Prepaid Card Terms

These terms and conditions are a guide only and you should read the terms and conditions for the prepaid card you wish to apply for as each Prepaid Card company offers different terms and conditions. You must read them carefully. In these terms and conditions "you" means the named Prepaid Cardholder and the authorised user of the Prepaid Card. "We", "us" or "our" means the bank, MasterCard and the prepaid card providers. By using the Prepaid Card you are agreeing to these terms and conditions.

1. Your Prepaid Card

You can use the Prepaid Card at any location that displays the Acceptance Mark either MasterCard, Visa or Maestro card which will be shown on the front of your card. You can use it including shops, restaurants, online, or on the telephone. You can also use your Prepaid Card overseas. You may not use your prepaid card at automated fuel dispensers. Before using the Prepaid Card you need to make sure there are enough funds loaded on it. You will not be able to use your Prepaid Card after its expiry date. However we will issue you with a new Prepaid Card prior to expiry provided that you have used your card in the 3 months prior to expiry and have sufficient funds to pay any replacement card fee (see below).

Your Prepaid Card is not a credit card and is not in any way connected to your bank account. You will not earn any interest on any funds loaded on your Prepaid Card.

Where you have requested Additional Prepaid Cardholders, you authorise them to issue Prepaid Cards and a PIN to the Additional Prepaid Cardholders and you authorise each Additional Prepaid Cardholders to authorise transactions on your behalf.

2. Applying for and activating your Prepaid Card

To apply for our Prepaid Card you must be at least 18 years old and a UK resident. They will require evidence of who you are and your address. They may ask you to provide some documentary evidence to prove this and/or we may carry out checks on you electronically.

You must sign the signature strip on the back of the Prepaid Card as soon as it is received. Please refer to our Website for all Prepaid Card loading options, or refer to the �Loading your Prepaid Card� section below.

You card will normally be delivered to you within 10 working days of receipt of your application unless otherwise notified on the Website

3. Loading your Prepaid Card

Funds can be loaded to your Prepaid Card in a number of ways: internet top-up, phone top-up, cash top up at selected retail outlets and top ups from your bank account - Simply follow the instructions at the Website.

The maximum initial load on your Prepaid Card is �5,000. Your Prepaid Card cannot be loaded more than twice in any one day. The balance on your Prepaid Card can never exceed the maximum limit at any time. They reserve the right to refuse to accept any particular loading transaction. If available for your card product, the maximum daily cash load on your Prepaid Card depends on the providers.

Your funds will be available for use when They receive them. If applicable, A PayPoint load will usually be available within one hour of loading. BACS and Post Office loads will take up to a maximum of three working days to be received by us.

4. Using your Prepaid Card

Detailed instructions on how to use your Prepaid Card are found on each Website. You will need to follow these instructions when using your Prepaid Card.

They will deduct the value of your transactions from the balance on your Prepaid Card as soon as they are made. They will also deduct any applicable fees as soon as they become payable by you.

The Prepaid Card belongs to them. They may ask you to stop using your Prepaid Card and return it to us or destroy it. They may at anytime suspend, restrict or cancel your Prepaid Card or refuse to issue or replace a Prepaid Card for reasons relating to the following:

They are concerned about security of your account or Prepaid Cards we have issued to you;
They suspect your account is being used in an unauthorised or fraudulent manner;
or they need to do so to comply with the law.

If they do this, they will tell you as soon as we can or are permitted to do so after we have taken these steps. Like other payment cards, they cannot guarantee a retailer will accept your Prepaid Card. They may also refuse to pay a transaction:

if we are concerned about security of your Prepaid Card or we suspect your Prepaid Card is being used in an unauthorised or fraudulent manner;
If sufficient funds are not loaded on your Prepaid Card at the time of a transaction to cover the amount of the transaction and any applicable fees;
if there is an outstanding Shortfall on the Prepaid Card;
if they have reasonable grounds to believe that you are acting in breach of this agreement;
if they believe that a transaction is potentially suspicious or illegal (for example, if we believe that a transaction is being made fraudulently); or
because of errors, failures (whether mechanical or otherwise) or refusals by merchants, payment processors or payment schemes processing transactions.

If they refuse to authorise a transaction, they will, if practicable, tell you why immediately unless it would be unlawful for us to do so.

5. Authorising Transactions

Subject to the features of the particular Prepaid Card, the authorisation of a transaction can include authorising any single transaction, a series or recurring transactions (including transactions for an indefinite period) or pre-authorising future transactions of a certain or uncertain amount.

