Try not to be forced to switched to solo (Solo Card Services)

Name: andycharger

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Product:	Solo Card Services
Date:	06/12/02 (2047 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Stops you going overdrawn

Disadvantages: Embarassing, Nowhere accepts it

Solo, for all its sins, may look like a switch card. But here the similarities stop. Yes. Im afraid Solo has been invented for all of the naughty boys and girls who cant use Switch properly.
How do I know?
Well, I was once one of them.
I noticed that it is claimed to have been launched in 1997 but Im sure it was around earlier than that. However, if this is the date it claims, it must be right.

For those of you that don't know, Switch and Solo are Debit cards. You can buy things from shops that accept Switch cards in the way that you buy things on your credit card. It is a little piece of plastic that comes as part of your current account options from your high street bank.

The way it works is thus.
You buy something and it is debited to your current account in the bank. Within a couple of days, sometimes even the same day, the transaction clears in your bank.
The money then goes from your account to the shop that you used it.
Its all very nice and works very well.
However....
There are the naughty children out there that lose all track of their finances. Not on purpose mostely but by accident.
So there they are buying freely until they check their bank balance. OVERDRAWN!
Yes, Switch does not keep track of what you are up to until the bank spot you and block your card. You then end up in the embarrassing situation of not being able to pay for your goods.

To remedy the Naughty children, they invented the Solo Card.
Works in the same way but with one noticable difference. Firstly, it checks with your bank to see if you have sufficient credit BEFORE proceeding with the transaction. This is to prevent you from going overdrawn. I noticed someone else wrote it is a punishment. Well it is.
Firstly, it is the indignity of pulling a Solo card from your wallet. People know instantly that you have been so naughty with your money that the bank has taken your Switch rights away.
Secondly, it is
hardly accepted anywhere. I have noticed some petrol garages make a big thing about it "SOLO CARDS NOT ACCEPTED". It is more widely accepted than it used to be but it is still limited in acceptance. If you can avoid having one, go for the Switch instead.

It looks like Switch but dont be fooled. It isnt.
Instead of a Green Logo it has a pink one. Not a good start!

So to recap, it is the wosrt credit facility in the world and one to stay away from!

Summary: