Simple Curve questions

[Philondon]

I know this is a hot topic but I only want to earn points when abroad as up until now I’ve only got a Halifax Clarity card for 0% fees abroad. Simple chat only, no arguing over trying to complicate the card!!

Firstly I clicked the link in the HfP article for the £10 free credit and it went straight to my Google Play store to download the card so not sure that link worked, or maybe the offer is no longer valid.

Well at least there is the make 5 transactions to make £5 and I’m heading out shortly clothes shopping for the cruise… 15 days and counting!!!

Does anyone know if the Curve card works ok with TfL and daily capping etc?

So my main question is… from the HfP article…
“Foreign exchange fees: £500 per 30-day period for no fee” and “ATM withdrawals: Overseas: £200 per 30-day period for free”

So does that mean I have “access” to £700 for free when abroad with the free Curve card?

[Peter K]

It’s not free to use the card at weekends on foreign currency transactions, even if within your £500 limit. There are (smallish 0.5-1.5%) fees added.

[Philondon]

Peter K wrote:

It’s not free to use the card at weekends on foreign currency transactions, even if within your £500 limit. There are (smallish 0.5-1.5%) fees added.

Oh yes, I read that too.

[BuildBackBetter]

If you really need it, you might have to order it soon as it can take a week to be delivered.

Curve doesn’t play well with transactions that are more like authorisations – hotel deposit block. Getting it unblocked will be tricky if you eventually pay with another card. TFL – I wouldn’t recommend curve, why not use a regular points earning card?

ATM withdrawals – as long as you have a debit card mapped to it, no issues. Most credit cards will immediately slap you with cash advance fees.

[Travel Strong]

ATM withdrawals – as long as you have a debit card mapped to it, no issues. Most credit cards will immediately slap you with cash advance fees.

This is entirely incorrect in my experience?
The £200 ATM withdrawal is the one thing that works with all credit card providers with no fees, even Virgin who slap advance fees on most curve cash-like transactions.

Never is there a points advantage to putting a debit card on curve… just use the debit card for transaction instead if doing that.

[Alex G]

Barclaycard Avios MC works well with Curve, both at home and abroad. I know of no other combination tht allows me to earn Avios on forex spending with no fee.

[Philondon]

BuildBackBetter wrote:

If you really need it, you might have to order it soon as it can take a week to be delivered.

Curve doesn’t play well with transactions that are more like authorisations – hotel deposit block. Getting it unblocked will be tricky if you eventually pay with another card. TFL – I wouldn’t recommend curve, why not use a regular points earning card?

ATM withdrawals – as long as you have a debit card mapped to it, no issues. Most credit cards will immediately slap you with cash advance fees.

I downloaded it to my Google wallet. I chose not to get a physical card as it costs £4.99.

This mornings brunch has cleared as in not pending.

Then I used it in Next and Reserved without any problem. I used my Amex on the bus & tube! I just wanted to make my 5 purchases quickly.

[kt74]

Philondon wrote:

Does anyone know if the Curve card works ok with TfL and daily capping etc?

It *mostly* works ok… The problem is that TfL pre-authorises an amount and then batches daily charges into payments several times a week (not always the next day, sometimes out of chronological order, especially for Fridays/weekends – really hard to reconcile). It confuses the hell out of Curve, and I was getting double charged roughly 2-3 times a month. I got most of these refunded, but it required a spreadsheet and patience…

Added to the confusion, multiple transactions of the same daily capped amount at 3am confuses the hell out of Barclaycard, so it refuses/blocks them… This causes TfL to try and repeat the transaction, which is obviously seen as fraud by Barclaycard. I never had any problems with any other underlying cards, just various Barclaycards. It led to weeks of general misery and phone calls to Barclaycard’s fraud team

So my recommendation is either (a) watch your Curve account like a hawk, or (b) buy a travelcard, as these are fine

Various tales of woe about TfL on the Curve Community forum, which Curve has just taken down (presumably because it became one long binfire of customer service complaints)

(For anyone who says, “should’ve used another card”, I had chosen TfL as one of my cashback retailers, so…)

[NorthernLass]

Thanks for this – have a trip to that London in July so won’t use Curve or Barclaycard on TfL!

[JDB]

There is absolutely no issue with using Barclaycard on TfL directly. The problem is with Curve in that it is a pretend debit card, so a bit worse than ordinary debit cards that are also generally not suitable for any ‘hold’ type transactions for the tube, car hire or hotels.

[Philondon]

Thanks. I’ll carry on using my Amex on TfL.

Well I’ve made 5 purchases today so will get the free £5 and now will go back to my Amex, then use my Curve card on holiday but Monday to Friday only!

[John]

Philondon wrote:

“Foreign exchange fees: £500 per 30-day period for no fee” and “ATM withdrawals: Overseas: £200 per 30-day period for free”

So does that mean I have “access” to £700 for free when abroad with the free Curve card?

No, because the £200 cash withdrawal will also use up £200 of the £500 foreign currency allowance