Which Credit/Debit card should I get for buying online?

WaterWolf

I currently have the standard AIB debit card which acts as an ATM card, Laser card and partially a Maestro card.

I'm looking to get another credit/debit card for two reasons:
1. To be able to buy things online. The current card is limited to only a few Irish sites that accept Laser.
2. To have more security buying things online. My understanding is that it's hard to get back money lost due to internet fraud on my current card (I could be wrong on this).

So basically I'm looking for something with the lowest fees that allows me to do that. I have no interest in drawing more money than is in the account. My current banking fees are about €50 a year. I'm a bit clueless at the moment so I'm just looking for some advice. I don't mind setting up a new account with another bank

Someone suggested a Visa debit card to me but AIB don't seem to do one at the moment? Also I heard that AIB may be replacing all standard debit cards with Visa debit sometime in the future, does anyone know when that is going to happen?

SteoLeFlem

The best card to have online is a 3v card you can put on a pacific amount of money e.g A Top €50 You Can Just put €50 on the 3v which is a great way to stop scammers robbing your money from e.g Your Visa, So you should Definatly invest in a 3v Card.

daithijjj

I wouldnt bother with 3v personally. I have a visa debit from ulster bank, 5 euro annual fee. With 3v i think the prices if you top up by 30 euro or more is 2.50, 110 euro or more is 5.

Avoid the hassle and just get the visa debit if you need something to use regularly. I think PTSB are doing them now aswel. It fullfills your criteria above OP.

coylemj

Why not just get a regular credit card and pay off the balance every month?

WaterWolf

I have no preference between a credit car or debit card. It just depends on which one is cheaper.

karlmcd

What is the lowest amount you can top up on 3v?
like can you top by 3 euro,5 euro or even 6 euro?

SteoLeFlem

You can put as much money as you like on it. i only have one disadvantage for the 3v & thats only being able to top up the card in Certain shops. e.g Spar.

Pablo1802

http://public.neteller.com/content/en/cards_index.htm

fully recommend

or for 10 euro annual fee with

http://www.moneybookers.com/ads/mastercard/

Ogham

WaterWolf wrote: »

I currently have the standard AIB debit card which acts as an ATM card, Laser card and partially a Maestro card.

I'm looking to get another credit/debit card for two reasons:
1. To be able to buy things online. The current card is limited to only a few Irish sites that accept Laser.
2. To have more security buying things online. My understanding is that it's hard to get back money lost due to internet fraud on my current card (I could be wrong on this).

So basically I'm looking for something with the lowest fees that allows me to do that. I have no interest in drawing more money than is in the account. My current banking fees are about €50 a year. I'm a bit clueless at the moment so I'm just looking for some advice. I don't mind setting up a new account with another bank

Someone suggested a Visa debit card to me but AIB don't seem to do one at the moment? Also I heard that AIB may be replacing all standard debit cards with Visa debit sometime in the future, does anyone know when that is going to happen?

Just move your account to Ulster and they issue a Visa Debit card as standard. No account fees at Ulster - longer opening hours too. Don't bother with that 3v thing .

funnygirl2009

does aib do visadebit?

BuffyBot

No, not yet.

okiss

I bank with ulster bank - no bank fees once your account is in credit and they offer a visa debit card.
Why pay at least €50 a year bank fees. There is now a new form to switch bank accounts which you just fill up and all dd ect are moved over from aib to ulster bank for you.
The visa debit card will some times ask when you make a purchase on line for extra security information. You have internet banking so you can check your account on line and it is user friendly.
I had a visa debit card with Halifax before they closed and had no problem using it in England and the Usa for purchase and with drawing cash.
PSTB are offering this card also but they have bank fees

JJ

I have a PTSB account and there are no fees but I switched a few years ago when they had the no fees offer. I'm not sure what they offer new customers now. They also switched me over to a Visa debit card about a year or so ago. AFAIK, AIB and BOI own Laser so they wouldn't be switching to Visa debit cards anytime soon and Visa is accepted in so many more places than Laser, especially online.

VampiricPadraig

Ulster Bank with a Visa Debit card.

Got one there last week, seems to be pretty good so far!

WaterWolf

The Visa debit definitely seems to be the way to go. I'll look into opening an account with Ulster Bank then. I wouldn't even need to keep a large amount of money in it at any one time which would further protect against online fraud.

