28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from 1/1/14]

[lovetravellingoz]

I am off on Dec 18. So hopefully this is sorted out prior.

Mind you as I am off to Thailand with it's compulsory fee (except for some ATMs that I will not be near) and so my use will be lighter than it was in say Vietnam.

 

[Flashback]

Same thing happened to me. The problem is that I'm going overseas on Friday and, as always, use the Wizard card for drawing cash.

I have just called the Service Centre. This is the deal: New cards, with different numbers, are in the process of being mailed to all existing card holders. When you receive the new card you will need to call the Service Centre to activate that card. At that point, your balance, transactions etc. will be transferred from the old to the new card and your old card will be deactivated.

If you don't activate your new card, you can continue using the old card till 30 December at which point it will be de-activated.

If you are already out of the country and only returning after 30 December, I guess you could have a problem.

Regarding using the card as a "Debit Card" - I've never had a problem. I always put the card in Debit before I go and then draw cash while overseas. No fees at all. Maybe the trick is to keep the Debit balance under (say) $5,000. If it goes higher, it could trigger some automatic alerts. I also do make the occasional purchase with the card. Am happy for Wizard to make the commission on the card (without having to pay for points) - its a great deal for consumers and I don't want Wizard to change the rules/conditions!

I'll update this thread if I have a problem with the card while away.

That's really hand to know, thanks admin. I've made arrangements for mine to make it's way over once received back home so hopefully no issues there

 

[MatF]

Has anyone received their new card yet? Mine was apparently mailed on the 16th of November but hasn't yet arrived, so I'm not sure which planet it's coming from ...

I can confirm that the old ClearAdvantage card will be automatically deactivated at the end of December (I was told the 31st).

Crossing my fingers my new card will arrive by the end of next week, otherwise it was somewhat pointless to apply for the ClearAvdantage card a couple of months ago for this trip.

 

[JohnK]

Anyone got the new card yet?

No. Apparently it was mailed out on 16 November.

Well I'm glad our trip to Europe wasn't 2 weeks earlier, as my Wizard card appears to have been deactivated.

Called customer care, and was told this is because our new 28 degrees cards have been mailed (but haven't arrived as yet). I hope they arrive before the end of next week! Was told to allow 7-14 days from mailing (16th Nov).

I am still able to use old card (ATM withdrawal yesterday, Friday) and can also log into my account even though I get the reminder that my new card has not been activated yet.

 

[admin]

Wizard Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas

I can also confirm that the old card is still working. Have just withdrawn cash from ATM in Rome!

 

[moa999]

Got my new card TODAY.
(Form letter is dated 16 Nov).

Also erroneously included an ID check form although didn't say that I needed.
Usual card activation on the phone.

 

[MatF]

Nothing in our mailbox today.

Can we confirm that we keep the same PIN numbers? Don't have to wait for a new PIN to arrive as well?

I hope our cards arrive before the end of the week.

 

[KateMayo]

Got my new card last week. Can confirm that the letter with it stated that the PIN remains the same.

 

[MatF]

Still no cards for us :evil:

If they don't arrive before Monday, we'll be stuffed come the end of December when our current cards are deactivated while we're in Italy ....

We've got travelcash cards, but only want to use them if we have to.

Of course the no help desk is just that - "mailed out on 16th Nov", which is now over 2 week ago. I've had camera gear arrive from New York in half that time.

 

[JohnK]

Still no new card here. I cannot believe that it takes 2 weeks for cards to arrive in the mail. Or is it that my new 28 Degrees card has not been mailed out yet?

 

[sinophile888]

I rang the help desk this morning as I am leaving for Italy in less than 2 weeks. I was informed that my cards were sent on 23/11 and should arrive within 14 calendar days. If that date passes with still no card, I am to ring them again and they will Fedex the cards to me. Here’s hoping that they do arrive!

 

[Flashback]

I rang the help desk this morning as I am leaving for Italy in less than 2 weeks. I was informed that my cards were sent on 23/11 and should arrive within 14 calendar days. If that date passes with still no card, I am to ring them again and they will Fedex the cards to me. Here’s hoping that they do arrive!

Interesting that it says calendar days. That's 3 working weeks, essentially.

 

[MatF]

They told me 7-14 calendar days from the 16th for our cards, which is past. I'd love to know where they're coming from.

No offer to fedex anything to me :evil:

Will call them again tomorrow, though it's probably too late now anyway (we fly on Monday).

 

[Flashback]

Interesting that it says calendar days. That's 3 working weeks, essentially.

Oops, calendar days aren't working days.

That being said, I wonder if in fact they do mean working days given that mail isn't delivered on weekends.

 

[JohnK]

No offer to fedex anything to me :evil:

Will call them again tomorrow, though it's probably too late now anyway (we fly on Monday).

It really should not be a problem. Vodafone promises to deliver new phones within 1 working day so I cannot see why 28 Degrees cannot do it.

Anyway hope things work out for me. I am going overseas end of December but I do not need the card for cash advances I only need it for cash advances in Brisbane.

 

[Flashback]

I notice that when logging in to check your statement it now has 28 Degrees branding rather than Wizard branding.

The message you get when logged in has also changed slightly also:
You may have noticed your Wizard Clear Advantage MasterCard has been renamed 28 Degrees MasterCard.


Your new card is on its way. Unfortunately, until you receive and activate your new card you may not be able to access BPAY and any scheduled payments you have set up will not proceed.



When you receive your new card, simply call 1300 552 079 to activate it.


We apologise for any inconvenience and hope that you will enjoy your new 28 Degrees card.

 

[MatF]

What a balls up

 

[mvjs]

My card arrived today. While they claim they were sent out on the 16th, I think they might have all been produced then and have been sent out gradually since–probably to avoid clogging the call centre with activation calls.

As with all 28º/Wizard cards, they are dispatched from Melbourne.

 

[Fifa]

My son goes overseas on 10 December.
Hope his new one arrives by then!

 

[aschmid]

I received my card today in the mail and was curious about this new "Shopper's protection insurance" as shown here: Shopper's Protection Insurance for merchandise and price protection - 28 Degrees

If you read down this page there is an interesting comment further down:

Shopper’s Protection insurance premiums are calculated each month at 0.5% of the monthly closing account balance of your 28 Degrees MasterCard.

This seems to be a default feature of the card and I have not found anywhere that this can be turned off.

So all you overseas travellers beware that even though there is no withdrawal fees you get hit by this 0.5% shopper protection fee on your closing balance.

This is also interesting as the shopper's protection only covers items purchased in Australia. Kind of counterintuitive to have a card with no international fees but then put on an insurance percentage that is not covering items purchased overseas - I have to think about what to make of this?

Also that's probably why they don't like you to put the card in credit because it reduce the monthly balance and hence the amount they can charge you - that's new to this card and I think that's why they care now.