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Curve card ‘pauses’ Amex functionality

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(EDIT:  Curve has changed a lot since this article was published.  Please do not rely on the information here.  Instead, please click here to read our detailed 2020 Curve review, which includes a link for a free £10 credit when you sign up.)

Let’s keep Curve discussion here, please, to stop other threads getting clogged up.

I will do an analysis on this tomorrow.  My gut feeling in the short term is that – assuming you can easily spend £1,000 on Curve in the next three months (and £600 of that can be free ATM withdrawals linked to a Mastercard or Visa, earning points) – you might as well do that.

You will get the £35 credit, which if you have the basic card means you are in the same financial position as taking a refund, and you still have the Curve card for overseas use (if you don’t have a 0% card) and ATM use and for places where it is treated as a debit card.

Curve prepaid MasterCard

And, of course, if you take a refund you would need to pay £35 again later if / when Amex functionality returns. If you have the premium version, the maths is different and you may find the full refund better than a £50 credit.

It is always fun and games working with start-ups ….

The email:

I’m Shachar, the CEO of Curve. Today we’ve got some disappointing news. American Express have asked us to pause their functionality with Curve – which means you will not be able to use your Curve card with your Amex for the time being. This begins at midday on May 31st UK time – you’ll shortly receive another email with practical details of what will happen when we pause the American Express functionality – your Curve will continue to work with Mastercard and Visa.

American Express want to ensure there is a seamless customer support process for their Members when using their Card with Curve. We’re continuing discussions with their management, and hope that American Express decide to come back to Curve soon.

We’re continuing to build something big at Curve. The first ever platform to connect you to your everything money – transforming the way you handle your finances, bringing value and saving you time and money. We’re already connecting up all your bank cards, tracking your expenses in real time and saving you money with zero FX fees when you travel. This is just the beginning – we’re working hard on future features such as the ability to move charges between funding cards after you’ve paid, bespoke loyalty rewards and cash-backs, peer-to peer payments and much more.

As a big thank you for being one of Curve’s early adopters we are giving Blue card members £35 and Black card members £50 worth of Curve Points if you spend a total of £1000 over the next three months. You’ll be able to spend your Curve Points at any merchant that accepts Mastercard using your Curve. Please see our FAQs for further details.

We hope you choose to stay with us to continue the exciting journey we’ve begun together. Please write to me directly – I’m happy to answer any questions you might have.

I’ll keep you updated.

Yours,

Shachar Bialick

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Comments (437)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • whiskerxx says:
    24 May24 May 10:37

    We are a fickle bunch, aren’t we?
    Bound together by the thirst and greed of getting something for nothing (well, almost nothing in this case)
    I’m no exception, so I too will be cancelling my card.
    Errmm….not my Curve card……my Amex.
    I’ve had full functionality from my Curve, and have used it extensively. I’ve enjoyed the benefit of having Amex accepted in places I couldn’t previously, and am disappointed that Amex have forced a withdrawal.
    So, I’ll take the opportunity to voice my concerns to Amex, make a little protest and close my account. (Make a diary note and open a new one in six months time)
    if more people adopted this route, maybe the tiny ripple would give Amex a little more to think about. (And of course boost the points balance with another sign up bonus)

  • RTS says:
    24 May24 May 10:39

    I was originally going to keep it until the 31st and max out cash withdrawals from it daily but… I have no confidence that they will survive this.

    I’m keeping the tumi wallet though. nifty little wallet for £25.

  • Matt says:
    24 May24 May 10:40

    This product is doomed. I’ve heard it charges a commercial card rate of interchange – more likely to be 1.8% rather than the regulated 0.3%. Hence they were able to keep Amex on board by being able to pay the higher fee than the standard consumer interchange. I don’t think this is sustainable long term as they are gaming the system and is essentially non compliant with card scheme (Visa and MC) rules…

    • RIccati says:
      24 May24 May 10:58

      They are not in breach of regulations — that has been discussed. They have not been marketing to non-business customers either.

      New players and innovative ideas do come from/with use of arbitrage between systems.

      • DV says:
        24 May24 May 11:13

        They were explicitly marketing the card to non-business users, and turning a blind eye to the fact that that their customers are not business users. Enjoy it while it lasts, but you need to go into this with your eyes open.

        • RIccati says:
          24 May24 May 11:28

          On subscription page, they asked to confirm the business owner status or rejected the subscription.

          • Nick says:
            24 May24 May 11:41

            I think the concern is that it is not a particularly stringent test, and I am sure that many users are not really business users (as is clear from some of the comments in this thread).

            I’m not saying that this is entirely Curve’s fault, but it does seem quite easy for non-business users to obtain a card that will (presumably) carry commercial card interchange rates.

    • Mark says:
      24 May24 May 11:47

      I will be cancelling. No good to me……..

  • Liz says:
    24 May24 May 10:41

    Is the £1000 spend from today onwards?

  • Steve says:
    24 May24 May 10:45

    Balls!! Lol…OK so I now need some ideas thrown at me. My wife and I stay in Greece (with bank accounts in UK) and have been using the Curve Card connected to my BAPP AMEX to withdraw Euros from and count towards my Companion Voucher, it has worked great!!

    So my problem now is that I need around 500 euros a month in cash as we can still use the BAPP AMEX in many places here. Can I collect Avios on this from any other method or do I just connect my UK bank account to the Curve to be able to draw euros that way at a cheaper rate??

    Something good never lasts…although I have managed to get the 18000 points much more easily and I am now half way there to the voucher 🙂

    Any ideas would be very much appreciated….Do I take out as many euros as possible up until the cut off?

    • BigDave says:
      24 May24 May 10:57

      yep i would say use it as much as you can before the cut off
      then change to another card like the Revolut one

    • Mr Dee says:
      24 May24 May 18:35

      Lloyds avios mastercard could still get you a small amount of Avios after the amex cut off.

  • Joseph Heenan says:
    24 May24 May 10:47

    The start date for the rewards program still seems to very vague. If it does actually happen, the £35 reward for spending £1000 plus the £10 reward from the original sign up offer sounds like a winner. But that seems like a big if.

  • Ross Parker says:
    24 May24 May 10:52

    If the pause “starts” on 31st May, we does he say “you will not be able to use your Curve card with your Amex for the time being”? Can you use Curve->Amex until 31st May?

    The £1,000 spend for £35 of “Curve Points” would make more sense if anyone knew what Curve Points were, or how you could “spend” them.

    • Steve says:
      24 May24 May 10:56

      My transactions keep getting declined so I’d say no. Can anyone confirm?

      • Ross Parker says:
        24 May24 May 10:59

        I just bought a test Amazon voucher. Went through to Amex.

      • Jeff says:
        24 May24 May 11:18

        I have just done a few transactions without any problem.

      • Keith says:
        24 May24 May 13:37

        I had two declined transactions in the last couple of days, but with good reason as it turns out: the first was above the initial limit of £2000, so I split it across 2 smaller transactions. The second was then declined, not by Curve but by the linked Amex. Cleared it with Amex and it then went through. So no real issues other than a bit of inconvenience.

  • Neil says:
    24 May24 May 10:52

    Im out – i have a slight mistrust of the company.

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