BuffyBot

JJ wrote: »

I have a PTSB account and there are no fees but I switched a few years ago when they had the no fees offer. I'm not sure what they offer new customers now. They also switched me over to a Visa debit card about a year or so ago. AFAIK, AIB and BOI own Laser so they wouldn't be switching to Visa debit cards anytime soon and Visa is accepted in so many more places than Laser, especially online.

All the main banks own a share in Laser, even the ones no longer using it such as Ulster and PTSB. BOI is switching to Visa Debit in the summer.

WaterWolf

Okay, I just had a look at the Ulster Bank site and now I have another question! Does anyone know what the difference is between the standard account and the step account? Is it purely that one can be overdrawn while the other can't? Or is there more too it than that? They don't give much info on the site.

VenomIreland

Would a 16-year-old qualify for Ulster Bank's Debit Card?
I have 3V but it's a bit of a pain having to travel 2Km to get a voucher and even then, have money left over that I can't spend.

WaterWolf

According to their website 'You need to be aged 16 or over and permanently reside in the Republic of Ireland.'

VenomIreland

WaterWolf wrote: »

According to their website 'You need to be aged 16 or over and permanently reside in the Republic of Ireland.'

Grand then.

VenomIreland

Just while I think about it now, do you need a source of permanent income to get a debitcard?

WaterWolf

The standard ATM card from Ulster Bank is a Visa debit card so I assume they don't need to check if you have a source of income. You can't withdraw more money than you actually have anyway and there is no minimum limit on the amount of money you need to keep in the account. You can always ask in your local branch anyway.

VenomIreland

I mean their debitCARD, not their cashCARD (debit can be used for purchases and ATM)

Dacelonid

okiss wrote: »

There is now a new form to switch bank accounts which you just fill up and all dd ect are moved over from aib to ulster bank for you.

I wouldn't be so sure of that. I filled in said switcher form and only 1 of my DD's was moved for me. I had to ring all my DD receipiants and get them to swicth over. Funnily enough, my mortgage is with UB and even that one wasn't moved, so don't rely on that swicther process to do everything for you. You would still be better off doing the switch over yourself

disclaimer: This was a situation where I was leaving the old a/c open. Maybe if I was closing the old a/c I wouldn't have had the same problems

WaterWolf

The debitCARD is the standard card they will give you with a current account. The cashCARD is only for savings accounts.

VenomIreland

WaterWolf wrote: »

The debitCARD is the standard card they will give you with a current account. The cashCARD is only for savings accounts.

Oh, my mistake then. Thanks

marywary

Dacelonid wrote: »

I wouldn't be so sure of that. I filled in said switcher form and only 1 of my DD's was moved for me. I had to ring all my DD receipiants and get them to swicth over. Funnily enough, my mortgage is with UB and even that one wasn't moved, so don't rely on that swicther process to do everything for you. You would still be better off doing the switch over yourself

disclaimer: This was a situation where I was leaving the old a/c open. Maybe if I was closing the old a/c I wouldn't have had the same problems

The Bank switching code should still have worked for you even if you were keeping your old bank account open, the only people you should have had to contact were those that were making regular lodgements to your a/c eg. child allowance, social welfare, employer for salary etc to let them know your new a/c details. All your d/d's, s/o's should have been transferred automatically for you.

curry-muff

What about the new o2 card, has anyone looked into it yet?

marywary

WaterWolf wrote: »

I currently have the standard AIB debit card which acts as an ATM card, Laser card and partially a Maestro card.

I'm looking to get another credit/debit card for two reasons:
1. To be able to buy things online. The current card is limited to only a few Irish sites that accept Laser.
2. To have more security buying things online. My understanding is that it's hard to get back money lost due to internet fraud on my current card (I could be wrong on this).

So basically I'm looking for something with the lowest fees that allows me to do that. I have no interest in drawing more money than is in the account. My current banking fees are about €50 a year. I'm a bit clueless at the moment so I'm just looking for some advice. I don't mind setting up a new account with another bank

Someone suggested a Visa debit card to me but AIB don't seem to do one at the moment? Also I heard that AIB may be replacing all standard debit cards with Visa debit sometime in the future, does anyone know when that is going to happen?

Haven't heard that AIB are bring in debit card any time soon but regarding fees, you can avoid paying these easily enough by only making 2 debit specific transactions on your a/c during their fee charging period.
ie. use your laser card to make a purchase
use phone/internet banking service to pay bill, trf funds from your current a/c, top up your mobile etc. Very easy to meet the criteria & ensure that you don't end up paying any fees. €50 is a lot of money which can easily be avoided imo
Chances are AIB will bring in visa debit if all the other banks follow suit.

