3V - does it work?

mike65

https://www.3v.ie/

It sounds like a good idea what are users opinions?

Mike.

admiralofthefleet

i think its good, the customer service is excellent if you have any problems, i just dont like the €5 surcharge when buying the voucher and the €2.50 charge to redeem any amount left on it

Our man in Havana

It was once great but times have changed. The high charges make it a poor option. €5 for each voucher and €2.75 redemption charge on unused funds, Limited validity etc.
Also fewer and fewer retailers are carrying them now.

Wirecard is a better option and is slowly killing off 3v. With wirecard the card is vaild for 2 years and can be topped up unlike 3v where you have to buy a new card each time.

Detailed thread on it here.

aequinoctium

quite safe especially as there is a limit to how much credit you can buy

admiralofthefleet

has the redeem charge gone up to €2.75 now, feck it ill have a look at this wriecard

mike65

While I was googling I came upon Usecash underwriten by alphyra like 3v, so should be reliable.

Mike.

Our man in Havana

mike65 wrote:

While I was googling I came upon Usecash underwriten by alphyra like 3v, so should be reliable.

Mike.

Don't think it will catch on. It won't unseat the credit cards.

mike65

I don't think thats the intention to be fair, it an alternative.

Mike.

DingChavez

Just get a Credit Card TBO. I had 3V for a while, too much hassle.

mike65

I have one but its sometimes good to have another way of paying esp online.

Mike

maireadmarie

I think 3V is brilliant! I've used it quite a lot, for buying online and over the phone, and you simply have no worries with it. I run to the village and buy the voucher, and by the time I'm home, in a few minutes, the security code and expiry date have arrived by e-mail. I then use it as an ordinary visa card without a problem, and I'm not worried about someone stealing my details.
I just got a cheque for unused funds in the post - I think it's absolutely worth the 5 euro charge on the voucher, and the 2.50 deducted when they return the unused funds. The best bit for me is no credit card bill!

antoinolachtnai

But to make a purchase, that means it's costing you eur 7.50! If you're buying something for 100 euros, that's a 7.5 percent commission. Very high if you ask me. Still, if it makes you feel comfortable, I guess it's worth it.

Ultimately though, 3V is going to have a tough time, because not very many retailers are going to be willing to sell the vouchers. It's just too risky a business for them.

ircoha

It is horses for courses; 3V allow a top up via the mobile: is that in effect a new voucher or a top up of an existing open voucher.

https://www.wirecard.com/wirecard/ShowFees.html
the fees are not minmal.

Once must also factor in the lack of annual CC fee and having no rosk of your CC being stolen.

antoinolachtnai

There is no cost to have a credit card - it's all stamp duty. There is stamp due on 3v transactions too. It just isn't being collected yet.

Your money can be stolen as easily as your credit card.

Faerie

I think they're great. I don't want a credit card so it's essential for my online purchases! The charges aren't much when you think about it anyway. The 5E isn't a problem as long as you buy the vouchers in large amounts. It would add up if you were constantly buying vouchers under 100E though. As for the 2.50 charge, well you should just use up the entire voucher. I tend to go out and buy my voucher for the amount I need and if there's any left over I just buy something off ebay or maybe an itune.
There are no worries about credit card debt, identity theft or online shops taking money from you for hidden extra costs.

remus808

ircoha wrote:

https://www.wirecard.com/wirecard/ShowFees.html
the fees are not minmal.

Ignore that link.. The fees are extremely minimal- €1 for every deposit. So if you transfer €300 to your Wirecard, you get €299 credit. You are not charged any further fees on that amount, no matter how many transactions etc. you make..... €1 is nothing!!!

antoinolachtnai

It looks to me like they charge 1.5 percent of the transaction as well. Which isn't bad, compared to 3V.

bmaxi

antoinolachtnai wrote:

It looks to me like they charge 1.5 percent of the transaction as well. Which isn't bad, compared to 3V.

Only if you buy outside the Euro zone.

