When was the last time you paid for something with cash? Thanks to contactless payments, most of us now use our cards even for the smallest payments, making cash increasingly defunct. We are fast becoming a cashless society where cards are outnumbering cash when it comes to making payments.
Debit cards are popular because they are convenient, especially as most of time you simply have to tap to pay, not even needing to enter a pin. As long as you keep track of your spending, they pose no problems with managing your finances. The only downside to using cash all the time is the danger that you will lose your card and be stuck without access to money while waiting for a new one to arrive, as lets face it paying by mobile is great until your battery dies. It was for this reason that, after a little research into how quickly high street banks will replace lost cards, this article was written so you would know how long it takes your bank to replace lost cards, and the time taken to send out new debit cards. This research also included the time taken to set up overdrafts.
Replacing lost cards
Many people worry about losing their cards, but fortunately many banks are able to replace these within five working days. The bank that replaced lost cards the quickest was Metro Bank, which on average replaced them on the same day! HSBC and Barclays Bank were also quick and took just an average of two days to send replacement cards. Bank of Scotland, first direct, Halifax, Lloyds Bank, M&S Bank and Starling Bank were also pretty quick taking just three days. The banks that took the longest were Monzo Bank and TSB both of which took an average of seven days to replace lost cards.
Getting a new debit card
Long gone are the days when you open a bank account at 18 and then stay with that same bank for the rest of your life. Instead with so many banks offering good deals to new customers it makes sense to switch every few years. While opening a new bank account is usually fairly simple, getting your hands on your new debit card can sometimes take a while. On average, Tesco Bank was the best bank when it came to sending out new debit cards, sending these on the same day as the account opening, while Metro Bank was also again very fast taking just one day for the card to be spent. The next fastest were NatWest, Starling Bank, Ulster Bank and Danske Bank all of which took an average of three days. The slowest to send out a card was Bank of Ireland UK which took an average of 11 days.
Getting an overdraft
While overdrafts shouldn’t usually be used to pay for day-to-day living costs they can be very convenient if you need money for an emergency. As with any form of credit you should look to pay this back as soon as possible. Many high street banks will allow their customers to get overdrafts on the same day as they are approved. These are first direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, M&S Bank, Metro Bank, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, smile, Tesco Bank, The Co-operative Bank and Ulster Bank. At the other end of the spectrum, Clydesdale Bank took the longest of an average of 10 days, while Barclays Bank and Danske Bank also took their time taking an average of seven days.
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