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Prompted by a response to another thread…
My Curve debit card expires end June and is therefore being replaced. Now having looked, I see it’s being replaced by a credit card.
For me, this would be a disaster.
Does anyone know if I can ask for my new card to be reissued as a debit card (as that’s what I have). I have never applied for a credit card after all (so I’m surprised they can issue one to me…).
Did you ever use or click on Flex in the app? It seems users were being switched to credit cards havibg interacted with Flex. It all sounds very odd and not what users expected. In any event, the Curve rep on Reddit seems to be suggesting Curve will be moving everyone to credit cards with a credit card BIN. And that they hope to find a way to retain Fronted for credit card users before all are migrated. Probably working hard on it like how they got Amex back on board….
No, been nowhere near Flex. Didn’t even know it existed until I read up on this last night. I may need to reach out to Curve’s excellent customer service and ask what’s going on…
Let us know what the outcome is, @Swiss Jim. Thanks
Wouldn’t be the first time Curve has been a bit loose with issuing higher-interchange plastic…
I remember reading that their CEO said you can still request for a debit card as a replacement card. That was a couple of months ago. Good luck!
Just reached out. Let’s see what they say (and how long it takes them to get back to me!).
I find the quickest way to get a response is to email support@curve.com.
Does anyone happen to know if premium bonds now trigger the high MC fee thing?
Mine’s clearly a DEBIT card. Says so clearly on the hologram at the back.
I have found myself in the same predicament a couple of months ago and was immediately unable to use fronted. I contacted cs and it took around 4 weeks to get a debit card re-issued, had to sign a disclaimer for them to ‘temporarily pause my credit agreement’. Not that I remember ever signing up to an agreement.
God knows what Curve are playing at here, but sounds like they’re skating on thin ice. The authorities have until February 2027 to sort this out, which is when my debit card is due to be replaced.
All sorted ! Now have a debit card. I’m assuming the suggestion all new applicants get a credit card now is correct, but who knows. My new card takes me to 2028 – though I’ve no confidence it won’t get withdrawn by then. Fingers crossed.
Oh, and I must remember not to lose it..
I have found myself in the same predicament a couple of months ago and was immediately unable to use fronted. I contacted cs and it took around 4 weeks to get a debit card re-issued, had to sign a disclaimer for them to ‘temporarily pause my credit agreement’. Not that I remember ever signing up to an agreement.
Shouldn’t do, but try with £25 (or whatever the minimum is) and you’ll see right away if you were charged more than £25.
I just received a new Curve card in the post. My current card expires 07/25.
I have received a debit card thankfully, so no issues with my update. I do still have a card branded ‘business’ though, used to be ‘commercial’ which I think is a hangover from the early days. Not sure if this has any bearing on my experience or not.
I’ve been trying to get an answer to this over email, but not getting anywhere. Thinking about it though, surely it must be a debit card, otherwise you couldn’t pay HMRC for free with fronted?
Update: I ordered a new card, and instantly got the new card number. Have just used this fine on HMRC as a personal debit card.
Email from curve:
“The Curve credit card is issued to new Curve customers and customers that have made the switch to credit.”
I thought it was still fee free for foreign transactions and their Fx rate is reasonably competitive, so when used with Barclaycard Avios Plus you pay a small Fx spread on the transaction but get 1.5 Avios/£ spent.
I was planning to drop Revolut Premium as I will soon no longer need their slightly better Fx spread and 0.25 Avios/£ via RevPoints is way less than I could get on Curve.
Did I miss something?
You just need to be aware of the fee free FX limit on the different plans. I think it’s now a pretty useless £250 per month on the free card, the paid plans are much higher.
Plus you get 1% cashback on non-EEA spend.
You just need to be aware of the fee free FX limit on the different plans. I think it’s now a pretty useless £250 per month on the free card, the paid plans are much higher.
Plus you get 1% cashback on non-EEA spend.
Only on a paid plan, and it’s not non-EEA, it’s non-Mastercard Europe Zone.
The Mastercard Europe Zone includes places like Turkmenistan and Mayotte but apparently not Dutch Sint Maarten:
https://help.curve.com/en_us/what-is-an-interregional-transaction-BJw2pdPYC
I don’t mind paying as we put enough holiday forex to warrant the fee and I’m sure I could find something to use Fronted for even at the low per month rates you get these days.
I have a spreadsheet valuing the various Revolut vs Curve options for me and it seems to me that Curve is the only option for decent Fx rates and a bit of reward in Avios (my preferred cashback currency).
You just need to be aware of the fee free FX limit on the different plans. I think it’s now a pretty useless £250 per month on the free card, the paid plans are much higher.
Plus you get 1% cashback on non-EEA spend.
Only on a paid plan, and it’s not non-EEA, it’s non-Mastercard Europe Zone.
The Mastercard Europe Zone includes places like Turkmenistan and Mayotte but apparently not Dutch Sint Maarten:
https://help.curve.com/en_us/what-is-an-interregional-transaction-BJw2pdPYC
I’m on a free plan, and I’ve been getting the 1% cashback on my trip to Central America last month. Nice surprise, but would have been better if I discovered it on the first day of my trip – not second to last.
Switching people over to a credit card without express consent seems bit dodge to me. Presumably they would have to do a hard credit search which you might not want if say you were applying for a mortgage soon? Not my area but I’d be interested to know the answer. Possibly worth a bit of Financial Ombudsman compo if you could prove a loss?
Switching people over to a credit card without express consent seems bit dodge to me. Presumably they would have to do a hard credit search which you might not want if say you were applying for a mortgage soon? Not my area but I’d be interested to know the answer. Possibly worth a bit of Financial Ombudsman compo if you could prove a loss?
The Curve Credit card is a very strange creature that doesn’t look or behave anything like a credit card as we know it. Curve only carries out a soft search and offers a standardised £250 credit limit. It basically works in the same way as a Curve debit card (ie immediately charging an underlying credit or debit card) unless you select Curve Flex which is essentially a BNPL product on a transaction by transaction basis for old or new charges when you could, case by case, exceed the £250 up to £10k. The underwriting takes place each time. It does offer s75 protection which is I think why they have given birth to this strange creation.
I’m not sure what losses might result from issuance of the credit card vs a debit card.
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