-007

I just signed up and stuck 15 euro in it. Should be handy for the free Ryanair flights.


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## askU

bond-007 said:


> I just signed up and stuck 15 euro in it. Should be handy for the free Ryanair flights.


 
It expires after 3 months doesnt it?


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## bond-007

NO!

Mine expires 11/09 

From reading their site, you simply create a new card and transfer the funds from the old card to the new card. No biggie imho.


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## Geraldine2

I can see it is "Visa", but is it "Visa Electron"?


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## bond-007

Yes. It is.


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## NorfBank

Just booked Ryanair flights with my new "Visa electron". 
Thank you TarfHead, you just saved me almost €40


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## MB05

I just realised that the article said to set the account up in GBP.  I just finished setting it up in Eur.  Does it have to be GBP to work?

If it is do you think they EntroPay will let me change the currency to GBP?


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## bond-007

Why get it in GBP?

Ryanair charge in Euro. Works fine in Euro.


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## MB05

I don't know. I just set it up in Eur and then re-read the article.  It states:

1. Sign up for EntroPay but make sure that your chosen account currency is GBP. Postal code is required so type in EIRE or some random postal code.

The GBP part is in bold.  They must have had their reasons for writing this but if euro worked for you then happy days!


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## bond-007

Unless you are shopping in GBP alot there is no need tbh.


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## postman pat

when i opened an account in Bulgaria a few years ago i got a visa electon card with it..i wonder would it still work..or how can i put money in it..it used to work in cash machines here if i remeber correctly.


 Pat


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## talkingclock

not a VISA, but Ryanair is doing a top-up MASTERCARD now:
[broken link removed]


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## bond-007

€85 seems a tad steep.


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## lyonsie

Just got my 'virtual' visa electron card.   Put 15euro on it.   Will wait for ryanair to lower their prices again and hey presto I am there, where, anywhere they go for 1 cent or 1 euro.....
Going to London tuesday for 1 euro and it cost me 12, could have saved 10 p.p.
Tough.


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## talkingclock

bond-007 said:


> €85 seems a tad steep.



it is. but i just checked a few providers in Germany and some of them are charging €50 every 6 month.

on a side-note: who is the target for a prepay-creditcard? people who are not able to get a creditcard (for what reason ever)! 

and what do you have to do to get a Ryanair prepaid creditcard? you need to pay that initial fee with a creditcard! how stupid is that? no option to pay by LASER. so off you go and buy a 3V voucher to get this thing...


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## bond-007

The prepaid card has some advantages that 3v can't provide, i.e. a physical card that can be produced when booking hotels, tickets etc. Also the card can be used in physical shops.


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## z101

007 the article says you must select GBP as Euro card option is not an Electron card, have you proved this to be wrong by making a booking with a Euro version card ??


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## bond-007

I missed that. I haven't tried yet. I think you may be right. My merchant machine thinks it is a visa card. 

Ah well. I shall set up a new account so.


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## blackdiamond

Im a bit confused. How can you be saving money when you have to pay 4.95% on any transfer you make to the card. For example you transfer €100 to the card you'll have to pay €4.95 for the bank charge anyway. Will ryanair flights automatically just become 0.01c for a flight just because you have the card?


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## bond-007

Ryanair charge €5 per person per flight in a credit card charge. So for a return flight for 2 people that is a €20 credit card charge. 

By using the Entropay card you are saving this charge. So if in your example you transferred 100 euro to pay for flights you are over €15 up.


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## lyonsie

I got my 'electron' card, as stated in a previous post, waited until the prices were good, and hey presto, I get this message when I go to pay with it
*Payment Error*
Your card payment could not be processed because of one of the following reasons:


You have mistyped the card number or missed out some of the digits. Please go back to the previous (Payment) page and re-enter the card number again.
The card type you have specified (e.g. Mastercard, Visa, Visa Electron) does not match the card number supplied. Please go back to the previous (Payment) page and check that the card type selected is correct.
You have incorrectly entered the Card Number into the Cardholders Name box. Please go back to the previous (Payment) page and re-enter the Card Number in the correct box.
You have incorrectly entered the Cardholders Name into the Card Number box. Please go back to the previous (Payment) page and re-enter the Cardholders Name in the correct box.
Click this button to return to the Payment page.


