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A quick update on this subject, which has been discussed at length on HfP this week.

Whilst Curve announced last weekend that they were changing the coding on transactions, which would make ATM withdrawals visible to your card issuer, it turns out that they did not actually go through with this change until Thursday.  We were told it was happening last Monday.

If you made a cash withdrawal during Monday to Thursday and it was treated as a purchase – which it will have been – this does not necessarily mean that your card issuer will not pass on these new charges.  You need to have a transaction done from Friday onwards before you can be sure.

I did test Creation (IHG, Marriott credit cards) and MBNA (Horizon) transactions yesterday so let’s see how these end up.  You might want to wait before doing any further withdrawals.

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

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Comments (201)

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

  • Callum says:
    22 Sep22 September 07:44

    You were adamant a few days ago that credit card companies couldn’t possibly charge anything without changing their T&Cs. What happened?

    • swhostring says:
      22 Sep22 September 07:46

      Information changed.

      ‘Well when events change, I change my mind. What do you do?’

      • John says:
        22 Sep22 September 08:18

        What changed? Curve always said there may be a charge.

        • swhostring says:
          22 Sep22 September 08:21

          Raffles thought about it, thought about his accreditation, read the posts, set the issue straight.

          Sounds like that to me.

        • Lady London says:
          22 Sep22 September 10:12

          +1 Harry. One thing Raffles is good at is that given his career in finance he puts things clean even when not obliged to.

        • John says:
          22 Sep22 September 15:22

          Fair enough but he was the only one saying that there wouldn’t be any cash withdrawal charges in the first place.

      • Eugene says:
        22 Sep22 September 08:19

        Become PM and insist black is white?

        • swhostring says:
          22 Sep22 September 08:25

          Indeed.

          Wouldn’t it be great if Boris got the PM-ship – appeals to Left & Right in equal measure (cf London Mayor), bit of a lady’s man – intelligent – always straight-talking with a few flourishes 🙂

          No more black = white.

        • Dale says:
          22 Sep22 September 08:37

          Really? He should be in gaol after all the lies and BS, just a clown like Trumpy

        • Yab says:
          22 Sep22 September 08:37

          And in my case blue = is black

        • Callum says:
          22 Sep22 September 08:41

          I hope you’re being sarcastic. If you genuinely think Boris appeals to the left……

        • swhostring says:
          22 Sep22 September 08:55

          @Dale – not sure about gaol, perhaps a week in the stocks?

          Definitely agree about the lies – but just shows how persuasive he is.

          Made me change my plans about easy retirement to our place in the sun (EU) – probably need to get a spouse visa now or there are a couple of other ways.

          @Callum – yes, he won London mayoralty with a hefty Leftish support base, & did a pretty good job. I think he knows about delegation. That’s how the best senior mgrs in Industry do it, of course. Recruit the best top team – pay them the best – delegate – great results – take/ share the credit.

        • Callum says:
          22 Sep22 September 11:24

          @swhostring – Well you’re clearly living in cloud Cuckoo land! Boris does not appeal to “the left”.

          I’m curious how you define something as being left-leaning?

        • swhostring says:
          22 Sep22 September 13:54

          Once you get senior enough, it’s easy street.

          Justr recruit the best people to do the work, pay them big money.

          Share the credit.

        • callum says:
          22 Sep22 September 15:11

          swhostring – I didn’t dispute that he is able to hire people better than him to do the work, I disputed that the left like him just as much as the right do. That is absolutely ridiculous and is well beyond absurd.

          The only thing I can think of is you may have such right wing views that you consider those in the centre to be “left”?

          Next you’ll be trying to tell me the left loved Nick Griffin!

    • Harry says:
      22 Sep22 September 08:34

      They did warm us changes were afoot. Looks like they moved some of the new model curve in early than expected. Once the new one is fully launched I am sure we will back in business for a hefty fee of course but could be best card out there for the money.