A Prepaid Card transaction will be regarded as authorised by you where you;

authorise the transaction at the point of sale by following the instructions provided by the merchant or retailer to authorise the transaction, which may include:

entering your PIN or providing any other security code;
signing a sales voucher;
providing the Prepaid Card details and/ or providing any other details as requested;
waving or swiping the Prepaid Card over a card reader

insert a Prepaid Card and enter your PIN to request a cash withdrawal at an ATM;
make a request for a cash advance at any bank counter;

Authorisation for a transaction may not be withdrawn (or revoked) by you after the time it is received. However, the following transactions may be withdrawn if you or an additional Prepaid Cardholder gives notice to the supplier (providing a copy of the notice to us):

any transaction which is agreed to take place on a date later than the date is was authorised as long as notice was provided no later than the close of business on the business day before it was due to take place;

They may charge you a fee if a transaction is revoked by you under this condition

They will pay the funds required by the retailer or merchant to cover the transactions authorised by you within 3 days of them receiving their request. A transaction (the payment order) will be received as follows:

for purchases and ATM transactions, at the time we receive the transaction instruction from the merchant acquirer or ATM operator;
for other transactions which are communicated directly to us, at the time you ask us to complete the transaction.
If, in relation to;

purchases and ATM transactions, we receive the transaction instruction from the merchant acquirer or ATM operator; or
other transactions communicated directly to us, you ask us to complete the transaction after 1pm, the transaction instruction or request will be deemed to have been received by us on the following business day.

6. Keeping your Prepaid Card secure

You should treat your Prepaid Card like cash. If it is lost or stolen, you may lose some or all of your money on your Prepaid Card, in the same way as if you lost cash in your wallet or purse. As a result, you must keep your Prepaid Card safe and not let anyone else use it. If you are issued with a PIN, you should memorise the PIN, then destroy the notification. You must keep your PIN secret at all times. You should not write it down nor reveal it to anyone.

We recommend that you check the balance on your Prepaid Card regularly online at the Website. They will provide you with your Prepaid Card balance and a statement of recent transactions either by electronic means or on our secure webpage at any time. Your statement will show:

information relating to each Prepaid Card transaction which will enable it to be identified;
the amount of the Prepaid Card transaction shown in the currency in which the transaction was paid or debited to the account;
the amount of charges for the transaction
the date the transaction is authorised or posted on to the account.

7. Lost and stolen Prepaid Card and unauthorised or incorrectly executed payments

You must tell them without undue delay by calling us on the 24 hour lost and stolen card helpline displayed on their website. If you know or suspect that a Prepaid Card is lost or stolen or that the PIN or password is known to an unauthorised person or if you think a transaction has been incorrectly executed.

They will refund any incorrectly executed transaction immediately unless they have any reason to believe that the incident has been caused by a breach of this agreement, gross negligence or we have reasonable grounds to suspect fraudulent activity.

However, if the investigations show that any disputed transaction was authorised by you, or you have acted fraudulently or with gross negligence (for example by failing to keep your Prepaid Card or PIN secure), you may be liable any loss they suffer because of the use of the Prepaid Card.

8. Our liability

They will not be liable for any loss arising from:

any cause which results from abnormal or unforeseen circumstances beyond our control, consequences which would have been unavoidable despite all our efforts to the contrary; or
a retailer refusing to accept your Prepaid Card; or
our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements;
loss or corruption of data unless caused by our wilful default.

They are also not liable for:

business interruption, loss of revenue, goodwill, opportunity or anticipated savings;
any indirect or consequential loss.

9. Your right to a refund

The Funds on your Prepaid Card

You may request a refund of the funds on your Prepaid Card provided you have more than £10 or the equivalent loaded on your Prepaid Card. To do so, send them an e-mail using the "contact us" facility on the Website requesting a refund and confirming that you have destroyed your Prepaid Card by cutting it up. When they process your refund, they may charge a Refund Fee.

They will send a cheque to your last notified address or arrange an electronic transfer to a bank account nominated by you. However, to enable them to comply with legal obligations, They may ask you to provide us with certain information before we can process your refund request.

Refunding Transactions

You may be entitled to claim a refund in relation to transactions where:

the transactions was not authorised under this agreement;
They are responsible for a transaction which was incorrectly executed notified us in accordance with section 8 above;
a pre-authorised transaction did not specify the exact amount at the time of its authorisation and the amount charged by a supplier is more than you or an additional Prepaid Cardholder could reasonably have expected taking into account normal spending patters on the Prepaid Card or the circumstances of the transaction.
A claim for a refund in the circumstances set out above will not be accepted if the amount of the transaction was made available to you at least 4 weeks before the transaction date or it is made more than 8 weeks after being debited to your account.
They were notified of the unauthorised/incorrectly executed transaction within 13 months of the debit date.

