Tuxedo Prepaid Debit Card
By Hillary Smith • Mar 1st, 2008 • Customer Rating
(23 votes, average: 4.43 out of 5)
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Without a doubt one of the most used prepaid debit cards (After cashplus)in the UK today and for the past 3 years is the Tuxedo prepaid debit card. The Tuxedo card was made popular by their youth targeted advertising and the widespread need for young people to make purchases online. Today, Tuxedo offer you some of the widest (and strangest) options available on any prepaid mastercard.
The Tuxedo card comes in two flavors for you. The pay monthly or the pay as you go (most popular) type. The pay as you go option is far more widespread because of the incredible value it offers and unique rewards system. You can even have your wages paid directly onto your Tuxedo card from your UK employer with absolutely no bank account needed.
So how does it work?
- The Tuxedo prepaid card is simple. You make a ONE TIME payment to buy the Tuxedo Prepaid MasterCard online for 9 Pounds and you get £5 added to your account.
- You top up (just like a mobile) at a shop or post office or millions of locations throughout the UK
- When you buy something online or in a shop worldwide, the money is taken off your card. You can only pay for something if you have the balance on your card, again, just like your mobile phone.
What are the pros?
- The two types of card offer you incredibly flexible plans to meet your on or off line needs.
- You can top up in almost any retail location throughout the UK.
- You get £5 free just to try the card out! (That’s how confident they are with their service)
- Only charges you 1.5% of any transactionon the pay as you go option.
- 100% approval rate, if you are over 17, you can have this card. You are guaranteed to be accepted.
- You can take out your money at any ATM in your location.
- There is no bank account, permanent address or any other restrictions.
What are the cons?
- The guys at Tuxedo send out regular …postal mail pushing their other services hard.
- The two options may seem confusing at first
- They charge £1 to cash out any remaining funds on your card.
Overall, here at EndorsedCards, we highly recommend the Tuxedo Card but keep watching this page should we process any complaints in the future. The Tuxedo prepaid mastercard has the lowest complaint rate of any prepaid debit mastercard in the UK. The tuxeo prepaid mastercard now accepts SMS as payment!
You can apply for the Tuxedo card here.
Hillary Smith is a director of consumer affairs at the credit watchdog and editor for EndorsedCards. Hillary has dealt with literally hundreds of credit related court cases spends her time either writing for the consumer watchdog.
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Me and my boyfriend both got one of thes Tuxedo cards when they first cam out and still have ours. I don’t understand why people get credit cards when hey can get one of these cards instead?
If anyone is reading this, go with the pay as you go option NOT the pay monthly option. After one month you get the cost of the card back for free. I took the monthly option first and it was a pain in the arse when I wasn’t using it. I switched after not using it for two months.
Other than that, I am pretty happy with the card. I mainly use mine to buy stuff from itunes and book flights. Ordered mine with my mums credit card on a Friday and it arrived on the Monday.
PS: Top up in the post office, it’s free
I agree with Waye ^
The pay as you go option is much better if you do not want to use your card a lot. I don’t know why anyone would do the pay monthly option.
I moved to this card from the virgin prepaid card because you can top up for free at the post office with tuxedo. I have mine about 3 months now and no problems so far. I have heard of some people getting overcharged when trying to get money from an atm but that wasa good while ago.
Thanks for the comments guys, very much appreciated. It seems the tuxedo prepaid mastercard is becoming almost as popular as the cashplus prepaid card with young people! I think the pay monthly option did not appeal to many and they did a huge advertising push on the pay as you go option.
We are still waiting on some bad reviews. If anyone has had a bad experience with the Tuxedo prepaid card, please get in touch or leave a comment.
I bought the tuxedo prepay mastercard last month and this week is the first time I have used it. I was getting fuel at the local petrol station and went in to pay with my tuxedo card. I put in the card popped in my pin then removed my card to find the reciept said transaction cancelled with a diagnostic code 0012!! Tried again and same thing happened!!!
