Still struggling with the passport

Daily Life, Swiss News and General Topics
1

Ye Gods and little catfish, this passport renewal is an odysee into futility.
To pay you need a credit card and not just any old credit card, you need a CREDIT credit card…
I handed in my debit card and got (after an age and a half) a combined credit/debit card.
It is a damed real credit card says the bloody bank.
So I get the card, activate it, wait the recommended time, at home I enter the details and the wretched automated f#$%g system tells me: “card declined”
I try calling the embassy and I double dare anybody to keep their sanity after calling the f#"%&g British Embassy.
Please tell me what I am doing wrong, it cant be this difficult the get a f#$%^ng passport renewed.

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2

Have you used physically used your credit card in a shop or similar first, or is it brand-spanking new? I’ve found that if you try to use your CC online for its first use, particularly with a forrin site (UK passport payments in your case), it gets denied. Go shopping with it first then try again.

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3

Thanks, but I did that. In despetation I asked SWDNRA to use hers that has been a few years active and got the same result.
Not sure why but the German credit/debit card seems to have trouble in the UK.

4

Have you checked that the credit card isn’t restricted to just German payments? Some might be blocked for international transactions.

5

I’ve never heard of a combined credit/debit card - not sure how that would even work (how would they know whether to debit your bank account or put it on credit?). Are you sure it is not just a debit card with a 16 digit number? Can you not just get a plain old normal credit card?

6

My Revolut Debit card has 16 digits.

Edited to add:

Your card number can be anywhere from 8 to 19 digits long. Visa, MasterCard, and Discover cards typically have 16 digits, while American Express cards have 15 digits. Maestro cards range from 12 to 19 digits.

16-digit card numbers are the most frequent.

7

A pure credit, credit card costs 80€ p.a.
These combined cards are maestro debit cards with a visa credit card function. Unlike the normal debit card they have the three digit number on the back.

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Not sure, have to ask.
I did tell the bank what it was for and the trouble I have had and was assured that this would work.
SWDNRA, had used hers before internationally, so I dont understand why the brits are being so anal about it.

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9

Because it’s in their genes. I recall trying to buy the ETA to discover that they would not accept payment in GBP, using my Revolut card. They wouldn’t accept CHF either only EUR.

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10

My Swiss debit card has a 3 digit number on the back (so you can use it online) it is however very definitely not a credit card.

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11

Ok, Must damit I have no idea, Not really my thing but I did trust what the Bank Said

12

This is what I found:

Here are the most common reasons people hit problems renewing a UK passport when paying with a German card, and what to do.

Why German debit/credit cards may fail online

  1. Card type not accepted by the passport payment system
  • For online passport applications from outside the UK, HM Passport Officeaccepts Mastercard, Visa, Visa Electron, Diners Club, and JCB (and not allother card brands).
  1. SCA/3D Secure authentication fails
  • Many banks require an extra authentication step; if the 3DS check can’t becompleted (or times out), the payment may fail.
  1. “Overseas card / online card” settings
  • Some German banks block international e-commerce or “card-not-present”payments unless you enable them (often temporarily via the banking app).
  1. Currency/fee handling and authorisation holds
  • The system charges in GBP; some cards show failure if the authorisation isn’tapproved for the GBP amount (or if the bank blocks the merchant category).
  1. Card limits / repeated attempts
  • Multiple retries can trigger fraud controls. Sometimes waiting and retryinglater works.
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13

I have a Swiss credit card that I never have a problem with when I use it in a shop, but when I try to buy something online it gets rejected. Contacted the bank who checked it out and said they didn’t know why there’s an issue. I don’t buy online that often, if I do I use Wise.

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So much for this brave new world of electronic banking…
Recently I read more and more rhat Countries are rooling up for a cashless society. The EU would love that I read.