10. Changes to these terms

They may change these terms at any time by notifying you by e-mail or other agreed means at least 2 months before the change is due to take effect. The up-to-date version of the Prepaid Card terms and conditions will always be available on the Website. The change will automatically take effect and you will be taken to have accepted the notified change unless you tell us that you do not agree to the change. In that event, They will treat that notice as notification that you wish immediately to terminate. In such circumstances They will refund any balance on the card and you will not be charged a Refund Fee.

11. Disputes with Retailers

If you have any disputes about purchases made using your Prepaid Card, you should settle these with the person you bought the goods or services from. They are not responsible for the quality, safety, legality or any other aspect of any goods or services purchased with your Prepaid Card. Remember that once you have used your Prepaid Card to make a purchase they cannot stop that transaction.

12. Compensation

The Prepaid Card is an electronic money product and although it is a product regulated by the Financial Services Authority, it is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. No other compensation scheme exists to cover losses claimed in connection with the Prepaid Card. This means that in the unlikely event that Bank or prepaid card company becomes insolvent your funds may become valueless and unusable and as a result you may lose your money.

13. Fund Protection

As a responsible e-money issuer, Newcastle Building Society ensures that once it has received your funds they are deposited in a secure account, specifically for the purpose of redeeming transactions made by your Prepaid Card. In the event that Newcastle Building Society becomes insolvent funds that you have loaded which have arrived with and been deposited by Newcastle Building Society are protected against the claims made by creditors.

The Prepay Card is a Prepaid MasterCard, Visa Card or Maestro card and is not a credit, charge or debit card. You can only use your Prepay Card to spend money that you have loaded into your eAccount.

You will not earn Interest on any money that you have loaded into your Prepay card eAccount.

Before they accept your application they will need to verify your identity using electronic verification checks. They reserve the right to request additional information or documentation at any time in order to confirm your identity and to comply with our legal or regulatory obligations.

They will open your eAccount and issue you with your Card on the basis of the information that you have provided to them, and that you agree to provide us with accurate information and to immediately inform us of any changes so that our records remain correct.

Prepay card companies reserve the right to decline your application for any reason.

A fee is payable upon opening your eAccount and issuing your Card. See fees on our website.

Details of how to activate your eAccount can be found on our Website.

You must successfully load your eAccount and choose your PIN before we can issue you with a Card, which they will send to your registered address.

Prepay cards when issued are subject to the terms and conditions of any licence from MasterCard or the prepay card provider. You must successfully activate your Card prior to usage.

Prepaid Card companies reserve the right to refuse to activate your eAccount for any reason and to close it if you fail to activate it within 30 days.

Once you have successfully registered for your eAccount and Card, you can load funds in a variety of ways. Instructions are available on every Website.

Prior to activating your prepay card, you may only spend up to a maximum of the card balance using your eAccount. They reserve the right to lower this limit at anytime without notice.

The minimum amount you can load into your prepay card eAccount at any one time is �10.00.

Prepay card companies reserve the right to decline any loading Transaction and to suspend or terminate your right to load your eAccount at any time and without notice to you. You will be notified immediately when you request a payment if it has been refused. In all cases, if this happens contact them and they will tell you if a payment has been refused, the reasons for the refusal (if possible) and the procedure for correcting any factual errors that led to the refusal.

Pin Security

Immediately sign your prepay card as soon as it has been received;
Keep your prepay card secure in a safe place at all times and do not allow any other person to use it;
Memorise your PIN;
Take all reasonable precautions to prevent your PIN from becoming known to another person;
Keep the password for your prepay card eAccount safe, secure and secret at all times and do not disclose it to any other person including friends, family or work colleagues;
Destroy any prepay card which has expired or been cancelled and (if requested)

You Must Not

use your prepay card before or after the period in which it is valid;
use your prepay card after you receive notice that they have cancelled or withdrawn it;
use your prepay card for an unlawful or illegal purpose;
use your PIN if someone else can see you typing it in;
damage or bend your prepay card .
If you suspect that someone else knows your PIN, or you have forgotten it, you must tell the company immediately so that they can block your prepay card and issue you with a new one.
If you suspect that someone else knows the password to your prepay card eAccount, you must change it on the companies Website as soon as possible.
When choosing or changing your password you must not select a number or word that may be easily guessed, such as a number that is easily associated with you (your telephone number or birth date), or is part of data imprinted on the prepay card or is identical to your previous chosen password.