Anyone that was successfull, could you please tell me where I am going wrong.


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## TheShark

lyonsie , I had a similar problem. What you need to do to overcome it is register for a £STG card with a UK address. This will give you a Visa Electron card number commencing with the digits 4101. Then you can book Ryanair without the cc fee. If your virtual card commences with digits other than 4101 you have a regular pre-pay Visa card which will incur the cc fee on Ryanair.


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## lyonsie

Will try that straight away.   Can I transfer my 15euro that I opened it with to the new one...
Is it possible to make up a UK address or will I have to use a friend or relative.


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## bond-007

Best to use a friend or relative in case they need to send you any letters etc.


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## TheShark

lyonsie said:


> Will try that straight away.   Can I transfer my 15euro that I opened it with to the new one...
> Is it possible to make up a UK address or will I have to use a friend or relative.


Yes you should be able to transfer between cards , they take a fee , I think its 2%. If possible use a UK address and phone number that you can stand over. I used a contact from work , with their permission. Entropay may decide to lock your account until its verified. In my case it was verified within 20 minutes.


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## homer77

Sorry I am a little confused.

Go to the Entropay site, sign up for a virtual card and load it from my regular credit card. But to make sure that I have GBP Card (starting with 4101). This means that I will have money in the form of pounds on my virtual card.

Then  goto Ryan air book my ticket, pay with visa electron  and payment will be in Euros. So does that meant the Visa virtual card will convert from Euros to pounds and deduct from my card?

and the only real cost is 4.95% commission on the amount loaded,correct?

thanks


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## bond-007

Correct!


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## cfarrell

I don't think this is as good as everyone thinks.... you're missing half the charges.


First of all, when you load the card you are charged 4.95% commission.

Second, because you're using your Euro based credit card, to make a STG payment, your credit card company will charge your a charge. MBNA charge over 2%. I'm pretty sure the correct figure for MBNA is 2.75% (Could be 2.5% but I'm not reading the small print again!)

Third, if you look at the fees for EntroPay they say that they charge you 2% for payments in a different currency to the card. So when you purchase flights from RyanAir in Euro on your STG Electron Card, you are paying a further 2% in charges.

So that's 4.95% +2.75% +2% = 9.7% But worse that that, you're paying % on percent.

Therefore your flights are costing almost 10% extra. Now if your flight cost €50, you're end up paying almost €55 after charges.

Follow me though on this one.
Lets suppose your flight cost €50 with RyanAir.
In order to make this payment with your STG card Entropay will require a 2% foreign currency commission, which means that you must have the STG equilivant of €50+2%  (€51) available on your Electron card. 

In order to get the Stg equilivant of €51 onto your Electron card, you must transfer €51 plus their commission of 4.95% (€2.52) which means your total transfer must be €53.52. 

Not to transfer €53.52 worth of stg from your own credit card, your own credit card company will charge you a foreign exchange commission of 2.75% which means that you actually pay €54.59!  And that assums tha that the exchange rate hasn't moved while you make these transactions.

It would still work great for the low cost flights, but not very well for the higher cost ones. If the flight was over €100, you'd certainly be better off paying the credit card charge!

So for me, I'm still looking for another solution before my MBNA gift card balance runs out...


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## MB05

I for one only want it for the cheap or free Ryanair flights where the cc charges cost more than the flight.  It is not worth it for anything else.


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## TheShark

MB05 said:


> I for one only want it for the cheap or free Ryanair flights where the cc charges cost more than the flight.  It is not worth it for anything else.


Totally agree , its a very useful tool for booking cheap flights.
Yesterday , for example , I was able to book 12 kids on flights to see a football match in the UK with Entropay for a total of €180 (plus about 5% in fees) , to do the same booking with my regular credit card would have cost €120 more with cc fees.


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## GeneralZod

cfarrell said:


> I don't think this is as good as everyone thinks.... you're missing half the charges.



cfarrell, excellent post.


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## homer77

I was unable to get an entropay card as they don't allow US issued credit cards for funding. I don't really know how to get a non-US issued card here in Germany.


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## TheShark

homer77 said:


> I was unable to get an entropay card as they don't allow US issued credit cards for funding. I don't really know how to get a non-US issued card here in Germany.


You can fund it by bank transfer from any bank.
Entrypay are also bringing out a Prepaid Mastercard (Plastic Card) in February 2009.


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## DublinTexas

homer77 said:


> I was unable to get an entropay card as they don't allow US issued credit cards for funding. I don't really know how to get a non-US issued card here in Germany.


 
If you live in germany you can easy get a local prepaid visa from the likes of [broken link removed] or [broken link removed] or even a debit mastercard with german IBAN from .

But as you want to use something for Ryanair, why not get a German Visa Electron from [broken link removed] or your local "Sparkasse"?


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## cfarrell

Can those german accounts for applied for by Irish residents?


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## TheShark

You can certainly get the Wirecard one , I dont know about the others.


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## bond-007

Wirecard is not a visa electron. It is mastercard.


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## DublinTexas

TheShark said:


> You can fund it by bank transfer from any bank.
> Entrypay are also bringing out a Prepaid Mastercard (Plastic Card) in February 2009.


 
The prepaid mastercard is now available (cost is 4.99 £) and loading it costs the same as the virtual card (4.5% if from credit card and 3.95% if from bank account).

The card is not replacing the Virtual Visa it's complimenting it so that you can access your funds also via an ATM or in a shop.

But with a 10€ depature tax now even on 1€ Ryanair flights question is if you still need entropay at all.


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## bullworth

DublinTexas said:


> The prepaid mastercard is now available (cost is 4.99 £) and loading it costs the same as the virtual card (4.5% if from credit card and 3.95% if from bank account).
> 
> The card is not replacing the Virtual Visa it's complimenting it so that you can access your funds also via an ATM or in a shop.
> 
> But with a 10€ depature tax now even on 1€ Ryanair flights question is if you still need entropay at all.



With regard to the 10€ depature tax , if one gets a foreign resident friend (for example in Holland) to buy return flights to Holland for me in my name , do I still pay the tax or does that tax also apply to non resident purchasers ?


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## DublinTexas

bullworth said:


> With regard to the 10€ depature tax , if one gets a foreign resident friend (for example in Holland) to buy return flights to Holland for me in my name , do I still pay the tax or does that tax also apply to non resident purchasers ?


 
Any departing passenger (who ever he is) pays the 10€ it's not depending on where the ticket was purchased, it's because you leave this beautifull country. This is why it is so bad for tourists.


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## Smashbox

Agree with the above, your leaving airport is Ireland so obviously you're departing from this country.


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## gunnerfitzy

I opened a current account in Spain with Halifax. Got a Visa Electron. I think I pay something like €20 a year account fees. But transferring money into the account is easy and I use it all the time for Ryanair AND Aer Lingus. As the account is EURO there is no foreign currency charges. Saves me at least €100 a year.


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## cfarrell

Do you need a Spanish address?

I've found lots of Electron cards in EU countries, but al seem to require an address in that country.


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## gunnerfitzy

No Spanish address required. I gave my Irish address. They will even mail your statement to your Irish address.


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## barry251

I have a visa electron card issued by Abbey National bank in Uk not many places take it here.  O2.ie wont take to top up.


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## bond-007

It is mainly bricks and mortar shops that will accept Visa Electron. 
There are a few online places that accept it such as Ryanair and play.com.


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## gunnerfitzy

aerlingus.com waives €5 per flight handling fee also if payment is made by visa electron.


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## bond-007

Handy to know.


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## TheShark

Anyone know the reason Aer Lingus waive the fee for Visa Electron and not for Laser/Maestro?


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## theresa1

TheShark said:


> Anyone know the reason Aer Lingus waive the fee for Visa Electron and not for Laser/Maestro?


 

- They know not many Irish have a Visa Electron card!


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## gunnerfitzy

TheShark said:


> Anyone know the reason Aer Lingus waive the fee for Visa Electron and not for Laser/Maestro?




AFAIK businesses are not charged by visa for accepting electron payments. Is there a small fee that aerlingus must pay for accepting debit cards??


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## markpb

gunnerfitzy said:


> AFAIK businesses are not charged by visa for accepting electron payments. Is there a small fee that aerlingus must pay for accepting debit cards??



I think it's 20 cent per transaction, regardless of the transaction amount.


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## bond-007

Correct. It is a small fixed fee per transaction. I would say that Aer Lingus have this negotiated down to as low as 15 cent due to the volume they have.


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## gunnerfitzy

bond-007 said:


> Correct. It is a small fixed fee per transaction. I would say that Aer Lingus have this negotiated down to as low as 15 cent due to the volume they have.



It's a nice money maker if that is the case.


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## Newforest

gunnerfitzy said:


> I opened a current account in Spain with Halifax. Got a Visa Electron. I think I pay something like €20 a year account fees. But transferring money into the account is easy and I use it all the time for Ryanair AND Aer Lingus. As the account is EURO there is no foreign currency charges. Saves me at least €100 a year.


 
Curious, tried to open an account with Halifax using a UK address. Halifax's computer detected that I was using a computer in Germany (second home) and refused to complete the registration.


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## bond-007

Use a UK proxy server.


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## gunnerfitzy

Just to clarify, it is Halifax Spain that issues Visa Electron Cards. Halifax Ireland does not issue them and Halifax UK only issues them on certain accounts where the account holder is under 18 years of age!!

Details on how to open an account with Halifax Spain are contained here


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## fair_play

gunnerfitzy said:


> I opened a current account in Spain with Halifax. Got a Visa Electron. I think I pay something like €20 a year account fees. But transferring money into the account is easy and I use it all the time for Ryanair AND Aer Lingus. As the account is EURO there is no foreign currency charges. Saves me at least €100 a year.



Have you actually used this card to book flights with Ryanair & Aer Lingus.? In a previous post (Post No. 43) on this forum TheShark pointed out that these airlines would not accept any Visa Electron cards that began with anything other than 4101.
Can you please confirm if you have used your card to book and also if it begins with 4101.?


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## gunnerfitzy

fair_play said:


> Have you actually used this card to book flights with Ryanair & Aer Lingus.? In a previous post (Post No. 43) on this forum TheShark pointed out that these airlines would not accept any Visa Electron cards that began with anything other than 4101.
> Can you please confirm if you have used your card to book and also if it begins with 4101.?



I have used my card on a minimum of 10 bookings each with ryanair and aer lingus. it has never been declined. card begins with 4917. hope this helps.


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## TheShark

Apologies if my earlier post was confusing gunnerfitzy , what I was trying to say is that a 4101 card is whats required from Entropay. There are Electron cards from other providers that start with different digits , 4917 being one of these.


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## gunnerfitzy

TheShark said:


> Apologies if my earlier post was confusing gunnerfitzy , what I was trying to say is that a 4101 card is whats required from Entropay. There are Electron cards from other providers that start with different digits , 4917 being one of these.



no problem.


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## qwerta369

Also Lloyds TSB Spain (though Halifax and LTSB are now one and the same)..


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## MugsGame

Just a note that An Post One4all gift cards are Euro Visa Electron cards issued by Bank of Ireland. So anywhere that accepts One4all cards probably accepts Visa Electron too (and vice versa.). Doesn't help with Ryanair as a) it's a Euro card b) You don't know the cardholder name.


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## bond-007

It will work perfectly ok on Ryanair. So long as it is a visa electron card it will work.

How much do these cards cost?


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## qwerta369

MugsGame said:


> Just a note that An Post One4all gift cards are Euro Visa Electron cards issued by Bank of Ireland. So anywhere that accepts One4all cards probably accepts Visa Electron too (and vice versa.). Doesn't help with Ryanair as a) it's a Euro card b) You don't know the cardholder name.



Are you sure you can't use it with Ryanair?

I can't see it mention anything about Visa Electron..


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## qwerta369

bond-007 said:


> how much do these cards cost?



 €3.49.


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## bond-007

Not bad value considering what Ryanair charge.


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## MugsGame

The [broken link removed] can only be used for cardholder present transactions as they don't have a public cardholder name (quite funny when the shop assistant asks you to sign for the transaction as per normal Visa procedures, only to realise they don't have a signature to compare it to!). Also, like the MBNA gift cards (now defunct?), you can't top them up. And they expire after 12 months - use it or lose it!


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## bond-007

But will they work on Ryanair if you use your name as the cardholder name?

