Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

What Curve Card’s email yesterday about ATM cash machine usage means

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

(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.)

If you have a Curve Card, you will have received an email from them yesterday which you may have found a little confusing.

There is a big Curve announcement coming this week which I will cover on Thursday morning.  If you don’t know about Curve, I will run a full explanation in that article.  You can also learn more in this HfP article.

I spoke with Curve’s CEO yesterday to get an understanding of what is going on.

Curve card ATM changes

As many Curve cardholders have discovered, Curve has a decline rate which is higher than standard credit cards

A key reason for this is that all Curve transactions carry the same merchant reference code.  Standard credit card transactions are coded based on the type of retailer or, for big companies, the exact retailer name.  Unfortunately, when your underlying credit card issuer sees transaction after transaction coming through marked as ‘general’, it can trigger fraud concerns.

In order to improve acceptance, Curve transactions will now carry a merchant reference code which reflects the underlying transaction.  Your underlying credit card company will now see a mix of retailer types coming through instead of just ‘general’, ‘general’, ‘general’ etc.

Another upside here is that it will trigger sector-based and, for large retailers with their own merchant code, company-based promotions.  For example, the HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard – until the end of the month – offers a £20 Uber credit for a £500 airline transaction.  A bonus like this should now trigger if you paid with Curve as it would now carry an airline merchant code.

However …..

As part of this recoding, ATM withdrawals made using Curve will now be identifiable as cash transactions by your card issuer.

It is important to note that, short term, my understanding is that there should NOT be charges for making ATM withdrawals with Curve.  However, over time, it is possible that individual credit card companies will make changes to treat these transactions as cash withdrawals.

ATM withdrawals made using Curve when it is linked to a debit card will continue to be free regardless.

We have seen the same thing happen with Revolut.  Some credit card companies have changed their terms and conditions recently to treat Revolut transactions as pseudo-cash, and so incurring cash withdrawal fees.  Other credit card companies have not, so you can load your Revolt card from those credit cards and have it treated as a purchase, earning miles and points.  Our main article on Revolut including a HfP special offer for applying is here.

Conclusion

For now, you should be able to continue making £200 per month of ATM withdrawals with Curve Card and have them treated as a purchase, earning miles and points on the underlying card.  Keep an eye on your emails and card statements, however, as you may receive notice from your underlying issuer that this will change.

You can find out more about Curve in this article.

Curve will pay you £10 for trying it out if you use our link.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2024 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

15,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.

Barclaycard Select Cashback Business Credit Card

1% cashback uncapped* on all your business spending (T&C apply) Read our full review

Category

General

Comments (270)

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

  • Lawrence Hardy says:
    18 Sep18 September 06:07

    I use Curve to make ATM withdrawals to charge to my Tesco Clubcard Credit Card as the underlying card. What concerns me about the Curve letter yesterday is that “withdrawing cash with a credit card may affect your credit score and could lead to debt. To avoid this, we strongly recommend that you only withdraw cash with Curve from a debit card”. Even if the effect on credit rating might be small I wouldn’t want to risk it in case it jeopardises future applications for Amex and possibly other cards. In mid October it will be six months since I closed my free Amex BA credit card and I’m planning to apply for the paid version.

    • John says:
      18 Sep18 September 06:48

      Before revolut I used to withdraw cash on Halifax clarity 3-4 times a year and never had a problem with amex approvals.

    • Rob says:
      18 Sep18 September 06:50

      This is only an issue if your card company charges withdrawals as cash.

    • callum says:
      18 Sep18 September 07:22

      It won’t affect your ability to get an Amex… I withdraw thousands of pounds a year and have been accepted for Amex – even with a low income and no electoral roll data.

  • Simon Rothenberg says:
    18 Sep18 September 06:24

    Any ideas on what will happen to HMRC payments?

