Curve changes from November 10th

[Harrier25]

strickers wrote:

No mention of legacy black so I assume no changes?

Shhh, don’t remind them that we”re still here.

[Rui N.]

Keep dreaming re Amex
Also, what would even be the point?

[trient]

Actually it might be them, not Amex.

Given the interchange fee delta between Visa/MC and Amex (0.3% vs 2.5% IIRC?), they’d lose a lot if everyone maxed out their £10k on Amex. Maybe they/their investors worked out £3k as an acceptable loss leader. And the new 2.5% fee for fronted on £3k+ would leave them with a small profit.

[CarpalTravel]

Just reading the subscription schedule, one that stands out to me is the use of the term “rolling 30-day
period” which if I am reading the existing terms correctly, is also new. That’s different to the current limit per month.

[Peter K]

CarpalTravel wrote:

Just reading the subscription schedule, one that stands out to me is the use of the term “rolling 30-day
period” which if I am reading the existing terms correctly, is also new. That’s different to the current limit per month.

I flagged that as well. That’s a *big* change as it really limits you to less than the e.g. £3k a month unless you plan to spend it all on the exact day every 30 days.

[memesweeper]

JDB wrote:

Those who pay the Metal fee monthly need to give a month’s notice and can therefore cancel without cost prior to the implementation of the new terms. Those who pay annually have agreed to trade a c.£30 saving for sacrificing their cancellation rights; whether that’s fair or not, I don’t know.

Curve Metal users who signed up before 2021 have different cancellation rights according to the T&Cs, but I cannot see what these different rights are: presumably, better in some respect.

My renewal is in April; I’ll serve notice to cancel my Metal in January unless something awesome is launched in the meantime (unlikely).

[Ash]

@lendo what’s the original source of the pdf?

[JDB]

memesweeper wrote:

JDB wrote:

Those who pay the Metal fee monthly need to give a month’s notice and can therefore cancel without cost prior to the implementation of the new terms. Those who pay annually have agreed to trade a c.£30 saving for sacrificing their cancellation rights; whether that’s fair or not, I don’t know.

Curve Metal users who signed up before 2021 have different cancellation rights according to the T&Cs, but I cannot see what these different rights are: presumably, better in some respect.

My renewal is in April; I’ll serve notice to cancel my Metal in January unless something awesome is launched in the meantime (unlikely).

The difference for those who signed up to Black or Metal prior to 29 April 2021 (and haven’t subsequently upgraded or downgraded or changed to/from monthly/annual) is that the current minimum subscription periods don’t apply.

[Skywalker]

I haven’t received a single email from Curve about these changes 😐

[Rui N.]

Me neither.

[Harrier25]

Nor me.

[NorthernLass]

Well I’ve now had this supremely helpful response from Curve chat:

Thanks for taking the time to message us and I hope you’re doing well today.
I totally understand where you are coming from in terms of the recent change for our Fronted fee-free limits.
Kindly note that the fee helps us cover the costs of these transactions so that we can continue to provide you with this service.
With that, effective 10th of November 2023, we will now be charging a fee of 2.5% for Fronted transactions. The said fee will still be subject to your subscription tier fee-free limit.
For more information on Curve Fronted, you can visit our FAQs here .
We sincerely appreciate your understanding on this matter and thank you for your continued support for Curve!

So changes are coming but Curve CS are rather vague about what these actually are. I’ve pushed back asking for them to try a bit harder.

[Skywalker]

@NorthernLass – thanks for the update

I’m tempted to say we all should bombard Curve with messages about this, but let’s be honest, the advisor you’ve got is probably Curve’s only advisor on shift for the week 😀

[Harrier25]

Thanks for taking the time to message us, Mrs Northern Lass, and I hope you’re still doing well today.

To be less vague, we are skint and need to raise more funds to hopefully keep our heads above water in the future, although our chances of success are extremely slim. I trust this explains our position more clearly.

We sincerely appreciate your understanding on this matter and thank you for your continued support for Curve!

