Caxton FX card

suebabsthenoo

suebabsthenoo

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After reading about this card on this forum I have gotten me one BUT it did not work at Athens airport and now I find it does not work on Leros either.Caxton told me that the airport cash machines may be off line! and now I have been told by a different person there that Leros is too small an island for this sort of technology BUT my old Nationwide card worked ok.Anyone else have difficulty with this card ,am I being fobbed off?It won't even give me a balance just says unauthorised usage and various other messages at different machines.
Unfortunately discovered Metrobank at Holborn too late to get an account open!!
 
Caxton

Thats very ineresting, as we were also considering getting one. As I posted earlier we moved from the Nationwide to the Cumberland BS who offer similar free withdrawals abroad but thats a bit late for you now.
I'm sure there will be plenty of comments flowing in soon. Maybe some wise council from Duncan99210 included.
Regards from another Nauti cat ( just a tiddler 33 tho')
 
No personal experience of Caxton, but we use FairFX and we have had a few occasions in France where the card has not worked. When we checked we were told that some of the transfer protocols do not match and for special payments they could help. Have never had problems with hole in the wall in France Spain and Portugal and have paid several thousand euro bills with no problems. The only problem we have is making big payments to people who cannot take plastic.
 
We are based in Leros and have used our Caxton card in Lakki for the last two years with no problem. We usually go to the Emporiki Bank opposite the modern church in the town centre. Sorry, I can't name the street as all my maps are on the boat and we are in the UK.
I would contact Caxton if you continue to have problems. We have had no problems with it getting cash anywhere from Malta to Leros.
 
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Have you read the post from the people who have been using their card here for 2 years?I reckon its the card amgetting a new one sent to me sister who will then post on to me here at the yard.
 
Thanks to those who have replied...hope its the card that is faulty then all will be ok in the next few weeks, next time in UK will get Metrobank card as they are opening a branch in Bromley where I can finish my application,have proved who I am but not where I live!
 
I have a Caxton FX card and would like to flag up a small annoying issue. I should add that this is in the Caxton FX "small print" but annoying none the less.

When my Nationwide Credit card would not work, I recently used my Caxton FX card at an automated fuel pump at Geneva airport for CHF56 (€45).

When I got home, I found that €120 had been deducted from the card. I phoned Caxton & they very politely informed that this was standard procedure and that once the payment had been processed the balance would be refunded to my card, but this might take up to 15 days. In fact it took just 3 days but all the same, if I had not had at lest €120 on the card, I could not have bought fuel.

Details from the Caxton website:

Hotels, car hire, bicycle hire and deposits of all kinds
Don’t use your Caxton card for the security card swipe when you check into a hotel or hire a car. Use any other card for this and only use your Caxton card to settle the bill. This is because of something called ‘shadowed funds’. When a card is swiped you might not know that a ‘shadow’ is put on the card. Your Caxton card holds a prepaid balance and the shadow will stop you from getting to your travel cash. A shadow can last for up to 30 days. Use any other card for the security swipe and your Caxton card when the payment transaction is required.

Automated petrol stations on the continent (not just France) usually take a security deposit of €120 (Normal approval) when you first swipe your card. No money actually leaves your account at this point, but your available balance is reduced by €120.

A couple of days later (it can be up to 15 days), they will process a settlement increase for €120 which will raise your available balance by €120. Simultaneously, they will process a settlement decrease where they will remove funds from your card to cover the actual amount of fuel dispensed for example €45. In the period between the Normal approval and the settlement decrease your account will appear to have been debited by €120, but it has not.

Only when the Settlement decrease goes through has money actually left your account.
 
The only difference between these prepayed cards and other cards is you can see the money that is 'not available'. On your ordinbary cards it is still held in limbo till the account is cleared but you only find out if you get close to your credit limit. It was one of the reasons that I always carried an Amex cards when travelling on business as it did not take very long to trash the limit on an ordinary credit card with all the hidden deposits each hotel and car hire firm kept back.
 
davewarburton said:
I have a Caxton FX card and would like to flag up a small annoying issue. I should add that this is in the Caxton FX "small print" but annoying none the less.
Click to expand...

Another thingto watch out for with all prepay mastercards such as FairFX and CaxtonFX is that these dont work in French and Spanish automated motorway toll booths.
 
We only use the Caxton FX card for the reason we got it in the first place - free ATM withdrawals on overseas. The whole thing about ghost payments for deposits was, I thought, fairly common knowledge. It's one of the reasons why we always have a number of other cards available, so that we can preserve a useful level of credit despite authorisations being held against the account. Never had a problem with Caxton for withdrawals from ATMs, apart from the time when we got PINs confused.........
 
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