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You must be 18 years or older to buy a prepaid card. You can buy a Companion Card as a gift for someone else, however they do need to be aged 13 years or older. So you could for example buy one for your teenager and give it as an alternative to pocket money. When buying a card for a young teenager, we recommend it is used with parental guidance.
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No. You dont need a bank account to get our Freedom Prepaid MasterCard®.
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Yes. Credit checks are not required for a Freedom Card or to apply for a reloadable upgrade.
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You can apply for the card so long as you have a UK address that we can deliver to. You will be required to provide proof of ID in the form of a passport but it need not be a UK passport. We are only allowed to sell the card to UK residents – that is why we only allow you to activate with a UK address.
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Please email the following details to customerservice@freedom-card.co.uk and we will respond back to you within 24 hours. Your 16 digit card number, date of birth, email address, postcode and mobile number. We can then email you a password reminder.
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Pending transactions appear on your account prefixed with “Auth”. A pending transaction is a temporary charge held against your available funds. It relates to:
- A transaction (purchase or cash withdrawal) you’ve made using your Freedom Card which has been authorised for payment, but has not yet reached your account.
- Reserved funds requested by certain retailers. (e.g. upon check-in some hotels take your Freedom Card details for an 'authorisation transaction' that reserves enough funds to cover your bill)
- A payment or cash withdrawal you’ve made to your account which has not yet cleared.
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The pending transaction will either turn into a financial transaction (prefixed, on your statement, with “Fin”) or will be removed automatically within 14 days
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No. Having a pending transaction on your account is part of the process by which a purchase is charged to your account. However, if you think the pending transaction may relate to fraudulent use of your card, please contact us immediately.
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This is where the transaction has not completed. This could be due to a number of reasons; insufficient funds, the merchant has rejected payment if the correct verification has not been provided, the PIN has been entered incorrectly, or if you are at an ATM, the daily cash withdrawal amount may have been exceeded. Cash withdrawal limits on a non personalised card is £150, on a personalised card the limit is £250.
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You can only top up your card overseas if you have internet banking enabled
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If it is 3-5 working days since these were paid onto your card, please contact Customer Services with the following information: Your card number and name, the exact amount that was meant to be paid to your card and who it is coming from, reference number and national insurance number.
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To top up using your debit card you need to have online banking. You will then make a payment/bank transfer and follow the onscreen instructions from your bank.
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Some mobile phone operators do not accept prepaid cards as payment methods. Please check directly with your mobile phone operator.
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If you have not received the text messages then you will not be charged. Please contact Customers Services.
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The Freedom Card is accepted at over 28 million locations worldwide and at more than 1 million ATM’s which display the MasterCard Acceptance Mark.
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Yes. The retailer should always give you a receipt when you buy or reload your card. If you are buying a Freedom Card over the internet, make sure you print out and keep a copy of the receipt page.
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We give you the freedom to help control your money in real time, 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. You can manage your card from your very own secure account management area on the website via our IVR (automated telephone system) or by using simple text commands from your mobile telephone.
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Generally, we recommend one Freedom Card per user, although you can order a second card on the same account. Requests for more than one Freedom Card in the same name may be issued at our sole discretion.
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You will not earn any interest on any funds loaded on your Freedom Prepaid MasterCard®.
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The CVV2 number is the last 3 digits on the back of your card. The CVV number is required to activate a card you bought in store and to purchase goods online or over the phone.
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Yes, you will need to load and activate the card before you will be able to link it up to a PayPal account.
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Direct debits are paid from bank accounts. Because the Freedom Card is a prepaid card, not a bank account , it is not possible to pay by direct debit.
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After you have activated your card and loaded funds, you will be able to use your card to shop online and over the telephone. Once you have retrieved your PIN you will be able to shop in-store and withdraw cash from an ATM.
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PayPoint: Once loaded, funds will normally be available for use on the card within two hours.
Bank Transfer: Funds will normally be available for use on the card within one hour of receipt from your bank however different banks vary. In some cases, funds can take up to five working days to appear on your card depending on which method you used to transfer funds. Please talk to your bank directly.
Post Office: Once loaded, funds will normally be available for use on the card by 10.30am the next day for loads carried out Mon to Thurs. For loads actioned on Fri/Sat the funds will be available to spend by 10.30am on Monday.Cheques: Please allow 10 working days for cheques to clear and be loaded onto your card.
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Call our automated system on 0871 288 4311. You will be first asked for your 16 digit Freedom Card number and also your date of birth. Once you have provided these, please follow the simple instructions. Please note that if at any time you forget your PIN, you can access it via the ‘My Account’ area of the website, at any time by simply logging in and selecting PIN Reminder.
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It makes good sense to change the PIN from the one you are initially issued with to one that is easy to remember. This is easily done at most cash machines in the UK or abroad. All you do is insert your Freedom Card and enter the PIN you were issued with. If the PIN change option is on offer at the cash machine you are using, the instructions will pop-up on the screen.
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You need to use the registered address you gave at the time of activation. Remember you can always update your details by visiting the Members area of the website.
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We hope that you never have to complain about our products or services, however we accept that on some occasion’s things can go wrong. Where we’re at fault, we want to put things right as quickly as possible, and will apologies to you. If you are unhappy with our products or services for any reason, you should tell us so that we can investigate your concerns. You can tell us: by telephone on 0871 288 4311; fax on 01628 534 535; email at CustomerServices@white-eagle.com; or by writing to Customer Services at White Eagle, PO Box 1294, High Wycombe, HP10 9TG.
In most cases, we hope to resolve any problems within 24 hours. In some cases, we understand that it’s not possible to resolve a problem in that timeframe, and in those cases we will write to you within 5 days of receiving your complaint to acknowledge your concerns, and will provide you with details of our complaints procedure. If you remain unhappy after your complaint has progressed through our complaints procedure, you may be able to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. The Financial Ombudsman Service is an independent and impartial service that looks to settle individual disputes between businesses providing financial services and their customers – this is free for customers. You can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service by telephoning 0845 080 1800.
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You can change your PIN by going to any ATM machine and following the onscreen instructions.
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Please contact Customer Services
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To upgrade your card you simply go to the website and log into the ‘My Account’ area.
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Yes you can. However, if you use your card to guarantee a payment, the funds on your card will be pre-authorised and blocked for payment of that service. Some businesses - car hire and hotels in particular - may block more funds than you expect to use and this will affect the available balance on your card. The blocked funds will not be available for you to use until the final bill has been settled and cleared via MasterCard. Usually, any unspent amount is made available for use within a day or two of payment, however in some instances it can take up to 14 days for the transaction to be fully processed and for your card to be credited.
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If you successfully upgrade to the £1,650 limit, you will keep the same card details. If you upgrade to the personalised card, a new card will be issued and you will receive new card details.
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Yes, you will need to apply for the Fully Personalised Freedom Card, and supply the correct ID documentation.
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You can have up to two Companion Cards, however if you are a Freedom4schools parent you can have up to three Companion Cards.
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No. It is just like giving them cash – once you give it to them they can do what they like with it. You can, however, view their statement online, 24/7.