The entropay cards don't have a cardholder name either but work online with no issues.


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## qwerta369

bond-007 said:


> But will they work on Ryanair if you use your name as the cardholder name?
> 
> The entropay cards don't have a cardholder name either but work online with no issues.



That's true.

Has anyone actually tried using a one4all card on the Ryanair website?


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## Homer

gunnerfitzy said:


> I opened a current account in Spain with Halifax. Got a Visa Electron. I think I pay something like €20 a year account fees. But transferring money into the account is easy and I use it all the time for Ryanair AND Aer Lingus. As the account is EURO there is no foreign currency charges. Saves me at least €100 a year.


 
I have a Portuguese bank account and the card I got with the account had Visa Electron on it.

I'll try using this the next time I'm booking flights and I'll post the outcome.

Regards
Homer


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## MugsGame

> Has anyone actually tried using a one4all card on the Ryanair website?



I just found the cheapest Ryanair flight I could and tried to buy it with my one4all card, marking it as a Visa electron card. It wasn't accepted. It could be because of the BIN prefix issues referred to earlier in the thread, but I suspect the lack of a registered cardholder is also an issue. Note An Post's merchant documentation and the cardnumber BIN prefix both confirm it is a Visa Electron card.



> The entropay cards don't have a cardholder name



Are you saying it doesn't matter what you enter in the cardholder name field for these cards? I assumed since the entropay account is registered to a single person the cards would be too.


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## qwerta369

MugsGame said:


> I just found the cheapest Ryanair flight I could and tried to buy it with my one4all card, marking it as a Visa electron card. It wasn't accepted.


Appreciate you trying.  Thanks.


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## lyonsie

As stated earlier, only a sterling visa electron card will work with ryanair.   Put enough in it initially as there is a small fee for transferring funds to it.   We are saving lots with it re. ryanair flights.   No more C.C. charges....


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## qwerta369

lyonsie said:


> As stated earlier, only a sterling <entropay> visa electron card will work with ryanair



Corrected your post for you there.


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## bond-007

Indeedy.


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## qwerta369

Gerry Conlon.


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## banbha

Maybe the question at this point is why should we all be struggling to obtain visa electron cards from other countries, and not have the option available to get one in Ireland? I had one when I lived in spain and was able to use it in exactly the same way as a visa card, but safe in the knowledge I was using only funds available and not running up any debt. I have asked several banks here only to be told in a condescending manner that if I 'manage' my visa card properly I will have no problems. I duly got my visa card, opted to pay the full amount off every month, and then discovered that because of the way they take the money (the last balance owed at the last bill, not the full amount owing at the time of the debit) I incurred extra fees. What I want to have is a debit card with visa recognition on websites such as ryanair etc, and not a credit card. How on earth did we get lumbered with Laser and is there nothing we can do about it??


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## Sumatra

Have used with both Ryanair and Aer Lingus with no nproblems experienced.


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## MANTO

Funnily enough there is an article today on the Ryanair credit card fee and Visa Electron

*Irish cannot avoid Ryanair €10 credit card charge*


[broken link removed]

_However, a spokesperson for Visa said the Electron is not issued by banks in Ireland to consumers, which is mainly due to "the dominant position that the domestic Laser scheme has held in the Irish market". 
_


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## bond-007

Usual ill informed article from De Paper. 



> Ryanair said it applies the credit card charge to "defray the substantial administration costs we incur when processing credit and debit cards".


The most they are paying is 2.5% of the total value. What do they mean by "administration" charges?


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## qwerta369

> The Visa spokesman added it is also not possible for Irish consumers to be issued with a Visa Electron card by a bank in Britain, as these cards are usually linked to a current account, which can only be set up if a customer has a British address – thereby excluding Irish residents


 Read more: [broken link removed]

But Irish residents _can_ open a British current account while having an Irish address.  Specifically, with Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland.  Currently, UB issues Switch/Maestro cards to their current account customers.  However, soon RBS are going to drop Switch/Maestro (which are run by Mastercard), in favour of Visa debit cards.

The real question is, since UB will be using Visa for their debit cards, will they offer only Visa Debit, or will they offer Visa Electron, too?
​


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## bond-007

Which of the main high street banks in the UK offer Visa Electron?


