Quick F.A.Q.
Where is the Visa Electron card accepted?
The Visa Electron card is available all over the world except in Canada, Australia, Ireland and United States. However, although the card is not available locally, it is accepted in Australia as retailers are required to accept the Visa Electron cards as part of VISA’s Accept All Cards Policy (thanks Elizabeth).
Why are there no charges on the Visa Electron card?
The Visa Electron card carries a low interchange fee when compared to debit and credit cards, making it very popular with the budget airlines, or at least that is the “official” explanation. The fact is that the European law states that the airline companies must advertise the fares with all the non optional taxes included. Since the Visa Electron card is not that popular in the UK, this became a natural choice for companies like Ryanair that charge for all the “extras”. And that is how they get away with it…
What are the differences between the Visa Debit cards and the Visa Electron cards?
Payments via the Visa Electron card require all funds to be available at the time of transfer. This means that Visa Electron card accounts may not be overdrawn. This is great because Visa Electron customers may not even qualify for credit!
This method, however, brings some problems to the card holders, because off-line terminals cannot check for the availability of funds. But the fix to this problem is easy: open a new bank account and stop being charged by the low budget airlines!
Debit cards can be overdrawn, depending on your agreement with your bank.
Can I use the Visa Electron card in other countries other than the UK?
Yes. Visa Electron cards are connected to the PLUS international network.
No Extra charge with Visa Electron and Easy Jet.
Shame you can not get a Visa Electron Card anymore except Halifax (owned by Lloyds, I will not bank with them). If anyone knows otherwise, please post.
I recently had a Post Office Visa Electron card. The PO stopped using them. Can I top-up my card or will I have to acquire another one?
Hi Laurence, you’ll have to contact the Royal Mail to get that information. I’m just a guy doing this for free…
Has anyone else had this case? Can someone help Laurence?
Cheers,
Dinis
Yeah, I had a card like this too. Your card is now terminated and you should have received the balance as a cheque in the post. You can no longer use the card. Do not attempt to load money onto it. It was great while it lasted
Really helpful, I’m off to my local santander to open an account…wish I’d seen this site a few years ago I’d have saved a ton!
will certainly buy you that beer when I get my card, cheers!
Hi!
In two week I’ll travel to London, and I’d like to know if I can use my Visa Electron in UK without any problem?
My Visa Electron is from Spain.
Thanks
Best regards
Christian
Thanks for all this research. I have always used a credit card (as opposed to a debit card) to book flights as well as make purchases, in the belief that a credit card provides some kind of protection if mistakes are made by the provider of the goods or services. In all honesty I’m not sure what credit card companies can do if a supplier defaults or makes errors. But, assuming such support is available for c/card purchses, does Visa Electron provide the same level of support?
I wonder if you could tell me why a bank such as St Kitts Nevis in the Dominican republic have frozen all Visa cards and the clients money held in those accounts which was deposited by e-passporte. We can get no response about the circumstances as to why our money is frozen . We are all getting the impression that they are going to steal our cash. What can we do about it?
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I have a Coop Bank Visa Electron card but FlyBe insist that they can only treat it as a Debit card and therefore want to charge me £18 extra (for 2 people),
Anyone have any idea how to respond.?I have tried contacting FlyBe and Co-opBank without getting any help at all.
Hi there, I’m sorry to hear that. I wouldn’t know how to solve it, but perhaps if you refer them to http://www.flybe.com/terms/chargesPop.htm, they’ll be reasonable. If your card is Visa Electron, according to their own information, you shouldn’t have to pay any fees… Can anyone else help? Thanks, Dinis
…VISA Electron should be accepted in all places that take regular Visa cards, right? I have a Visa Electron card issued in China and it won’t work for online shops that only display Visa for some reason. I know this site seems to focus on UK-issued cards but I can’t find any resources on Electron cards issued here because they’re so rare (only one bank issues them, and only one branch in each city because most people go for cards for the local card network instead or a Visa credit card, which I can’t get because I’m an international student) so I’m posting here instead. Any help?
Hi Jamar,
Thank you for your query. Unfortunately, I have no information about it. Let’s see if someone else can help you.
Cheers!
If you book a holiday using Visa Electron and the company goes bust, are you covered the same way as a normal Visa card ?
Hi Frank,
I have no idea. Can anyone help?
Cheers!
I found this on Wikipedia site.
You state the Electron cards are not available in Oz but you don’t say they are usable there. Think this fact should be made clear.
In some countries, including Australia, retailers are required to accept the card as part of VISA’s Accept All Cards Policy, which also applies to the normal Visa Debit card, although the card is not available locally.
I’m finding your site about the best for giving the info. I’m seeking. Thanks.
I’m on limited income, will you accept a half?
Hi Elizabeth,
Thank you for the very useful contribution. I have now added the correct information.
Unfortunately I don’t know how to add half a pint to paypal
I will take a look and try to modify it.
Cheers!
I bought an Electron Card at Thomas Cook in Edinburgh for £200 plus £4 handling fee. I then tried using it to book a Flybe flight. No joy – card was recognised as a credit card and they were going to levy a huge fee. It seems they only accept bank-issued Electron Cards. So I applied to the Bank of Scotland for an Easycash account which provides an Electron Card. The first card went missing in the post so I had to ask them to send another. It all took ages but I got there eventually and this card is accepted by Flybe as an Electron Card.
Hi Lee,
thanks for sharing the experience. Has anyone had the same problem?
Thanks in advance.
I had an Incident on Saturday 26 september when I did a transaction using my Halifax Visa Electron,On Tuesday 29 September the amount for the transaction was taken from my account twice,why was this? who do I need to talk to to resolve this problem.
Regards
B Purdy.
Hi Bennet,
unfortunately I can’t help you with that. This website is not affiliated with any bank or Visa. I’m guessing you need to contact Halifax to sort things out. Sorry about that.
Cheers
Unfortunately my experience is quite different. I applied for the Halifax Easycash account online 10 days ago now… I haven’t received anything whatsoever, not even an email saying my application is in process.
As I wait, I can see Ryanair flights price for December going up by the day! and just read on another blog Ryanair does charge £1.50 if you pay with the Halifax Electron Card (although not clear if it’s a bank or currency issue).
Does anyone have the same account and have booked flights in pounds with it? Did you get any additional charges?
Thanks
Hi there,
thanks for sharing your experience. To be honest, I have applied to the same account 2 weeks ago and they have finally sent me the papers. If you are in a hurry, you can always get a Post Office Visa Electron card for the time being whilst waiting for the bank account.
Cheers!
I went for a Halifax Easycash account, used their online application process and received the card in just over 1 week, PIN arrived a few days later.
I am not too sure on how long other providers will take.
Hi Nessie,
I will let Brooke know of your comment. Cheers for the comment.
How long does the process take for the bank to actually issue you with an electron card??…
Hi Brooke,
Nessie has reported his/her experience with a bank.
Please read it, it might be useful.
Thanks