Argh…! I find things like that so incredibly annoying! I don’t think my name is that long, especially by international standards, but it sometimes seems a lot of banks are just really inconsiderate of those with names longer than Bob Smith or something along those lines! The name on my HSBC card is MR F M LASTNAME, which fits just fine. My Monzo card uses FIRSTNAME M LASTNAME, which just fits because of the lack of title. My Lloyds card used MR FIRSTNAME MIDDLENAME LASTNAME, which instead of being cut off, just ran right into and across the Visa logo - they happily printed me a new one with the Mr F M Lastname format when I requested, so you should ask Barclays if they’d do the same!
Incidentally, I see this as a good argument for switching to non-embossed cards; the printed ones I have fit my entire name, title included (eg NatWest), just fine, because the font size doesn’t have to be so huge.
Maybe it’s blocked for a bit from too many attempts?
I would try putting the card into a cash machine and changing the PIN to one you set, making sure the card is fully activated, and then try again after at least 24 hours.
I think Apple block attempts after a while as an anti-fraud measure; they reset the system if you try again later.
Done some reading around on Fineco and the experiences shared on the MSE forum seem to suggest that Fineco collect outstanding card delivery fees on a quarterly basis, so don’t be surprised if £2.95 is debited in a few months’ time. And if there’s nothing in your account at time they get round to collecting the charge, you’ll go overdrawn!
I made an EUR to EUR transfer from Revolut to Fineco earlier today, expecting it to be instant, but nothing has arrived It’s currently showing as at the ‘Leaving for recipient’s bank’ stage in the Revolut app, so I wonder if it’s Rev that’s holding things up, perhaps because I very rarely use my account with them (although this is only a couple of Euros I’m dealing with so their notorious fraud and AML algorithm shouldn’t have been tripped I’d hope!).
Please do let us know if you get this working! …as I haven’t been able to set up Apple Pay successfully yet myself.
One other thing I read multiple people saying on the main MSE thread about Fineco is that you aren’t able to change your PIN; you’re stuck with the one they assign you?! Granted I haven’t tried it myself (we lost the last ATM in the village a few years ago).
I can’t remember if I changed my PIN or not now, it was so long ago.
I definitely didn’t pay the card fee though, and if they do try to charge it then complain by email and point them to their terms. It quite clearly says the first card is free - so if you only have one card, there is no £2.95 charge. The £2.95 is for subsequent extra cards.
Those charged on MSE should also have complained and escalated it further if needed; I think their query sounds like it was misunderstood and they got the wrong answer back? They should not have called it a delivery charge as it isn’t in the terms so they can’t just decide, randomly, to charge it! It reads like whoever answered the query was just fobbing them off.
To be fair to Fineco it says in the fine print at the bottom of their pricing page:
No annual fees for the first card for each account holder; £9.95 annual fee for the second card; £2.95 card shipping cost.
The delivery charge wouldn’t be categorised as an ‘annual fee’ I suppose, but rather as a one off. The formatting of the above is a bit ambiguous since I could see how point three (‘£2.95 card shipping cost’) could be interpreted as a continuation/expansion of point two (which is indeed about a second, additional card), however the semicolons separating each point suggest to me that they are three independent points that all stand. In other words I interpret it as:
Card
Annual Fee
Shipping Fee
First card
£0 (free)
£2.95
Second/additional card
£9.95
£2.95
As to why you weren’t charged, seeing just how disorganised they seem to sometimes be, a lack of consistency in collection of fees wouldn’t surprise me. Alternatively, perhaps you just signed up at a time when the policies were different?
Yes, the annual £9.95 is for a second currency card. However I have read (also on MSE forums) that a replacement card does incur a one time fee of £9.95. It was in the context of a lost/stolen/damaged replacement; not sure what fees are associated with a replacement due to expiry?
Now that is definitely free as I have received a free replacement automatically without needing to request it.
My interpretation of the ambiguous semicolon is that it separates the charge into a new item so it is not a continuation of point two at all.
However, I am sure I remember wording elsewhere on the website which states that this fee is “waived for your first card” (again, this seems to be first card in the sense of first card number issued, having 1 card number on the account which then survives card renewal so the second card after renewal is a renewed reissue of the original card and also continues to be free - lost and stolen cards may not be free but I’ve never “tested” this as I’ve never lost my card.
Ah. Were that not the case, it’d be a deal-breaker on principle. But thinking about it, who on earth would sign up to a bank that charges to replace expiring cards….?
After all, if the first card was supplied free of charge you wouldn’t lose anything, and if you just wanted the card and to test the account (rather than seriously use it) it wouldn’t matter that replacement or renewal cards weren’t free - not to give the fintechs any ideas!
Just tried again. No longer tells me the card number is invalid, but refuses to add the card. I can however, use it by using the Curve Card with it sitting behind Curve, it seems
Yes, you can add any card that doesn’t natively support Apple Pay via Curve.
Fineco is supposed to support it, and having to put it behind Curve does almost defeat the point of a dedicated Euro card.
I wonder if it will suddenly start working if you try again in a week or so? I’ve had that happen before with other banks where the card has simply refused to add. Nationwide was one.
It’s currently showing as at the ‘Leaving for recipient’s bank’ stage in the Revolut app, so I wonder if it’s Rev that’s holding things up, perhaps because I very rarely use my account with them (although this is only a couple of Euros I’m dealing with so their notorious fraud and AML algorithm shouldn’t have been tripped I’d hope!).
