visa numbers start with
Posted on Thursday, September 25th, 2008 at 9:15 am
visa gift card?
does the visa gift card have the same numbers as creditcards do? will it have experation date?, and what if i started an online account with one, lets say netflix. what would happen when the money ran out on the card.
There’s no way to answer all your questions from the information you provided.
The most important distinction is between gift cards issued by retailers and those issued by banks.
In the industry, the retailers’ cards are called “closed-loop” cards — they can be used only in a single store or group of stores. “Open-loop” cards carry the logo American Express, Discover, MasterCard or Visa and can be used wherever those cards are accepted.
Closed-loop cards from retailers rarely carry fees or expiration dates. The retailers can make a profit from the merchandise purchased. Open-loop cards from the banks or payment networks can’t profit from merchandise, so they have more fees and conditions — and expiration dates.
Visa and MasterCard do not issue their own gift cards. They just process transactions. Your Visa gift card has been issued by a financial institution, and that’s who has set the card’s fee and other policies, not Visa.
Wells Fargo, for example, charges a $2.50 monthly fee after the first 12 months of Visa gift card activation, U.S. Bank charges $2.50 per month after six months following issuance of the card and Wachovia charges $2.50 monthly after six or 12 months of issuance, depending on the individual gift card.
So look closely at your own gift card and see which bank issued it. I hope you kept the gift card agreement that came with it — that spells out the conditions and terms. If you didn’t, then contact the bank.
As far as using it to establish a Netflix account, it depends on whether Netflix lets you start one with a debit card. That’s what you have — a special form of debit card, not a credit card. If Netflix demands a credit card to open an account, you won’t be able to use it there.
As far as what happens when the money runs out, your transaction will be declined. Visa gift cards are not reloadable.
Happy spending!