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## qwerta369

bond-007 said:


> Which of the main high street banks in the UK offer Visa Electron?


Abbey, Bank of Scotland and Halifax.

Barclays stopped a while back, Co-operative stopped recently.


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## bond-007

> Abbey, Bank of Scotland and Halifax.


Is it easy to open an account with them as an Irish resident?


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## qwerta369

bond-007 said:


> Is it easy to open an account with them as an Irish resident?



I haven't tried, to be honest.  I opened an Abbey account online, using a relatives address in England.  It's very easy, just complete the application online and you're done.  The card, PIN and other documentation comes by post in a few days.

I intend on calling them up and telling them that I've "moved" to Ireland and so need to update my address with them.  Haven't got round to doing it yet, but I doubt it'd be a problem.  Wasn't when I did exactly the same thing with the Nationwide a few months back.


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## Homer

Homer said:


> I have a Portuguese bank account and the card I got with the account had Visa Electron on it.
> 
> I'll try using this the next time I'm booking flights and I'll post the outcome.
> 
> Regards
> Homer


 
I booked some flights tonight and tried to use my Portuguese Visa Electron card.

Unfortunately, the card does not have a CVV number and my booking was rejected, so I had to go back to my tried and trusty MasterCard.

Homer


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## gunnerfitzy

Homer said:


> I booked some flights tonight and tried to use my Portuguese Visa Electron card.
> 
> Unfortunately, the card does not have a CVV number and my booking was rejected, so I had to go back to my tried and trusty MasterCard.
> 
> Homer



I have read that some people use 000 as the CVV. Works for some. No harm in trying.


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## k123456

gunnerfitzy said:


> I opened a current account in Spain with Halifax. Got a Visa Electron. I think I pay something like €20 a year account fees. But transferring money into the account is easy and I use it all the time for Ryanair AND Aer Lingus. As the account is EURO there is no foreign currency charges. Saves me at least €100 a year.


 
Hi Gunnerfitzy

Is there an annual charge for the card

and what type of account did you open :
Xtra Account
Current Account


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## gunnerfitzy

k123456 said:


> Hi Gunnerfitzy
> 
> Is there an annual charge for the card
> 
> and what type of account did you open :
> Xtra Account
> Current Account



Hi 

It was a Xtra account that I opened. This particular account has a €25 annual charge. The bank charges document from the bank  states that there is a €3 annual charge for the card also but I can not remember ever seeing this on the statements. Unfortunately I am in Spain at the moment and the statements are in Ireland so I'm not in a position to verify this.

Hope this helps.


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## mosstown

it is the Cashminder account that you need to open with the Halifax.  i think they are just about the only bank doing them now.  we are based in the UK and got ours last week, should have got them ages ago really as we fly regular to ireland.
the cooperative bank in the UK no longer issue them.


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## qwerta369

gunnerfitzy said:


> Hi
> 
> It was a Xtra account that I opened. This particular account has a €25 annual charge. The bank charges document from the bank  states that there is a €3 annual charge for the card also but I can not remember ever seeing this on the statements. Unfortunately I am in Spain at the moment and the statements are in Ireland so I'm not in a position to verify this.
> 
> Hope this helps.



He is talking about Halifax Spain (€).



mosstown said:


> it is the Cashminder account that you need to open with the Halifax.  i think they are just about the only bank doing them now.  we are based in the UK and got ours last week, should have got them ages ago really as we fly regular to ireland.
> the cooperative bank in the UK no longer issue them.



You are talking about Halifax UK (£).


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## lff12

Fly Aer Arann, Malev, or one of many other airlines that do not penalise you for using credit cards.  Its only Ryanair and Aer Lingus that persistently penalise customers.  Some of the brokers don't charge either.


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## gunnerfitzy

lff12 said:


> Fly Aer Arann, Malev, or one of many other airlines that do not penalise you for using credit cards.  Its only Ryanair and Aer Lingus that persistently penalise customers.  Some of the brokers don't charge either.



Lovely idea in theory. However not all airlines fly from/to the same airports and even with CC charges some airlines are still cheaper than others. Airlines are companies with different strategies on how to make the most money.  Refusing to fly with an airline just because they have a separate CC charge is just pie in the sky! (pun intended)


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## bond-007

It is like all the smartarses that say "If you don't like Ryanair, fly with someone else". Often times Ryanair are the only game in town and you have no choice but to use them.