[Chas]

Skywalker wrote:

@NorthernLass – thanks for the update

I’m tempted to say we all should bombard Curve with messages about this, but let’s be honest, the advisor you’ve got is probably Curve’s only advisor on shift for the week 😀

So that sounds like there will be no free limit at all – I thought I had read a comment saying that it was being reduced from £10k to £3k? I still haven’t received any communication from them, so have nothing to refer to.

[Harrier25]

Chas wrote:

So that sounds like there will be no free limit at all – I thought I had read a comment saying that it was being reduced from £10k to £3k? I still haven’t received any communication from them, so have nothing to refer to.

“The said fee will still be subject to your subscription tier fee-free limit”.

Did you miss that important sentence @Chas?

[Lendo]

EEA changes
https://cdn.buttercms.com/jkY61dDSuCMbeLZO7nDj

[NorthernLass]

The maths might work with still being able to earn HH gold and the Barclays upgrade voucher per year, plus the (reduced) points. Presumably the HH card must be going at some point though!

[Peter K]

To add to Northern Lass, just had this on curve chat about changes from 10th November 2023:

“Curve Metal

Free initial card fee – £/€ 17.99 p/m, £/€ 179.90 p/a
Your choice of card for a premium metal card
Worldwide travel insurance
Mobile phone insurance
Rental car collision damage waiver
Unlimited Curve Cash for 6 selected retailers
Discounted LoungeKey airport access
Fee-free FX spend up to £/€5000 per rolling 30-day period.
Up to £/€ 1000 per rolling month of fee-free FX ATM withdrawals
Add unlimited payment sources

Further information regarding the benefits that are applicable to your subscription tier can be found [here].”

The link however does not take you to the new details and mentions nothing about the fee-free fronted limits now or in the future.

PS. I also have not received any official notice of the changes coming.

[Ash]

I imagine many are in similar postion,…

Paid metal annual fee of £150 , upto 17 May 2024.

The 3K fronted limited kicks in Nov 10th 2023 regardless, correct?

But the £17.99 per month fee kicks in from my renewal.date, 17 may 2024, correct?

If I cancel before 10 November I get a pro rata refund of the 150?

If I cancel after November 10th I get nothing? I’ve had it for more than 6 months. Those under 6 months have to pay 59.99.

About right?

[Ash]

Can I just say, what’s knocked me over, flabbergasted me…..is that two customers got a response from Curve Customer Services! 🙂

[Peter K]

Ash wrote:

Can I just say, what’s knocked me over, flabbergasted me…..is that two customers got a response from Curve Customer Services! 🙂

It’s amazing how fast they respond when you say you are thinking of downgrading your plan.

It took weeks in June to get a response on a chargeback.

Just had confirmation by chat that the fronted fee-free limit will be £3k as well. Very fast responses today!

[JDB]

Ash wrote:

Can I just say, what’s knocked me over, flabbergasted me…..is that two customers got a response from Curve Customer Services! 🙂

If they were to offer a pro-rata refund of the annual fee, it would be reasonable for them to do this on the basis of charging you the monthly fee for those months used, so it will be a bit less than pro-rata and could include the cancellation fee if applicable. There is no provision in the terms for recent applicants for any refund of the fee if paid annually. You also need to give notice, so that may be incompatible with getting the last month on current terms.

[Toaster]

My annual Metal renewal is due Jan 10th. I’ll change the card used for renewal to Revolut or similar with no funds/card frozen (in case Curve decide to try and charge me for another year of Metal) and downgrade to Curve free plan after I have make a £3k fronted payment soon after Jan 1st.

It was good while it lasted.

[JDB]

Toaster wrote:

My annual Metal renewal is due Jan 10th. I’ll change the card used for renewal to Revolut or similar with no funds/card frozen (in case Curve decide to try and charge me for another year of Metal) and downgrade to Curve free plan after I have make a £3k fronted payment soon after Jan 1st.

It was good while it lasted.

You still need to give Curve notice of cancellation – just failing to pay the renewal by putting an invalid card won’t stop the auto renewal, nor is it an effective notice of cancellation. The card will continue to be usable and you have left yourself contractually liable for the full annual fee.