Curve card ‘pauses’ Amex functionality

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• Daz says:

  24 May24 May 17:52

  I’m glad I got the email before I done the big Lidl shop, they would have sneered at me and thrown rotten vegetables for holding the 350meter till queue up as I only have Amex aligned to my Curve

  • Lewis says:

    24 May24 May 19:46

    Haha yeah we’ve been using it for lidl too! Gonna miss that

    • Federico says:

      24 May24 May 21:35

      same here… the only reason why I had it!

• krys_k says:

  24 May24 May 17:55

  Here’s my take.

  We don’t know why Amex pulled out. So every comment is speculation. Those using the card according to T&C but for Avios gain are being told off for ruining it for others when it could be dozens of other reasons.

  Raffles is in the bad book of some because he told us about a product which went South. Apart from the fact that everyone ought to be old enough to make their own financial decisions, you’ve lost most likely £35. It really is a first world problem.

  Lots of talk about canceling. I’ll keep. If only to support a start up.

• Chris says:

  24 May24 May 17:56

  This is a real shame. I applied a week or so ago. Curve told me my card would take 4-6 weeks for my card to come through. After today’s e-mail, I contacted them to ask if they would waive the £35 fee. They would not. Since the ability to use Amex with the Curve card was the primary reason I signed up, I have just cancelled my application.

• Valen says:

  24 May24 May 18:04

  This product is like having Pepsi wrap a Coke logo on their bottle and selling it as Coke! In an age where branding is everything I don’t see any banks being happy to have their brand obfuscated in such a manner… Good idea but doesn’t work from a business perspective.

  • Rob says:

    24 May24 May 18:09

    Which is why all the card companies are working with Apple Pay and Android Pay, where there brands are submerged?

    • Mr(s) Entitled says:

      24 May24 May 19:51

      There aren’t many companies that would pick a fight with Apple or Google. They would gladly squash Curve.

      • Nick says:

        24 May24 May 20:04

        Card issuers will have been bullied in to the Apple Pay thing, no question about that. After the EU regs took a huge chunk out of their interchange income, the very last thing they will have wanted is an intermediary forcing itself in to the payment acceptance process and (presumably) taking another big bite out of that income. A real double whammy, but no doubt card issuers felt they had no option but to sign up to Apple pay, even though for the life of me I cannot see adds anything that contactless didn’t do already. I’m not sure as a customer I’d want Apple knowing what I’m spending my money on either.

        • Duncan Stevenson says:

          24 May24 May 21:54

          Apple don’t know what you spend your money on at all. And it has a few benefits over contactless. One, the retailer never gets hold of your actual card number, so it’s more secure than a normal contactless card. In the same vein, you don’t have to remove your card from a wallet/bag/purse, so you have increased physical security.

          Secondly, the limit for Apple Pay / Android Pay transactions is limitless whereas a contactless transaction is limited to £30.

          Personally I wear an Apple Watch which works very well with Apple Pay, but even if I didn’t I’d be more likely to have my iPhone to hand (if not IN my hand) whereas my wallet will be in a buttoned or zipped pocket, or in a bag.

        • harry says:

          24 May24 May 22:00

          Secondly, the limit for Apple Pay / Android Pay transactions is limitless whereas a contactless transaction is limited to £30.

          Surely you got the merits round the wrong way? I’d much rather have strict limits in place whilst the technology is proved.

        • Nick says:

          24 May24 May 22:19

          All fair points – although I did think there was some uncertainty on who got to see transaction data. However the main point I was making is still valid: the marginal improvements of apple pay (and similar services) over existing contactless are not worth the price we will ultimately pay through reduced credit card benefits, in my opinion. I’m not apple-hating, but I really hope Apple Pay doesn’t take off.

        • Fenny says:

          24 May24 May 23:13

          My wallet will always be in my pocket (unless I’m out kicking people), but my phone is likely to be on my bed/sofa/desk unless I’m travelling between college sites on a work day.

• Mr Dee says:

  24 May24 May 18:18

  No phone support is really not acceptable for a long term financial product.

• harry says:

  24 May24 May 18:52

  The non-refund of £75 for Blacks without sending back your wallet (in new condition) seems very odd/ mean.

  Does it mean the Curve people are rather desperate to hold onto all those £25s?The wallet was a gift & an enticement to go for the higher level of membership. It may or may not be worth the £25 – that is entirely irrelevant.

  • Yuff says:

    24 May24 May 19:06

    I quite like my little black leather wallet, they aren’t having that back or my card 😉
    May has been a very lucrative month thanks to curve, I don’t see June being much different 🙂

  • AndyGWP says:

    24 May24 May 20:22

    Agreed – it was listed as a free (I have screenshots) gift – to expect people not to have used it is insane… to charge them £25 for a ‘free’ gift is scandelous… i’m sure they will have covered themselves with a loophole somewhere though 🙁

    • harry says:

      24 May24 May 20:52

      I think it probably simply means somebody senior was in panic mode and made a bad decision.

      Think how much more reassuring it would have sounded if they’d said ‘We’ll be happy to refund your £75 Black membership fee – and naturally as a gesture of our appreciation for your joining Curve, please keep your [special wallet, whatever it’s called!] with our compliments’.

• Paul says:

  24 May24 May 18:57

  I just wanted to say I have no qualms with raffles whatsoever. As he says, if you’ve used card – you are ahead. I am now taking the same approach to the tesco giftcards (I forget the name of the brand) and paying things in advance, such as service charges on properties, sky, eon, etc 🙂

  Thank you Raffles (and it may not even be all bad news, “pause” could be taken at face value!)

• Mr Dee says:

  24 May24 May 19:08

  I had to phone the amex card to authorise curve transactions about 8 times, not fun.

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