  • LH says:
    22 Sep22 September 07:47

    Last Monday Curve emailed setting out the changes that would be happenung this week. They said:
    “Your credit card issuer will be able to identify when you withdraw cash from your credit card using Curve, and they may charge you a fee. As a guideline, 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 account”

    That’s pretty clear. I’ve stopped making ATM withdrawals chargeable to a credit card. It’s disappointing of course but let’s see what benefits they will add in the coming weeks. I’m still hoping Amex may be one of them.

  • Alex says:
    22 Sep22 September 08:01

    I’ve got the new debit curve card. How do I use this online as there doesn’t appear to be a CVV on the card.

  • Brighton Belle says:
    22 Sep22 September 08:26

    Curve is getting very close to being chucked out of my wallet. My card was cloned. It took them a month to get me a replacement. “We’re busy”.

    Then a new card charge was accepted and then declined. Curve billed my underlying card and after 5 days of asking customer care through the app haven’t explained how a declined transaction can get billed. Why use Curve? It is a catalogue of aggravation and unfulfilled benefits. They will need to deliver some unique features soon to make it worth being their financial guinea pig. All my underlying cards do the stuff I need. Having Curve over the top of them is not working out.

    • swhostring says:
      23 Sep23 September 18:16

      If underlying card can deliver the same benefits, no point at all in using Curve.

      A lot of people on HfP don’t seem to get that.

  • Peter says:
    22 Sep22 September 08:28

    The T&Cs of my curve card say no charges for withdrawals of £200 a month. E-mail from curve then says there will be charges. Article on HfP then says there will be charges but not yet but in the future. Comments then indicate there are no charges. Then another article says let’s wait and test. In the meantime curve team say it is not their business but credit card providers.

    What a mess!

    By the way I am talking about Curve – IHG CC.

    • Callum says:
      22 Sep22 September 08:45

      The mess is with misleading advice given on here, not with Curve. They’ve been pretty clear on what’s happening.

      • David says:
        22 Sep22 September 08:53

        And yet on their Twitter feed yesterday they retweeted an article where someone had written glowing praise and why you need to get the curve card now.
        In the article it clearly said “free cash withdrawals from your credit card”, which Curve know not to be true. So Curve is willfully retweeting contradictory messages. I’d have been happier with the situation if they’d given decent notice of the changes rather than the ambush it was.

        • Jay Bee says:
          22 Sep22 September 11:02

          This is all starting to look like Curve is unraveling and that the new fee card is their last roll of the dice.

      • Rob says:
        22 Sep22 September 11:13

        Curve has no idea because it is down to underlying issuers, in the same way Revolut has no idea who surcharges topups.

    • RIccatti says:
      22 Sep22 September 10:08

      No charges from Curve.

      Your credit card company can do whatever they want. Creation IHG always limited Revolut top ups to about 250-300 pounds / 3 days (well, empirically).

    • MDA says:
      22 Sep22 September 11:13

      Agree. Curve is becoming totally unpredictable to even consider using. Imaginen if your abroad right now

      • John says:
        22 Sep22 September 15:24

        Well if you only use it for purchases then there shouldn’t be any new problems

        • the_real_a says:
          22 Sep22 September 16:59

          Whats a purchase? I got a cash advance fee for a motorway toll in spain, also a cash advance on the entrance to a government museum in Slovenia. I also received a cash advance fee on the “deposit” for a hotel check-in in Russia. Whilst these are outliers one of the reasons for Curve was i was getting sick of these types of charges. That’s before we get to paying “bills”…

  • BlueHorizonUK says:
    22 Sep22 September 08:53

    If a transaction has posted as a purchase then we are safe? Wouldn’t something being treated as a cash advance show up as a cash advance?

    Transaction: Purchase
    Merchant Code: FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS-MERCHANDISE AND SERVICES

    • Harry says:
      22 Sep22 September 09:54

      No. They can charge for that.

