B&YOU: carte prépayée

[NFH]

Originally Posted by VladS

A word of warning for those interested in the card, the initial credit is only valid for 30 days.

To be clear, it's 30 days from the first call, not from the date or purchase or activation. This is made clear in the T&Cs.

[artwong]

Originally Posted by NFH

I'm considering a French-issued prepaid Visa or MasterCard instead, for example La Banque Postale's "Carte Cadeau", which has a purchase fee of €10 compared to my French bank's debit card annual fee of €40. The French seem remarkably accepting of paying fees for any type of plastic bank card, which would completely deter customers in most other countries.

I just exchanged a few messages on Twitter with a B&YOU rep who claims a Banque Postale Carte Cadeau will not work for ordering a SIM. He says: Only a Bank Card from a French Bank.

[NFH]

It seems I have found a solution. The costs would be as follows:

• €10 La Carte Cadeau from the French post office
• €9.80 for Ubidoca's Forfait Réexpédition Eco which includes 2 forwardings (excluding postage costs)
• €1.35 postage for forwarding of La Carte Cadeau
• €4.10 postage for forwarding of SIM cards up to 250g total
• €5.30 recorded delivery fee for forwarding of SIM cards with €150 insurance

The total of €30.55 would be shared amongst all of us, i.e. around €2.50 each with 12 of us. The onward postage from London to each recipient would be on top of this. Ubidoca seem a lot more accommodating than French Office.

If you're interested and I don't already have your e-mail address, please PM me.

[kuba.g]

Very good deal when there's 12 of us When can we start this?

[NFH]

Originally Posted by kuba.g

Very good deal when there's 12 of us When can we start this?

We can start when everyone sets up a B&You user account and sends me their e-mail address and password. Without this, I can neither make the order nor include them in the amount to be loaded on the prepaid credit card.

[NFH]

I've received a PM in a UK forum saying that even a card issued by a French bank was rejected by B&You (for delivery to a French address). I'm therefore evaluating whether a prepaid credit card from the French post office is the best option as I might load money on the card and be unable to spend it.

[kuba.g]

Well... the money could also simply be spent on other (daily) purchases, right? Then we only loose the 10€ the card costs. The best way would be to spend it on purchases denominated in EUR. Living in the UK that might be a bit more of a hassle, but for example I have the possibility to cash out such a card in euros without any costs.

[NFH]

Just a quick update. I'm trying to find a prepaid credit card with a French BIN, as I think this is what B&You are checking for. This can be checked at https://www.bindb.com/bin-database.html

[VladS]

Transcash VISA has an FR BIN: 4577 37

Carte bancaire prépayée rechargeable TRANSCASH VISA®

[NFH]

Originally Posted by VladS

Transcash VISA has an FR BIN: 4577 37

Carte bancaire prépayée rechargeable TRANSCASH VISA®

Thanks for this suggestion. I quite like the small British bank behind this, Raphaels Bank. Although they are the issuer of Ryanair's ill-fated prepaid cards, they also have a small network of EUR-denominated cash machines in London which allow EUR account holders of other banks to withdraw cash at face value without any charges.

The initial purchase price of €9.90 and ability to top up makes it worth considering. Although I don't see why top-ups by bank transfer should be charged at 3%, this isn't going to adversely affect the total price paid by each of us.