I then had to plead my honest nature and persuade the garage attendant that I would drive to the cash machine and draw out some cash with my bank cash card then come back and humbly pay for my fuel. My walk of shame witnessed by about ten people waiting to pay for their fuel!!!!
Turns out that although the transaction was cancelled, tuxedo then (unknown to me or the garage) actioned the transaction so the funds left my eccount and I’d just payed £70.06 for £35.03 of petrol!!!! to cut a really long story slightly shorter I haven’t as yet recieved my money back and both tuxedo and the garage are giving different stories as to what has happened to my money and I’ve just got to wait it out til something happens!!!!!
PS I wasted about a tenners worth of the petrol scooting back and forth to the garage trying to sort it out and the rest of the afternoon on the phone to tuxedo making no sense of what the lady was saying to me practically in another language, dutch I think?!?!?
Chris - I suspect the petrol station authorised the transactions (in other words blocked the funds) but did not collect payment, so your funds would probably have been returned automatically when the authorisation they requested was released. Remember the card issuer can only act on the request from the shop (petrol, station). They would not just block the funds unless it has been requested.
I have the pay monthly option and it works perfectly! Happy Days!
I bought one of these cards a while ago, I use it mainly for online shopping and paying into my online poker account.
In the main the card is brilliant, I cant (I think) get into debt with it for a start! There are a couple of things that have niggled me about the card though, to get started initially was a bit of a painstaking exercise and when I have tried to withdraw my poker winnings to the card they wont release the funds onto the card untill i phone them, which leads onto my next point, when you have to call customer services you never seem to get hold of anybody that speaks the same language as you and the calls which should be relatively simple to sort out become a bit.. well, awkward.
One other thing I will say is I have not yet been able to get this to work with paypal and ive had it about 8 mnths.
Hi
My son who has just started working wants to get the Tuxedo card so that he can get his wages paid in and withdraw cash (frequently!!). The aplication form asks for a password, is this correct?
It is a pretty card and it is good if you use a lot of ATM transactions but I’m afraid I am moving to another card provider after speaking to their customer services on a couple of occasions. It has been outsourced to the Indian subcontinent and if you ask them something that isn’t in their script, things get very difficult. I guess that is how they’re a bit cheaper than other options?
Thanks for all the comments guys!
David, that’s a really good point. I only had the tuxedo card for two months and the single customer service issue that I had was a bit of an issue. I moved to the cashplus card, (specificially for the credit builder feature) and have not looked back. I’d highly reccomend that. Hillarys cashplus review is really accurate IMHO.
Hi,The difference between a credit card and prepaid debit card is that with a credit card you are borrowing the money to pay back later, while with a prepaid debit card you are subtracting your own money being held at the financial institution.all this is very useful to people.
hi guys i want to get one of these pay and go cards but i aint to sure about the handing over details part i thought it was meant to be a pay and go card not a credit card and the identity it needs is not right why should anyone give that when you only can topup and use only funds nothing else to it… that’s it and some companies don’t like these sort of cards either do thay am i wrong
I just signed up with them, and although yes, the customer call centre has obviously been outsourced, it is still of a much higher standard than any other I’ve dealt with - they were able to speak english fluently, rather than just reading! No experience of the card yet, I’ll report back on that one.
I have owned one of these cards for about 12months now. there is a few problems with them.
you cant top up o2 mobiles. you can draw money out of any cash point they must be a leading bank till.
still get billed £4.99 a month for the use of it and charged every time you put money in.
if you pay in by post office it can take 3-7 days to get in your account.
if you pay at a pay point or PP its there straight away. there are floors to every option.
good for somethings but im not impressed over all.
When i need my money i want it at the first cash till. not to be told your card as been declined refer to issuer
i had a replacement card and still the same thing. Now to get cash i have to go into town park up pay parking to walk all the way to the banks to use a named till instead of a link till 2 streets away. BIG CON but if your thinkin about getting one.
just remember what happens if you need cash, i tried 8 cash points around my town because i owed someone £30 and i couldnt get it. so be aware .
