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Is an Irish laser card basically useless online?

  • 02-01-2010 5:52pm
    #1
    PomBear
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,885 ✭✭✭


    I know you can book ryanair flights or soon will be able but other than that, are laser cards completly useless online?


Comments

  • #2
    nitromaster
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,507 ✭✭✭nitromaster


    Yes.

    Well can use it on cdwow/apple...and limited other retailers..
    But yes.


  • #3
    Pushtrak
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,640 ✭✭✭Pushtrak


    Only site I have used a few times that has laser card as an option is elara.

    There are always 3V Vouchers (pre-paid visa), though. Lost my card ages ago, waiting for the replacement one.


  • #4
    wyndham
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,284 ✭✭✭wyndham


    Aer Lingus takes it. Other sites with an Irish base. Tesco.ie, superquinn, etc.


  • #5
    leeroybrown
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,563 ✭✭✭leeroybrown


    I know that Ulster Bank are in the process of moving customers to Visa Electron at the moment. I'd be surprised if other Irish banks don't do something similar. That will be a lot more useful online.

    Visa Electron is currently the zero charge alternative on Ryanair but apparently they will switch to Mastercard Prepay shortly (probably because they've got a lot more customers with Electron now).


  • #6
    **Timbuk2**
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 7,396 Mod ✭✭✭✭**Timbuk2**


    leeroybrown wrote: »
    I know that Ulster Bank are in the process of moving customers to Visa Electron at the moment. I'd be surprised if other Irish banks don't do something similar. That will be a lot more useful online.

    No, Ulster Bank aren't changing people to Visa Electron, but rather Visa Debit.

    Visa Debit works like a Laser Card, i.e. money gets debited straight from your account, you can only spend what you have in the account etc. But the main difference between Visa Debit and Laser is that Visa Debit is accepted everywhere that Visa Credit Card is, and is therefore a lot more useful than Laser for foreign transactions and transactions online (online, Visa is accepted on 99% of websites).

    Two banks offer Visa Debit in Ireland at the moment: Halifax was the first, and Ulster Bank have recently started doing this. I have an UB Visa Debit card, and I think it's great, however some people have been complaining that it doesn't get accepted everywhere online, such as Amazon and Paypal (although both of these work perfectly for me!). The Halifax Visa Debit card has been around longer, and it tends to work smoothly for everyone.


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  • #7
    leeroybrown
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,563 ✭✭✭leeroybrown


    **Timbuk2** wrote: »
    No, Ulster Bank aren't changing people to Visa Electron, but rather Visa Debit.
    My mistake. It appears to be Visa Debit after all. It appears I'm victim of some of the mis-information that is flying around about them. It's still a massive improvement for online use though.


  • #8
    **Timbuk2**
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 7,396 Mod ✭✭✭✭**Timbuk2**


    leeroybrown wrote: »
    My mistake. It appears to be Visa Debit after all. It appears I'm victim of some of the mis-information that is flying around about them. It's still a massive improvement for online use though.

    Definitely! Before this, people had to resort to getting 3V cards (if they didn't have a CC, that is). Although 3V cards work, in theory, in reality they are a pain because they are riddled with fees and sometimes you are stuck with €2.50 on the card that is useless, because you can't buy anything higher than that value, and you can't get your money off it in any way!


  • #9
    quinnthebin
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 241 ✭✭quinnthebin


    I have a halifax debit card and thought it worth mentioning that you are unable to get cashback when paying for purchases (though I was offered this the other day in one garage so maybe retailers are opening up to this). I see this as a minor inconvenience given the benefits. However, It can be used to withdraw cash from machines. Also they're not accepted at Lidl as they class it as a credit card. (not sure about Aldi).


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