Chip’n’Pin Card Puchases
Thank you for visiting the Arriva Trains Wales website in connection with the problems that you have experienced making payment for your tickets using your debit card on board the train. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience that you have been caused and we are very sorry that you have been prompted to contact us regarding this matter.
We are aware that there are certain types of debit card that will be declined for payment on-train as the issuer require immediate authorisation for the transaction to be processed. This is not possible with the hand held machines used by Conductors and Revenue staff as they are not permanently online with the banking system. These cards are typically the former Solo and Visa Electron cards that have now been re-branded to Visa debit cards. These cards have limited authorisation capabilities to other debit cards and this can be identified by the omission of a cheque guarantee logo. In addition there are other cards in circulation where the issuer will only permit a maximum of 3 off-line transactions in a row before the card must be used online. In both these circumstances the transaction will be declined even though there are funds in the account.
From the information that you have provided it would appear that you have one of the above cards. Other customers have had similar problems to you and it would therefore appear that the card issuers do not provide specific details to customers regarding the limitations of their card. We have produced literature for customers when their bank cards are declined to explain the reason for this and all Conductors will be suitably briefed. It may therefore be worth making enquiries with your card issuer whether there are any limitations with your card’s authorisation capabilities.
I trust the above fully addresses the circumstances that have prompted you to contact us, and I apologise once again for the inconvenience that you have been caused. If you have any further concerns regarding this matter please do not hesitate to contact our Customer Relations team on 0845 606 1660 or email: customer.services@arrivatrainswales.co.uk.