SOLO Card Being Discontinued?

[Freelancer87]

Hello,

I thought I heard somewhere that the SOLO card was being discontinued in a matter of a few weeks. I'm not sure where I heard this, but can somebody confirm this? It may in fact not be SOLO that I heard it about...but I want to make sure that my website reflect the proper payment methods accepted.

Any help or direction would be appreciated.

Many thanks!,

Dave

 

[PayVector]

Both Switch & Solo card types are now UK Maestro. Have been for sometime. However there are still branded cards that are out there. They may have the Switch/Solo brands but payment processors like ourselves see them as Maestro.

 

[Freelancer87]

Both Switch & Solo card types are now UK Maestro. Have been for sometime. However there are still branded cards that are out there. They may have the Switch/Solo brands but payment processors like ourselves see them as Maestro.

Thanks for the quick input.

That must have been what I have heard. Basically, sometime in the near future (Feb?), the SOLO card will no longer be accepted as a method of payment, as people should have already had their new cards and use them. The are simply taking them out of circulation.

I hope I understand this right.....

Cheers,

Dave

 

[Esk247]

Don't know much about this other than the SOLO was originally for those under 18, student types etc.

I tried paying on a SOLO for a business trip and it was declined when i was a young'un a few years ago So i had to upgrade to Maestro.

Just more complicated imo. Made sense before, SOLO for under 18s, Maestro for when you're 18 or over.

 

[PayVector]

I have not heard of a specific time frame for replacing cards. an EMV/Chip&Pin card cost around 1 GBP to produce and mail in large volumes. So for some of the larger issuers with millions of card holders it is an expensive exercise. I believe they switched them all to Maestro but may have not issued out new cards.

What you may be talking about is the switch/solot auth platforms going offline which would not have any effect on retailiers really.

I wouldnt worry about it to much. It will be a minisule % of cards if any.

Might want to ask the community hear if anyone has one still that is valid. Might give you an indicator as to how many are still out there.

 

[saxondale]

solo won`t let you pay if your account cannot cover the charge, takes longer to proccess and of course - no overdrawn account fees.

 

[sonnas]

Both Switch & Solo card types are now UK Maestro. Have been for sometime. However there are still branded cards that are out there. They may have the Switch/Solo brands but payment processors like ourselves see them as Maestro.

i lost my wallet a few months ago and so cancelled all my bank cards, which were maestro. when i go the new ones all of them are now "Visa" with debit writtten underneath it. apparently this is replacing maestro.

 

[saxondale]

i lost my wallet a few months ago and so cancelled all my bank cards, which were maestro. when i go the new ones all of them are now "Visa" with debit writtten underneath it. apparently this is replacing maestro.

visa debit give the same buyer protection as paying by credit card?

 

[PayVector]

i lost my wallet a few months ago and so cancelled all my bank cards, which were maestro. when i go the new ones all of them are now "Visa" with debit writtten underneath it. apparently this is replacing maestro.

No Visa is not replacing Maestro. It is more probably that Maestro interchange is more expensive than visa with recent changes.

visa debit give the same buyer protection as paying by credit card?

All Visa branded cards have buyer protection, even debit. You can't do a chargeback but you can do a retrieval. It is a bit more of a lengthy process but it is possible. I did one myself not so long ago.

 

[smo]

Solo are not being accepted from the end of Feb, i had a letter from out merchant service provider (RBS) last week saying if we put it through then it will bounce.

They were phased out a long time ago but there are still some valid SOLO cards out there so beware.

P.S - they do not get treated as maestro cards, if they did it wouldnt be a problem.

 

[Freelancer87]

Solo are not being accepted from the end of Feb, i had a letter from out merchant service provider (RBS) last week saying if we put it through then it will bounce.

They were phased out a long time ago but there are still some valid SOLO cards out there so beware.

I just received clarification from WorldPay...here is what they sent:

"Please proceed to adding the logo to your website. However I have had a response back confirming that Solo is being decommissioned by the 31st March 2011 so your communication was correct."​

Cheers,

Dave

 

[robaldred]

My partner who was a student until last year, still has a valid natwest solo card the fact issuers are not notifying card holders sort of suggests they are moving cards automatically or they're just waiting for customers to call them?

 

[smo]

When a card expires it will be replaced with an alternative (visa debit usually)

 

[kylelnsn]

Solo hasnt really been issuedfor a long time, it's all about electron now I believ!