WaterWolf

The O2 card just looks like a standard debit card which you top up like a phone rather than putting money in a bank account. It has a lot of fees and limits on it so I don't really see the point in having one except for emergencies or if you really hate banks:

http://www.o2online.ie/o2/uploads/pdfs/o2-money/O2-Money-Tarriffs.pdf

flaviu

Went to AIB yesterday to open an account, specifically for buying online. I asked if i could have a MasterCard or Visa attached to this account. Being unemployed and not a student anymore she told me i can't have anything like that. Only a lame laser card.

I asked: then, how am i supposed to buy stuff online?!
she smiled and shrugged.

That's AIB for ya. Going to ulster bank first thing on monday.
Thanks for all the info!

Dacelonid

marywary wrote: »

The Bank switching code should still have worked for you even if you were keeping your old bank account open, the only people you should have had to contact were those that were making regular lodgements to your a/c eg. child allowance, social welfare, employer for salary etc to let them know your new a/c details. All your d/d's, s/o's should have been transferred automatically for you.

Not to derail the thread, but the relevant words are highlighted. This should have been done but wasn't and I was blue in the face trying to get them (Ulster Bank)to correct it for me. In the end it was quicker for me to do it myself.
I have to do a credit report in a few weeks to make sure my credit history isn't affected (unpaid DD on a mobile phone contract, a/c been overdrawn etc) and if it is they said they will sort it out.

Dodge

I’m currently looking into this. No one has yet mentioned the ‘cross border conversion’ charges that the main banking cards charge of purchases outside the eurozone (I’ve had a credit card for ten years and only became aware of it recenty)

The following are the charges on various cards that I’ve looked up;
PTSB debit; 1.75%
BOI Visa; 1.75&
AIB Mastercard 2.14%
AIB Visa 2.75%

Something to bear in mind

VenomIreland

Had to resend the Address and ID verifications, gave it in to the local Ulster Bank branch last Tuesday.

Still waiting

Butch Cassidy

flaviu wrote: »

Went to AIB yesterday to open an account, specifically for buying online. I asked if i could have a MasterCard or Visa attached to this account. Being unemployed and not a student anymore she told me i can't have anything like that. Only a lame laser card.

I asked: then, how am i supposed to buy stuff online?!
she smiled and shrugged.

That's AIB for ya. Going to ulster bank first thing on monday.
Thanks for all the info!

Yeah AIB are spas. I reckoned them not providing a debit card that can be used online was a conspiracy by the Irish bank during the bubble so more people got credit cards.

Dodge wrote: »

I’m currently looking into this. No one has yet mentioned the ‘cross border conversion’ charges that the main banking cards charge of purchases outside the eurozone (I’ve had a credit card for ten years and only became aware of it recenty)

The following are the charges on various cards that I’ve looked up;
PTSB debit; 1.75%
BOI Visa; 1.75&
AIB Mastercard 2.14%
AIB Visa 2.75%
*Ulster 2%*

Something to bear in mind

From here: http://www.ulsterbank.ie/documents/roi/Guide_to_Personal_Account_Fees_and_Interest.pdf

Transaction Type
(Outside the Eurozone)

Cash withdrawal at an RBS,
NatWest or Ulster Bank
cash machine

No Charge

No charge***


Cash withdrawal which is not
at an RBS, NatWest or Ulster
Bank cash machine**

Charge: 2% of transaction amount
(min €3, max €12)

ERTF fee: 1.5% of transaction amount

____

Purchases (point of
sale transaction)

Charge: 1% of transaction amount
(min €0.25, max €6)

ERTF fee: 1% of transaction amount
(min €0.25, max €6)

* Exchange Rate Transaction Fee
** Local banks may charge a fee
*** Transaction is converted into Euro at a rate determined by Ulster Bank

So : when using the Ulster Bank Visa Debit in a shop in the 6 counties add on 1% and only take money out of RBS, NatWest or Ulster Bank ATMs.

flaviu

Butch Cassidy wrote: »

So : when using the Ulster Bank Visa Debit in a shop in the 6 counties add on 1% and only take money out of RBS, NatWest or Ulster Bank ATMs.

Oops, didn't know that. So i give a quarter to anything i buy under 25E, so i shouldn't use it all the time in stores.
What about online shopping? I don't really understand those acronyms and stuff like ETRF or GFYAIB...
How much would i pay ulster for something bought from amazon.co.uk or amazon.de or what about .com? anyone know?
What if i try to load some of my money into paypal?