I thought this would be an excellent idea as so many things now require you to buy on line, I also thought very handy when your down to your last £5 and cant draw it out… however since getting it the whole process of getting my child tax and child benefit paid onto the card was a joke, I had to fill in far to much information and then had to email a copy of my child tax and child benefit details.. I covered my NI number but they wouldnt accept it with out it showing, I even had to email copies of the blank pages across!?! My tax credits should be paid in on a Thursday, always in there on that day with my other banks etc when I have used bog standard accounts, but no it takes 3-5 days to clear…. I am still waiting for a month of child benefit to be credited to my account from September 2008. Child benefit have confirmed it was paid in but tuxedo say it hasnt neither want to know. I have also noticed I have been charged each time my child tax has been paid onto the card, only a matter of 10-15p but it adds up week after week.
Every time I try and get hold of customer services I can barely understand them and vice versa.
Cash points…. I have to drive 4 miles into town to find a cashpoint (barclays) that will accept my card as the one at my local garage spits it back out.
I tried to apply for a contract mobile phone but my card was declined, apparently due to the high ercentage of fraud found in pre pay cards.
I thought as I had a barclays account and tuxedo is apparently part of barclays that when I was in there I would ask them about it… never heard of tuxedo .. so that says it all really.
The account is fine if you dont care whan money is paid in, not worried about being charged for standing orders being paid in, not able to speak to anyone who makes sense and you dont mind a round trip of the local towns to find a cashpoint that accepts your card.
I am using Tuxedo service for 7 months now. Today, I’ve tried to put in some money into the card via Post Office. Guess what!! The card reader failed to read the card! The lady at the post office was so kind (she tried another card reader but still failed!). The card still in a good condition. I don’t why is that happen. It is very frustrating.
Hi All,
this is Joe, First of all Many Thanks to Ms Hillary Smith as she is director of consumer affairs, we (Tuxedo) really appreciate her for her work…Thanks once again
Well i am here to let all of you know about a New Card
The Tuxedo eccount MasterCard® Prepaid Card is a payment Card that can be loaded with money by you or someone else. It looks just like any normal credit or debit card, with a Card number, Chip and signature strip. But Prepaid Cards are unlike credit cards, which provide you with a line of credit. They are also very different from debit cards which are linked to a bank account. This is because you can’t borrow money with a Prepaid Card – you can only spend the money you have loaded onto it. The Tuxedo eccount MasterCard is a flexible ‘pay-as-you-go’ MasterCard card. It can be used at over 25 million retail outlets worldwide.
Good Points :
The Tuxedo MasterCard is a new pay as you go prepaid MasterCard card, which costs £9.95 to get, The card fees depends on if you want a to pay a monthly fee or pay as you go.
Bad Points :
Cannot find a bad word to say about the card.
Customer Service :
The customer service level is exceptional as expected. SMS balance texts cost only £0.08 and customer service calls from a BT landline are charged at local rate or you can use the online facility for free
We Have UK based Team To Assist you in a Better Manner
***** Average call waiting time 3 seconds
***** 95% of calls answered within one minute
***** 90% online queries answered within 4 hours Card Features :
Tuxedo eccount currently offer additional benefits when you use your card. Discounts on exchanging foreign currency - Great Hotels of the world – an amazing 60% discount - American Airlines – 15% discount on return transatlantic flight to USA - Hertz car hire – 10% off best available rates plus a free one-car class upgrade.
Application Process
Can be done at retail outlets or online the form takes an average of a minute to complete with an easy step by step guide and as you would expect secure website protection, make sure you have a form of ID before you start either your passport (digital passport no required) or UK driving licence. Once you completed the form you can either pay online or Tuxedo eccount will send you a welcome pack in the post for you to pay via the postal order, SMS or credit or debit card or you have the option of paying by tuxedo voucher which are sold at PayPoint outlets.
