Viola Black Discussion

Financial Chat Fintech Chat
335

Really? It looks like a nice, modern shared office space to me?

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336

Could be just me being enslaved at London corporate buildings for too long, it just that gives me the house vibe. :slight_smile:

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337

I think so… I think so. It’s a nice, modern-looking office on an industrial estate, it sure isn’t a London office, but I think many would consider that a perk :stuck_out_tongue:

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338

These have always felt, er, predatory to me. They seem to be targeting those who have been rejected from opening a bank account because of terrible credit/account markers even though it’s possible to get a free basic account most places.

They’re niche are people who have been rejected but uninformed. Of course, it’s all legal but somewhat frustrating that people with poor credit etc are funnelled into accounts with insane fees.

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339

Why would you need “good credit” to open a simple checking account? Here in Portugal anyone can open a checking account. The only requirement is being over 18. It seems looking from the outside that the countries that adopted credit scores then just use them for everything, even if it doesn’t make any sense. One can argue that credit scores aren’t that good even when accessing someone’s creditworthiness

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340

I have tested viola card. Probably the worst card i have ever used. Its not working on amazon and paypal and alot of sites.Havent been able to make a succesful transaction yet.

341

I totally agree, my point was £4 a month is cheap compared to lots of the established ones and doesn’t make it a scam like some have said.

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342

I would guess some of that is due to it being new(ish) and sites not recognising BIN/card number first digits

Monzo had some of that to start with, now mainly resolved

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343

Happens with most new cards and banks. Acceptance issues soon get solved.

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344

Yes, this

Not a scam; not all that great either

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345

Presumably BINs were rather more static prior to the explosion of FinTech?

So we are seeing acceptance issues more now as there are more new values and the system never really had too much thought given to regular update and expansion?

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346

I have never understood this either. Technically you can, with a basic bank account, but if I choose a current account and do not want an overdraft, why should my credit score be a factor?

I will guess arguably a current account usually has the ability to go overdrawn, even without an authorised overdraft, and the bank would argue that they can’t guarantee repayment of that - but Monzo do it fine.

Some basic bank accounts don’t even let you have a contactless card which is just bizarre.

347

Assuming by basic account you mean those accounts banks have to offer because some EU regulations require them to, I don’t know a single person here in Portugal who has that. They have restrictions and even some fees while most regular checking accounts are totally fee free. There are no credit checks when opening an account, you just need to show an ID and sign the account opening paperwork

Sure, even without having an overdraft arranged with the bank, there are situations that may generate a negative balance. As long as you pay it back within 1-2 weeks banks won’t care and while some will charge you interest, others won’t even do that. If someone doesn’t pay back I guess it’s just the cost of doing business, but I never heard of that being a problem

348

The issue is normally the recycling of a BIN rather than a new BIN, a new bank will often be given an old BIN, but that old BIN isn’t active in the BIN database, so until databases are updated places can’t recognise the card. With a brand new BIN it often will force an update, an old BIN it will just reject it. Obviously more complicated than that, but that’s it simply explained. Some banks have spare BIN ranges so when they release a new card there isn’t a problem, new banks don’t have reserved ones. Mastercard and Visa changed how they issue them a long time ago now.

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349

Thanks for the explanation

350

I’ve had the impression in the past that a credit check often isn’t use as a credit check, but as an ID check to see if name / address / electoral roll etc match?

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351

Some are (Monzo is one) but no, many, many people with bad credit are completely unable to open a current account at most major banks in the UK.

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/current-accounts/opening-a-current-account-with-poor-credit/

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353

image

I think they’ve launched another prepaid card :joy:

354

I think this one was already in existence. But not sure

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355

Looks like it. From a little Googling it looks like it has a few alternate names/brands.

I also want to point out that that Twitter video literally makes the product look like it was made for Lord Sugar in a challenge for The Apprentice :rofl:

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