Thread: CharlieCards v.v. Oyster (and Octopus?)
View Single Post
  #723   Report Post  
Old March 3rd 12, 07:21 AM posted to uk.railway,uk.transport.london,misc.transport.rail.americas
Roland Perry Roland Perry is offline
external usenet poster
  
First recorded activity at LondonBanter: Aug 2003
Posts: 10,125
Default card numbers, was cards, was E-ZPass, was CharlieCards v.v. Oyster (and Octopus?)
In message , at 19:35:20 on Fri, 2 Mar
2012, John Levine remarked:
They have gift cards, but only mag stripe, and neither visibly numbered
nor containing a chip-and-pin. The latter is going to raise the bar, for
gift cards masquerading as credit/debit cards, in the UK.

Perhaps you would enjoy a Travelex Cash Passport, a chip+pin
reloadable prepaid card. They're denominated in EUR or GBP but sold
only in the U.S. The advertising emphasizes the acceptance problems
that non-chip cards can have in Europe.

The card is "free" but the only way to load money into it is
to exchange USD at a dreadful exchange rate.

http://www.travelex.com/US/Products/Cash-Passport/

Travelex tried to palm one of those off when I asked for Australian
dollars, but that entirely misses the point for Brits who already have
C&P cards - when travelling abroad I need some *cash*, if an ATM's
accessible I could use an existing card.
--
Roland Perry
Reply With QuoteReply With Quote