  • Ouaile says:
    18 Sep18 September 06:25

    I checked my credit card statements for both Virgin Atlantic and HSBC world elite and all transactions were mapped properly to their merchant categories .. only cash that was mapped as purchase

    honestly if I want bonus from a given credit card (Uber 20£ for my world elite) I will just use directly

    This is a big set back for this card as this was the only feature that interested anybody I know

    • Bonglim says:
      18 Sep18 September 06:34

      I think paying HMRC is the biggest draw for me, and most people who are self employed.
      I saw the cash thing as a bonus.

  • swhostring says:
    18 Sep18 September 06:39

    Why wouldn’t you charge a £500 airline charge – triggering £20 Uber credit – direct to your HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard in the first place? Clearly not because it’s more convenient – it’s not – it’s more convenient to carry around at least a choice of credit cards in case of transaction refusal.

  • Craig says:
    18 Sep18 September 06:42

    If this is a precursor to 0% overseas FX then I can live without the ATM withdrawals, especially if Amex come back on board. If not it will be bye bye curve. What I can’t understand though, if this is going to happen, why release the bad news before the good news?

  • Andrew says:
    18 Sep18 September 06:45

    Curve just became completely pointless.

    • swhostring says:
      18 Sep18 September 06:56

      People were paying HMRC successfully yesterday. No reports of ATM charges. No reports of paying off credit card bills not working any more.

      • 80 says:
        18 Sep18 September 08:32

        Paying HMRC or credit card bills has been failing regularly since these changes happened on Friday. There’s a report for you.

        • swhostring says:
          18 Sep18 September 09:33

          But others had it (HMRC) working successfully yesterday, which trumps your experience. Change your underlying card or try again – user error, not a genuine fail by Curve.

        • Mark2 says:
          18 Sep18 September 11:01

          try with a smaller amount

  • Brenda says:
    18 Sep18 September 06:50

    Ditto on the decline for trying to use it with my gov.uk tax free childcare account. When I raised it with Curve they gave me this explanation:

    “I’m sorry to hear you’ve had a decline. I’ve taken a look and can’t see any record of the decline on our system. This is usually because the retailer requires 3DS-enabled cards. At the moment, Curve doesn’t support 3DS but has plans to in the future.”

    • Robert says:
      18 Sep18 September 07:19

      Had the same issue with HMRC’s childcare account. Had a similar response first, than asked for clarification and came back with different reasons every time.

      I stopped using Curve as a matter of principle!

      UNACCEPTABLY BAD CUSTOMER CARE!

    • Rachel says:
      18 Sep18 September 08:18

      Ditto, no tax free childcare payment at HMRC.
      Curve actually asked me to call HMRC and sort it out myself.
      When would a bank / card company ask me to do that???
      I wouldn’t call this customer service!

  • Rob says:
    18 Sep18 September 06:55

    It only goes through as a purchase if your credit card company changes its terms, giving you 30 days notice, and decides to do so.

    Look at it this way. I withdraw £10 cash on my debit card and give it to you. I charge your credit card £10 under the HFP account in return. Has YOUR credit card been used in an ATM? No. Can your card company therefore levy an ATM charge on you? Not without a rule change.

    • mike says:
      18 Sep18 September 07:36

      Hi Rob,

      Not sure if I get it… I have a Hilton Barclaycard linked to my Curve. Would I need to pay cash withdrawal fee via Curve or not at the moment?

      Are there any credit cards at the moment that are affected right now?

      I would assume that with these changes any credit card company can easly identify cash transactions, so they will charge from yesterday.

      Thanks!

    • Dan says:
      18 Sep18 September 07:49

      But rob, in that example he CC would have no way of knowing that you had given me £10 cash. In this example it’s now hard coded into the transaction?

      • Rob says:
        18 Sep18 September 08:23

        But YOUR card has not been used for a cash withdrawal, so you can’t be charged unless your card issuer changes their terms.

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

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Latest Forum Posts

Get 40,000 bonus points (worth 40,000 Avios) and £300 dining credit with The Platinum Card

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get £10 when you spend £150 on your free Currensea card

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? EARN POINTS WORTH 10,500 AVIOS WITH CAPITAL ON TAP

Get 20,000 bonus points, four airport lounge passes and your first year free with American Express Gold

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!