Our man in Havana

There are no charges with wirecard within the Eurozone, 1.5% for other currencies. I think it is a great deal.

mcaul

mike65 wrote:

While I was googling I came upon Usecash underwriten by alphyra like 3v, so should be reliable.

Mike.

Usecash will be available from September on Irish online stores. Very simple to use. Print off your order, take it to a payzone store (about 1500 in ireland) and that's it. - No additional fee for the customer.

Another cheap way if you're in Kildare Outlets centre - get their gift card issued by mastercard. Costs just €3 and you can put up to €1500 onto it - can be used in any place that takes mastercard.

Our man in Havana

Another cheap way if you're in Kildare Outlets centre - get their gift card issued by mastercard. Costs just €3 and you can put up to €1500 onto it - can be used in any place that takes mastercard.

Are there any ID requirements to obtain one?

antoinolachtnai

I can't see usecash catching on. alphyra is fine for selling phone credit, but retailers are going to be unwilling to handle the cash this generates. Although maybe western union places will go for it.

mastercard concept is interesting. How do you load it with credit?

mcaul

afaik you just call into the customer service centre and buy the card with whatever amount you want. I doubt ID is required as they promote it as a gift card.


As to usecash - it will use the alphyra network just like 3V so agents will already be online and they get paid by usecash for each transaction - something like 1% + 35c on each tranaction. Usecash then charge retailers 2.5 - 3.5% commission.

julescal

antoinolachtnai wrote:

I can't see usecash catching on. alphyra is fine for selling phone credit, but retailers are going to be unwilling to handle the cash this generates. Although maybe western union places will go for it.

mastercard concept is interesting. How do you load it with credit?

Hi. I'm the MD of UseCash and I seem to be getting myself onto a few of these forums. Let me give you some idea of the concept and where the potential market is.
I think it helps to remember that for retail sales the internet is just a great big online catalogue. So, looking at it another way, internet shopping is simply mail order home shopping where, instead of flicking through the pages of a paper catalogue, you click through the pages of an online catalogue.
UseCash is all about letting everyone shop online without the need to set up accounts or use credit, debit or chargecards or convert to digital cash or tie-up money in an e-wallet.
About the market..there's a misconception that debit and credit cards are ubiquitous. They're not.
Adult 18+ pop. Ireland 2.85m. Credit Cards in issue 2.2m, Debit Cards 1.6m. Penetration of credit cards/adult pop. c35% (lots of people out there have more than 1 credit card). So, 1.8m adults don’t have a credit card and 1.2m adults don’t have debit cards.
And the shopper market has not yet realised its full potential. Of the 1.6m internet users only c500k are shoppers. That's c1.1 million users not shopping. 25-30% of users will not shop online because of security concerns (real or perceived the net result is the same) so that’s 275-330k. About 30% don't shop online because they see no need to or would rather shop in person c330k. That leaves c440k which approximates to the 40+% of the adult pop. who don't have credit or debit cards.
As for the alphyra retailers, services that drive business bring benefits: UseCash is another reason for shoppers to visit their stores.
Visit www.usecash.net for more info.

antoinolachtnai

That's all great. But handling medium to large amounts of cash on behalf of arbitrary vendors is not what shopkeepers sign up for when they sell phone cards or whatever. It's not really worth setting up the cash handling procedures if the commission is going to be quite small.

SMERSH

antoinolachtnai wrote:

That's all great. But handling medium to large amounts of cash on behalf of arbitrary vendors is not what shopkeepers sign up for when they sell phone cards or whatever. It's not really worth setting up the cash handling procedures if the commission is going to be quite small.

The risk of robberies would be too much. Many 3v retailers stopped doing them because the risk was too great.

julescal

SMERSH wrote:

The risk of robberies would be too much. Many 3v retailers stopped doing them because the risk was too great.

Have you got any further information on that?

Lawless_Samurai

Have 3v card a couple of months and its worked for me. The charges are a bit crap though, have to have a look at this wirecard....