Alternative to Visa or Mastercard

I phoned my bank as i don't want to use visa or MasterCard and wanted an alternative due to their decision on wikileaks i was told by my uk bank.
Visa/MasterCard have a monopoly on pin and chip cards and other cards such as electron delta all come from the above.Cards are rented to these and the banks form visa and MasterCard who own them even if they say EG Lloyd visa card?
On further inquiring it seems what they said was true
en.wikipedia.org...

I need a debit card with chip and pin,im in the uk does anyone have an alternative i could change to?

I am not one for getting upset normally but the usa attack on wikileaks has got me mad as hell and i am determined that the amazons, pay pals etc will not get a penny from me, at least.

a) this is not something new.

b) this does not belong in above top secret, try below top secret.

In your opinion,the fact there appears no alternative and these two companies dictated who i can donate money to in the knowledge that even if your not happy and want to move will not harm there profits is worrying.

Originally posted by clanger

I need a debit card with chip and pin,im in the uk does anyone have an alternative i could change to?

I am not one for getting upset normally but the usa attack on wikileaks has got me mad as hell and i am determined that the amazons, pay pals etc will not get a penny from me, at least.

Great news!
This is an amazing possibility for you to create your own company with your own electronic card!
Imagine how many people will start using it!

reply to post by clanger


How about American Express, you can get them here in the uk, no idea about how good they are though
link

Stop using credit. That's my help.

I do not have a credit card and never will.

Pred...

reply to post by clanger


I'm sorry, but I don't know of any other alternative.

Just about every UK shop accepts Visa, Maestro, Delta, Electron, Solo; the problem being that Delta and Electron are just the same ( and limited ) versions of Visa, and Solo is just a watered-down version of Maestro.

Anything else is just a credit card, and I'd strongly advise against using one of those.

reply to post by clanger


Unfortunately these two entities pretty much own the infrastructure involved in ATM/Debit transactions. Even if you did find a card that wasn't MC/Visa - you'd undoubtedly just be paying a "middle-man" company that has to kick back to MC/Visa anyway.

Thus - they are going to get your money. One way or the other.

~Heff

How is it that the only two credit card providers are Visa and Mastercard.
They are controlled by the American government.
Since when were they supposed to be political?
Hence they cut off Wikileaks.
It is time for a credit card not controlled by the American goverment.
So we can have the choice to switch.

Originally posted by kundip
How is it that the only two credit card providers are Visa and Mastercard.
They are controlled by the American government.
Since when were they supposed to be political?
Hence they cut off Wikileaks.
It is time for a credit card not controlled by the American goverment.
So we can have the choice to switch.

My point exactly,
I also note that not one newspaper has questioned the above facts?I have written to two of my local Mps and am awaiting a reply. I was also wondering if it would be worth writing to the EU and if so who you would contact about this.

If you use credit cards or ATM services you fund one of these companies.

The alternative is to withdraw your money in cash from the bank directly and don't have a credit card. Pay cash. Thats how people lived in the UK in the 70s, no ATMs existed and credit cards were rare and exotic.

You've got to be pretty committed to go back to that way of living. It would sure cause a stink if we all did :-)

Originally posted by justwokeup
If you use credit cards or ATM services you fund one of these companies.

The alternative is to withdraw your money in cash from the bank directly and don't have a credit card. Pay cash. Thats how people lived in the UK in the 70s, no ATMs existed and credit cards were rare and exotic.

You've got to be pretty committed to go back to that way of living. It would sure cause a stink if we all did :-)

I think we know this,but it is not practicable,with internet shopping and in store chip and pin along with cheques being phased out we need cards.
We need an alternative to American Cards

How do we get it?

reply to post by clanger


try using the Muslim bank of Britain however they use maestro which is part of mastercard. Best thing to do is get a prepaid credit card.

reply to post by clanger


You cant. Its an Oligopoly. Set up and infrastructure costs prohibit anybody else getting in.

Government could open it up through regulation but they wont.

Originally posted by loner007
reply to post by clanger

 

try using the Muslim bank of Britain however they use maestro which is part of mastercard. Best thing to do is get a prepaid credit card.

edit on 18/12/2010 by loner007 because: (no reason given)

Will the credit card not be American?

One thing you could do is use them. I mean USE THEM. Get a no fee rewards card and pay it off like clockwork and take every discount and get every point thing you can with them.

JCB credit card. Japan Credit Bureau. en.wikipedia.org...