invincible

I thought Electron was more comparable to Solo (assuming that is still around, given Switch became Maestro) and worked by authorising the transaction only if the account holder's bank verified that the funds were available.

In the 1990s Lloyds Bank offered a Lloyds branded American Express chargecard. Also Lloyds TSB have been offering a two card credit card package for a few years, whereby the user gets an American Express credit card and a Mastercard credit card. The user is encourage to use the former rather than the latter because they get 1 point for every £10 spent rather than 1 point for every £50 spent (I think these were the numbers last time I looked). There may also be a Premier version that has an annual fee attached but gives an even better points ratio on the American Express side.

Lloyds TSB dropped VISA when they partnered with American Express, only keeping Mastercard. However if you have a legacy VISA card with them (such as a former TSB TrustCard VISA) then you can continue to be issued with it.

I think it goes like this:

VISA Electron - debit bit requires funds authorisation from the bank whatever the amount.

VISA Debit - (was known as Delta) - debit but not every transaction is authorised and accepted at more places because it has a proper VISA logo on it.

VISA Credit Card - Obvious.

Solo - Same as Visa Electron but by Mastercard (which also took over Switch). Not sure if still issued.

Maestro - Same as VISA Debit but accepted in fewer places because outside of the USA it doesn't carry the MasterCard logo (I believe they may carry the Mastercard logo in the USA). Some also have Cirrus logo on which is, I believe, just a branded card that can only be used at an ATM.

Mastercard - Same as VISA Credit Card.

American Express - Chargecard which is paid off monthly or Credit card which is paid off as you prefer.

Diners - Chargecard that is paid off monthly and in the USA this now carries the Mastercard logo on the back so can be used at any outlet displaying the Mastercard logo. Other versions exist including Carte Blanche.

JCB - Japanese credit card.

All for different types of customers

invincible

American Express is accepted in many more places than it was although B&Q recently dropped it. John Lewis now accept it, and have done for a couple of years. Boots also do, and famously did not. I find it is only smaller establishments and some restaurants that don't, or online retailers that are attempting to keep costs down (it costs more to process than VISA/MC). There is/was a thread about who accepted it on the Money Saving Expert forum.

With the original chargecard range, it's not actually unlimited purchasing power. Each transaction is individually scored and American Express use an algorithm to work out whether you can afford it. They also allocate a customer an unspecified virtual limit so if you suddenly go out and spend £20k in Tiffany's, and you don't usually do that, it'd probably be flagged and the retailer would get a telephone call. To increase your spending power, American Express will ask for proof of income and proof of wealth in the form of a bank reference.

Skinner

I dance like Rickey Jervais to get my amex gold, even paid the annual fee but then after it expired I had to reapply and they didn't accept it

They did send me that they called a "Premium" card but I think its whatever they send to anyone, which is quite a nice card, its Transparent (see thru) I use it JUST because its a cool card.

I don't know if this is still accurate but back maybe 4-5 years ago when I resident in a night club, we didn't accept Amex because they wanted a higher % of the transaction, I have the figure 5% in my head or 4.5% but I don't know where that number comes from its just there.

I'm looking for my Amex Now to post a pic, because it RAWKS!

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Skinner

Invincible Branded Amex :P May contain NSFW Adverts.

I love this card, would have liked it more without that big square tho.

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