Westpac Ignite Credit Card

[kamchatsky]

Westpac is replacing all existing Virgin Credit Cards with Westpac Ignite.

Westpac Internet -Westpac Ignite

Everything just about the same (no annual fee ever, low interest rate, MasterCard), but with added chip card facility, and have their own replacement "mates rates" program. Looks like no multi colour selection though. Great for people who actually want low interest rate and no annual fee ....

Looks like Virgin Money is finally pulling out of Australia in the credit card scene .......

 

[Mal]

Looks like they let the spin doctors loose with the wording:

Your new Ignite Card will also feature an embedded security CHIP, protecting you with the latest in credit card security.

Umm, no. Not in Australia at least.

Besides these additional benefits, everything else will remain the same.

So they're copying across the expiry date and card number? How nice of them.

Hang on, they seem to clarify that not everything will remain the same:

As at 9 February 2009, the fees, charges and interest rates will generally remain the same as your Virgin Credit Card.

Generally? That's not the same! I bet there will be some nasty Westpac fees introduced that were never payable while it was Virgin Money branded.

 

[jgm]

Looks like they let the spin doctors loose with the wording:
Umm, no. Not in Australia at least.

Are you sure about that? I have a chip on my Westpac Altitude Visa, but not on the AMEX yet.

 

[Mal]

Are you sure about that? I have a chip on my Westpac Altitude Visa, but not on the AMEX yet.

Yeah, the card will be chipped, but I was commenting about "protecting you with the latest in credit card security. ". This is pure spin.

In Australia, chip usage in retail stores is negligible. So the traditional mag stripe swipe is used. The extra security provided by the chip only occurs where a country enforces chip usage (Singapore/UK/Malaysia etc) and an attempt to swipe a chipped card fails (or ends up causing liability to the merchant / lots of weird questions to the customer).
In Australia though, chip usage isn't mandatory - so anyone can 'duplicate' the card by copying the mag strip and and using the cloned card fraudulently.

When CHIP usage in Australia becomes mandatory (whenever that occurs - VISA/MC/Amex aren't losing enough to fraud in Australia yet to want to do it), then it will provide more security within Australia. Then criminals will just copy the mag stripe, and ship the details overseas (eg perhaps New Zealand or USA) where chip usage isn't enforced ... the circle just keeps spinning.

 

[oz_mark]

Hang on, they seem to clarify that not everything will remain the same:

Generally? That's not the same! I bet there will be some nasty Westpac fees introduced that were never payable while it was Virgin Money branded.

They are dropping the duplicate statement fee.

 

[stryker]

where a country enforces chip usage (Singapore/UK/Malaysia etc)

Mal, are you living in some parallel universe (or perhaps associated with some other large bank)?

I am a UK national and return there many times a year. There is NO enforcement of chip usage in the UK (you must have been thinking of something else). And I haven't found it to be an issue in Singapore or Malaysia either.

I purposely don't have a PIN on my chip cards as it can actually reduce the bank's indemnity of your losses due to fraud.

As for Ignite, my wife and I have found it to be excellent so far, with 0% balance transfers and 0% purchases for 6 months. Mad if you didn't make use of it, IMHO.

Bad mouth it all you like, but I for one can only commend Ignite, as an ex-Virgin cardholder.

 

[Nigelinoz]

Chip and PIN hasn't done very much to stop credit card fraud anyway,at least in the UK ,well not according to this article from the Telegraph.
Credit and debit card fraud jumps as criminals beat chip and pin - Telegraph

 

[Mal]

Mal, are you living in some parallel universe (or perhaps associated with some other large bank)?

Nah neither. But my comments on chip+pin are still valid - I believe you may have misunderstood what I was saying about how it is required. You can still use a mag stripe card in the UK/Singapore/Malaysia. However if a card is chipped, then other rules come into play regarding liability for the merchant etc if the chip isn't used and the card number is typed or mag stripe used.

Chip+pin doesn't stop fraud - people move to other methods of fraud which I've discussed in this thread and other threads about chip+pin. The news article also backs up that claim.

I've got nothing against the ignite card, but the press release was utter puff. I still think it's in line for a big shakeup/westpac fee introduction. Good to hear you get value out of the card.

 

[basic]

Not related to chips or parallel universes, but! I think it's cool how they've still given members a rewards program even though it's a low rate card AND no annual fee.

Pretty sweet I say.

-Me

 

[Flashback]

It doesn't sound like a rewards program per-say, but more so a "get discount if you shop at X retailar".