fairfx Problems again help please!

[KarenS]

Hi guys,

We are flying home today and have left ourselves short of ready cash for the airport. I tried to top up my card last night with no success. I contacted fairfx this morning and they have said that effectively my bank have refused the payment.

I have plenty of funds in my account and I have used my credit card
here without any problems.

Is there any way I can get around this?

Thanks

Karen

[skiingjj]

Unfortunately I don't think so as if they bank have refused payment there is nothing FairFX can do.

The only thing you could do is get a cash advance on your credit card and then pay it back as soon (preferably by internet banking as soon as you get home) but obviously this will incur an interest charge.

What do you need the money for? If is it for food and drink, then buy it with your credit card.

Hope you manage to sort something out.

[Guest]

Sorry to hijack the thread.

Can someone advise as to the advantage of the FairFX card? - I've seen it mentioned a lot and as someone who always takes my debit card, several credit cards as well as cash and TC's, wonder what the reason for a FairFX card is, especially when the OP already has sufficient funds but can't actually top-up the FairFX card.

I know CC's are common-place in the US, do they not take debit cards then?

Very confusing

[Guest]

do you have your debit card with you? if so you could withdraw funds from that if you have funds in your accounts or use it to pay for meals or stuff you need x

[james weir]

THe main benefit of the Fairfx Card is that you can prepurchase your dollars as and
when you require at the offer rate,one can purchase as little as $ 20.00.If you are
using any credit or debit card in Florida most banks will charge you nearly 3% in
transaction fees.The rate that Fairfx charges is always much better than that offered
elsewhere.A $ 2 CHARGE applies if you are using your fairfx card to withdraw dollars.
It would appear that the OP problem is with her bank,not fairfx as the bank has to
okay the transaction,and being the weekend plus the time diference has not helped,
only her bank will be able. to assist

[Nomy]

Originally Posted by quacker

Sorry to hijack the thread.


I know CC's are common-place in the US, do they not take debit cards then?

Very confusing

See more...

Nope, not to my knowledge.

I like FairFX as it's a way of slowly saving money. You can choose when to buy during the build up to your holiday, and buy when the dollar rate is best. Kind of fun that

The only thing that caught us out last time was the 'pre auth' that some restaurants do. They will scan your card with the total food bill plus what they consider to be the tip, then they bring the card back for you to sign. If you add a tip which is different to what they 'pre auth'd' your card with, your card will be debited the amount you signed for, but the other amount they keyed in is reserved off your balance for a few days. This is only a problem when your funds are running low, and is not used in many places anyway. The best way round this is to ask if they 'pre-auth' and if they do, tell them you will be leaving a cash tip.

[Guest]

i had the same prob this week - i am at home so no real issue, i tried it 3 times with no success, 4th time it worked?

[Guest]

I used my debit cards out there.

[Guest]

Hmm. seems a bit hit and miss to me. TC's cash and cards will do for me.

[DisneyFamily]

Originally Posted by Nomy

Nope, not to my knowledge.

See more...

Sorry but you are wrong with regards to Debit Cards, especially Visa Debit cards. Cards bearing the Visa Debit logo are accepted everywhere the Visa Logo is displayed. From a processing point of view, there is no difference between a Visa Debit or a Visa Credit card. Therefore you should have no issues using your Visa Debit card in the US. You might have some issues with Maestro, but most UK banks are switching to Visa debit as they are accepted in far more places.