    • Rob says:
      22 Sep22 September 11:12

      Yes

    • the_real_a says:
      22 Sep22 September 12:12

      (Cough) Doing “what” you are doing on the card you are doing it with will be OK. But on other underlying cards from other providers it wont be.

    • Kiran says:
      22 Sep22 September 13:28

      Where is the best place to find whether a transaction is classed as business service or financial services (or cash)? In the Curve app it only lists business service – do I need to look at the underlying card statements? Where do I find this information for IHG/Creation and Lloyds Avios Rewards MC? On the IHG transaction list, entries only have a date added and ref number and on the Lloyds statement entries list as “Professional services not elsewhere classified.”

      • the_real_a says:
        22 Sep22 September 14:47

        There is conclusive list. That’s why there is so much thrash and confusion and comments about this change everywhere, as no-one knows exactly how charges will be processed. Each credit card may display or not display the MCC information and any discussion with customer service agents about MCC will likely lead to confusion and misinformation.

        The general advice is that you will need to make test transaction for the purchases you intend to make and see if you get charged a cash advance fee on your next statement. The underlying credit card can treat the purchase according to their own rules. At this stage no-one knows.

        • the_real_a says:
          22 Sep22 September 14:48

          *no conclusive list

        • Kiran says:
          23 Sep23 September 18:07

          Thanks – so does that mean that any cash advance charges don’t appear when a transaction hits the online transaction list (i.e. not a pending transaction) but only appear when the next monthly statement is generated?

        • Genghis says:
          23 Sep23 September 18:37

          Differs by provider. For Creation, hits straight away. For MBNA, I believe month end

  • Rob says:
    22 Sep22 September 09:01

    OT – My brother is flying out of non-EU country today on an EU airline, connecting in an EU country. He will arrive at his final destination more than 3 hours late. Is he therefore able to get compensation for this?

    Also – This was on a flight that was booked and paid for by a production company. Would he be able to claim the compensation himself or would it need to be paid back to the company?

    Many thanks

    • swhostring says:
      22 Sep22 September 09:04

      Does the law apply to your flight?
      The information on this page only applies to flights covered by EU law. These must be either:

      departing from an EU airport and operated by any airline
      or
      arriving at an EU airport and operated by an EU airline
      Under this law, EU airports also include those in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

      • swhostring says:
        22 Sep22 September 09:09

        So it would appear that he qualifies for compo. Compo would go to the passenger, not the company. (Raffles may disagree about who should get the compo/ who paid for the flight, but it’s the person who puts in the claim who will be paid. Poor old Anika.)

        • Rob says:
          22 Sep22 September 11:12

          Anika has had 2 lots of EU261 delay payments via HFP! The Vueling downgrade payment was refunded to my credit card though.

        • Tariq says:
          22 Sep22 September 12:12

          Indeed, I’ve claim d direct from FlyBe for a flight booked and paid for directly by the company with the company travel agent. Nice little bonus for my inconvenience as I was travelling outside working hours.

      • David says:
        22 Sep22 September 10:44

        Are there any airports in Liechtenstein? I was in Vaduz a couple of weeks ago, and it looked like it could barely sustain a supermarket, let alone an airport…

    • pauldb says:
      22 Sep22 September 09:28

      Would be clearer if you gave us the route and airlines plus which leg created the delay and why.

      • Rob says:
        22 Sep22 September 09:45

        LOT airlines

        TBS – WAW – LHR

        Initial delay in TBS (no reason given but not weather related) caused missed connection in WAW, leading to final landing in LHR more than 3 hours after scheduled time.

        • John says:
          22 Sep22 September 09:55

          All LOT flights are eligible for compo unless weather

        • Lady London says:
          22 Sep22 September 10:19

          And the weather issue has to be with the person’s own flight. Incoming aircraft delayed by weather is not a get out for the airline. Has to be with the own person’s own flight at the time it should have taken off.