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## Jugovic

Hi Gunnerfitzy

Just looking at your info on the Spanish Halifax a/c. I see the 25 Euro annual charge for the Xtra account. There's also a current account and i'm trying to work out the charges for that one.

It dosen't state a cost for a VISA Electron card but I think that could be 3 Euro per year? Also looking at the terms and conditions, it looks like a 18 Euro charge every 6 months for balances less than 600 Euro for non-residents. The 'in general' charge is 5 Euro every 6 months.

So, working from that, if you open up a current a/c with a balance always over 600 Euro, ask for a VISA Electron card, you will be charged 13 Euro / year? 

Is there a charge to move money between Irish banks (in my case BOI) and Halifax Spain? 

Now that I think about it, I actually have a mortgage with Halifax, I wonder can I do anything there?

Link to rates are below:


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## gunnerfitzy

Jugovic said:


> Hi Gunnerfitzy
> 
> Just looking at your info on the Spanish Halifax a/c. I see the 25 Euro annual charge for the Xtra account. There's also a current account and i'm trying to work out the charges for that one.
> 
> It doesn't state a cost for a VISA Electron card but I think that could be 3 Euro per year? Also looking at the terms and conditions, it looks like a 18 Euro charge every 6 months for balances less than 600 Euro for non-residents. The 'in general' charge is 5 Euro every 6 months.
> 
> So, working from that, if you open up a current a/c with a balance always over 600 Euro, ask for a VISA Electron card, you will be charged 13 Euro / year?
> 
> Is there a charge to move money between Irish banks (in my case BOI) and Halifax Spain?
> 
> Now that I think about it, I actually have a mortgage with Halifax, I wonder can I do anything there?
> 
> Link to rates are below:



All the above sounds right to me, but it may be a good idea to give them a call to be certain. The xtra account costs a little more a year but you do not have to maintain the minimum balance.

You can transfer up to €50,000 to any euro bank account within the eurozone without any charges although some banks have an admin fee (PTSB 50c per transaction) again, double check with your bank. You must have the IBAN and BIC of the account you wish to credit.  

My Irish current account is with halifax and once one transfer in completed in branch then its possible for any other transfers to be initiated by calling telephone banking. Handy!


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## bullworth

Jugovic said:


> Hi Gunnerfitzy
> 
> Just looking at your info on the Spanish Halifax a/c. I see the 25 Euro annual charge for the Xtra account. There's also a current account and i'm trying to work out the charges for that one.
> 
> It dosen't state a cost for a VISA Electron card but I think that could be 3 Euro per year? Also looking at the terms and conditions, it looks like a 18 Euro charge every 6 months for balances less than 600 Euro for non-residents. The 'in general' charge is 5 Euro every 6 months.
> 
> So, working from that, if you open up a current a/c with a balance always over 600 Euro, ask for a VISA Electron card, you will be charged 13 Euro / year?
> 
> Is there a charge to move money between Irish banks (in my case BOI) and Halifax Spain?
> 
> Now that I think about it, I actually have a mortgage with Halifax, I wonder can I do anything there?
> 
> Link to rates are below:



Does the UK government have a unfair and high stamp duty on plastic cards like ours does  ? Thats another cost to consider. I suspect they dont.


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## bond-007

No, they do not have any stamp duty on cards.


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## qwerta369

bullworth said:


> Does the UK government have a unfair and high stamp duty on plastic cards like ours does  ? Thats another cost to consider. I suspect they dont.



Why quote a post about a Spanish bank, then ask a question about stamp duty in the UK?


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## bullworth

qwerta369 said:


> Why quote a post about a Spanish bank, then ask a question about stamp duty in the UK?



Because Im not infallible ? Or how about because Halifax is a British based Bank ?


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## qwerta369

bullworth said:


> Because Im not infallible ? Or how about because Halifax is a British based Bank ?



Banco Halifax Hispania is a Spanish bank, albeit of UK parentage and part of the HBOS group.

I was afraid that you were confusing Halifax (UK) and Banco Halifax Hispania.

The UK government has no say on the practises of Banco Halifax Hispania.


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