Tuxedo Card Fees
Card Application Fee £9.95
Monthly Service Charge free
Card replacement Fee £4.99
Card Cancellation Fee £10.00
Card Activation Fee FREE
Currency conversion
2.95%
Topup / Reload Fees
Paypoint 3% of load value thereafter; maximum £249 load
PayZone
Post Office 99p at Post Office branch (max £250 load)
By Credit card 3% credit card (max £500 load)
By Debit card 3% debit card (max £500 load)
High Street Banks Free at High Street Branch (max £1500 load)
Bank Transfer Free bank transfer, maximum load £1500
Standing Order Free BACS online
Foreign Bank Transfer (outside the UK and Channel Islands)
By Post Free using paying-in book
Salary and wage payments
Free Wages online
Transaction Fees
UK Transaction Fee (POS) PAYG 2.95% (min 50p/max £1.50) in the UK
Foreign Transaction Fee PAYG 2.95% (min 50p/max £1.50) abroad
ATM withdrawal fee UK PAYG 1.5% (min 99p/max £1.50) in the UK
ATM withdrawal fee International £2.25 aboard
Cash Advance UK PAYG 2.95% (min 50p/max £1.50) in the UK
Cash Advance International PAYG 2.95% (min 50p/max £1.50) abroad
Using your card aboard
Being a MasterCard it can be used at 25 million retail outlets and 900,000 ATM’s worldwide.
Complaints Procedure
I have been informed that they process complaints quickly available online or over the phone. Cashplus also have a dedicated line for lost and stolen 24/7. All details easy to find on their website. You also get purchase protection as it is a gold card free.
Currency available and Prepaid Card Limit
Card limit is £3,000 and currently the card is only available in GBP (£)
Thanks to Ms Smith and Best Regard
Joe
Tuxedo Money Solutions
am having murders trying to access my account online can anybody help please!!!!!!
I topped up my tuxedo card at my local post office 4 days ago with £700 and I just rang the tuxedo customer services and it says my balance is £0. Where the hell is my money? Has anyone else experienced this? I needed the money by today and it’s not there. Does it take a few days to load? I thought it was instant. Major disadvantage there. Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks very much.
I put money on the card at the post office today - how long will it take to show on the card?
i have started a new job and they have my bank details but they decided to start a tuxedo account for me? when i recieved it in the post i was confused what it was. i read up about it on the internet and im still unsure about its purpose!?! i have a cashcard already with my bank so why would i need this too. i tryed to cancel it but it charges me to close the account even though i didnt start it in the first place! i would keep it but it says it charges to get money out of the cash points aswell which is pritty pointless because i always get money out! can anybody explain to me why it charges to take money out, make transactions and close this acount?
Joe’s note on the 4th. August 2009 alludes to the fact that the Tuxedo Customer Care is UK based. Whilst his stats for the Customer Care centre are nearly correct, the call centre is, however, based in India. I have spent over the last month about 6 hours on the phone trying to sort out various card issues, which I won’t bore you with now. However what I will say is that their Customer Care doesn’t really care about their customers unless you are pushed to the point of getting angry because of the inane responses you get when trying to communicate your problem.
Of the numerous e-mails I sent to Tuxedo Customer Care, probably one or two were ever responded to. Even after tagging the e-mails to respond when read/opened, I only ever got one or two back. Is it because they do not have people who can read? Are they training their people to be Sales Prevention managers? When I telephone Customer Care and ask to speak to the Floor Manager he is always busy!! Why can’t Customer Care be just that, or is it in Tuxedo’s eyes an oxymoron?
I have used the card often and find it very good and useful, but the Customer Care is absolutely hopeless if anything out of the ordinary happens. Just the other day I went to access my account to be told that my account has been made inactive. No reasons were given, no e-mails sent, just a trite message on the login screen to say my account was not active. Again after calling Customer Care and getting their inane responses, I was eventually told why the account was inactive, although to elicit the reason I again had to ask to speak to the Floor Manager who, you guessed it, was busy!
Why oh why do corporations not look to their Customers and provide a service that should make them proud to be a Customer? Is it too much to ask that meaningful responses are given to fairly basic questions, after all it is my money they are playing with and using and they are reaping the interest off that money.
Tuxedo, you have a great product but you are being very badly let down by your Customer Care service. Please get your house in order.