    • Alan says:
      22 Sep22 September 10:19

      It’s an EU airline so yes and he gets the compo himself.

      Going to miss this come April, had a few claims with BA before.

      • Lady London says:
        22 Sep22 September 10:21

        I thought the general idea was we would keep existing law we have from Europe just not add any more?

      • ChrisC says:
        22 Sep22 September 11:09

        It isn’t up in the air at all.

        There will be NO change come Brexit day.

        EU 261 is already existing U.K. law (as a Statutory Instrument) and and that won’t change unless and until the SI that made it UK law is repealed.

        What will happen though is that if a European court judgment changes the interpretation of part of EU261 that ruling won’t automatically apply to the U.K. (same situation as Switzerland) unless the U.K. government passes it as U.K. law.

        And even if it was repealed it would still apply for flights on EU based airlines.

        What would change if it was repealed eventually is that it wouldn’t apply on for e.g. a BA flight TO Amsterdam but it would for the flight back to the U.K. (same as e.g. US airlines now)

        • the_real_a says:
          22 Sep22 September 12:17

          I agree with ChrisC

          Just because our government gets control back, doesn’t mean that this specific law will be repealed. Its just as likely the UK Govt will improve the compensation element as remove it. Ability and likelihood to do something are very different things.

          • Rob says:
            22 Sep22 September 13:30

            And even if they said they would …

            Look at the Scottish Parliament. Lobbied for years to APD devolved so they could scrap it. When it got devolved, the pledge suddenly changed to ‘halve it’. And now they can’t even get enough votes to get that through.

        • Leo says:
          22 Sep22 September 13:49

          Agree with all that ChrisC says. It’s crystal clear.

        • Doug M says:
          22 Sep22 September 14:05

          I seem to remember that leftie Boris couldn’t wait to get rid on congestion charge when seeking election as London mayor. Then as mayor and found he liked the revenue to spend.

        • Alan says:
          22 Sep22 September 17:10

          If no deal though we don’t even know what’ll happening with flying rights (not covered by WTO). Whole thing a total mess.

  • Luke says:
    22 Sep22 September 10:20

    Hi all. I’ve been reading this website for months but I have my first question. I took out a Black Curve card a few days ago after reading the article. My understanding is that I can now withdraw £400 a month from an ATM when I’m travelling abroad. Does Curve bill that as a cash withdrawal but in GBP? So, as long as I select for the transaction to come out of my UK debit card – there will be no fees at all? I understand that if I select my UK credit card, they will now see that as a cash withdrawal and will likely charge me? Is that all correct?

    Also – if I make a transaction abroad in a shop – there are no charges whether I use a credit or debit card – because curve will just bill my credit/debit card company as if the transaction was made in the UK and do the currency conversion for me? Is that correct?

    I’m sorry to ask on here but I have emailed Curve and nobody has got back to me.

    • Guiri says:
      22 Sep22 September 10:36

      I’m hoping to find an answer to this too as am currently on way to airport with curve and no euros…

      • David says:
        22 Sep22 September 10:51

        Yep, if your underlying card is a debit card, then you shouldn’t get any fees from them, provided the card currency within the Curve app is set to GBP for that card. The transaction should get charged through as GBP.

        But don’t forget about the new weekend rule for Curve – they’ll screw you for 0.5% on the exchange rate, rising to 1.5% at some point in November (but not sure if that’s reduced for the Curve Black…). And they haven’t defined what “weekend” means, so probably best to avoid Friday-Monday to be on the safe side.

        • Rob says:
          22 Sep22 September 11:06

          1.5% is for non €$ purchases, rest are 0.5%

        • John says:
          22 Sep22 September 15:31

          0.5% or 1.5% is still better than most debit cards, some of which also have a fixed fee.

          If you have a 0% debit card might as well use it directly.

        • Alan says:
          22 Sep22 September 17:11

          Although if just charging a debit card (thus getting no points) would probably be better to just go for Starling and not have any weekend charges.

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