Be Excellent To Each Other

So several months back I'm buying something online like a good little consumer and get strong-armed invited to sign up for this "Verified by VISA" malarkey. The site was a mess, completely falling over during the process and, since then, the "Verified by VISA" logo has basically meant "Sorry Mark but you can't buy this."

I'm therefore wondering whether you fine chaps (and chapessesses) have had any dealings with this apparently mad scheme to not sell anything to people and, should you have any breadth of knowledge on the topic, relate where one might go to get a regular old credit card these days? For instance, if you belong to a bank that hasn't saddled you with this broken shite then please do tell as I will gladly swing my custom their way.

Frankly, this whole system looks like an attempt to put the onus for online security back on the shoulders of the consumer, which kinda defeats the whole point of using a credit card online in the first place (the protection). I'm highly dischuffed at the thought of having to leave my house to buy things -- so twentieth century.

No chance. You'll either get Verified by Visa or Mastercard Securecode.

Having said that, the Mastercard one is very good. Works effortlessly every time. Also imagine! When you buy something with a credit card, we could get people to enter a pin number! What a revolutionary idea. Anyway, I like it. It's Chip 'n' Pin for the Innernehs.

To do a password reset on Verified by Visa, you require: the card number, and the cardholder's date of birth. Isn't that a bit shit?

Well you also have to be the owner of the card.

and not for example a theif with a wallet full of driving liscence?

.. nah. That'd be illegal. They'd get in terrible trouble.

the scamps!

How would they know where to go to even begin changing the password? I haven't a clue and I've apparently signed up! One swift redirect to a broken page and -- whoosh -- it disappeared into the night, leaving me with a card that won't work anywhere retarded enough to have signed on.

@Craster
Mastercard you say? I will look into it -- I've lost all confidence in VISA thanks to this nonsense.

Phone the supplier of your card. That's what I did when I forgot my password for it.

I've never had a problem with Verified by VISA, it works very well and given how complex my "strong" password is, I'm confident that if anyone were to try and buy something using my card on a site with VbV, they wouldn't be able to.

Of course, the problem is that 90% of sites don't use either VbV or MS. Even big hitters like Amazon.

Indeed, most places don't use it. I've actually been surprised at some of the ones that do use it.

I think as long as the vendor decides not to give me any shit about fraud, then they're welcome to not use it. If they were thinking of giving me shit, then my password should be sufficiently cool to get me out of trouble. Though I made it a little too complicated to start with and have had to change it no less than three times thus far.

Oops.

My online banking has two passwords, one to log in, another for transactions. I set both of these when I'm pissed, and although I can log in, I'm fucked if I can remember the transaction one, which allows you to create new payees (Can transfer money to existing payees using the log in code) and got blocked from using it as a result of trying several classic combinations. Tried to reset the fucker, but that particular department is only open for 15 minutes of the closest saturday in the month to the full moon. Thankfully its a joint account, so for the past 18 months I haven't bothered resetting it and every time I need a new payment set up I get the wife to do it.

I've also lost the password for Experian, who have been merrily taking £7 a month due to my laziness in not cancelling the subscription I accidentally set up a few montha ago. Getting hold of them is also a pain in the arse, but the credit card they take the money from expires next week.

I've never had the slightest problem with the VISA one.

If it makes you feel any better I've had similar problems with MasterCard Secure Code. I think part of the problem was the website it was on but I spent 3 days trying to buy something and the page never finished loading! Just annoying!

I had problems with the Visa one that time I was trying to buy our takeaway online. It might have been down to me being drunk, though.

But it was worth the wait for 2 meal take away!

When I use this with my card, it prompts me for several characters of my password. When we use Pauline's card it prompts for the whole password. I have no idea why there is this difference.

Malc

Is Pauline's password three characters long?

No

Malc

No, it's four, obv: 'Malc'.

First time I had to use Mastercard Secure Code I was trying to buy something in a hurry when all of a sudden the screen froze and a box popped up. It wasn't a new tab or a new window, but just placed over the page so I had no visual clue that it was genuine. I was not happy about that (must remember to write green ink letter about it)

Well worth cancelling it, though - there is a process of (I don't know the real term) 'repeated transactions' or something which is almost like a direct debit only from credit cards. And if they've set one of those up they can keep taking wonga even once the card has expired. Might not affect you, but make that call just in case.

I've had enormous problems with Verified by VISA in the past, but managed to sort the whole thing out over the phone with my credit card company. It always said I'd entered my password incorrectly, and when trying to reset it, it would then tell me I'd somehow managed to get my name and date of birth wrong.

I've never had any problems with the Mastercard version, and much prefer (as possibly less secure it is) typing in my whole password each time rather than counting through my ten-character alpha-numeric bastard of a password to get the three required characters.

I'll vouch for the Mastercard one. Saves having to wait for the automated phonecall saying that some cunt is trying to commit fraud.

They did that to me when I paid for the Alienware. Scared the life out of me.

THREAD HI-JACK!

Whats a good credit card then? I would like one I will use for company use only but have no idea about these things as I've never had one. NatWest want to charge silly money per month for a business card but my accountant says I could get a personal one and use it for business only.

The one vital question:

Will you buy things and pay it off every month, or will you use it as an overdraft facility?

If the former, then APR is irrelevant, and you want one that gives nice freebies - like air miles or cashback. If the latter, then just find something with as long a 0% APR as possible.

I don't really know the specifics of business cards accounts, but I can't really see any reason why you wouldn't be able to use a personal card for business purposes.

I don't need credit. I want it paid off by DD from the business account every month.

Basically I just need to be able to keep my business stuff separate, be able to track the credit card online (so I know how much I've spent) and be able to buy stuff with protection + buy stuff from abroad (because those funny foreigners don't take Switch).

have a look on teh moneysupermarket or it's rivial. They have a funky tool that allows to enter what you use your card for, it will recommend one to you.