Your WeSwap Prepaid Mastercard works just like a debit or credit card to pay for things in shops, restaurants and to withdraw cash. However, as a prepaid card there are a few occasions where it behaves slightly differently, and we’d recommend avoiding these where possible.
Security Deposits at Hotels, Cruises and Car Rentals
Your WeSwap card should not be used as a security deposit or payment guarantee when you check in at hotels, cruises or for car hire, etc. This is because these merchants typically estimate your final bill and “block” the relevant amount on your card to cover them against non-payment, leaving that amount temporarily unavailable to spend. With a credit card, this generally doesn't impact you, as it simply uses up some of your available credit limit. But with WeSwap, or indeed any prepaid card, because you have pre-loaded the funds, it has the effect of reducing the balance available to spend.
Sometimes these "pre-authorisations" can be large and may remain in place for up to 30 days (even after you've settled your bill), so we recommend that you use a different card for security deposits. You can of course use your WeSwap card to settle your final bill at the end.
Automatic Petrol Station Pumps
Please be aware that for transactions on Automated Fuel Dispensers the card may get declined. We are currently making changes at our card processor to make those payments more secure and facilitate the final adjustments.
Like hotels and car rentals, it's quite common for self-service petrol pumps to block a security deposit when you first use your card. While this is usually reversed back to your account after few days, in some cases this can take a little longer, so we’d suggest avoiding using your card at petrol pumps where you can.
Toll Booths
We would generally advise against using your WeSwap card at toll booths, such as those found on roads in France. As a prepaid card, WeSwap cards require merchants to seek online electronic authorisation before taking the payment – this is to ensure that transactions only go through when there’s enough balance on the card.
The majority of European toll roads and bridges do not seek authorization, so transactions may not come out of your account until a few days later, which could cause your balance to go into negative if there are insufficient funds.
Payments Over The Phone and on a Plane
We usually do not suggest to use the WeSwap card for telephone payments or on a plane, as these transactions happen "offline", which can result in a failed payment.
