06-04-2022 20:08 - edited 06-04-2022 20:09
I tried to add the boost to my now tv, the page wouldn't load.
Then i went to my account details, my card details have changed. I have a visa and it now has a mastercard logo with a different number last 4 digits.
I know my bank are switching all the debit cards to mastercard, but i haven't received a new card yet. Surely my bank aren't giving companies my new debit card numbers without my permission? Just what on earth is going on here?
06-04-2022 20:11
Pop onto live chat and ask the question.
Make sure you click “chat online” within the green box and not “get help quicker”.
https://help.nowtv.com/article/how-to-submit-a-complaint
06-04-2022 20:27
Or get onto your bank. My Visa card details were automatically updated when it reached its expiry date, but this looks like quite a step further!
08-04-2022 9:44 - edited 08-04-2022 9:46
As a service to their customers, banks often give the details of new cards to the businesses you have CPAs (Continuous Payment Authorities) with.
Normally, this makes the switchover seamless for you, rather that Now, say, having to let you know your old card has failed and you need to set up a new CPA.
When you took out the card with the bank, you will likely have agreed to this; have a look at the T&Cs you accepted, and no doubt you will find it in the small print.
I’m not saying this is what has happened here, and if it is, it seems your bank have rather jumped the gun, but it is a thing that happens, and it’s going to benefit me in June when my current debit card expires.
It also explains why Now memberships that apparently spontaneously start or restart long after the card you used to use has expired, can still dip into your bank account; but I use the word ‘apparently’ advisedly, as there is usually a cause for these things, and one outside of Now.
08-04-2022 10:04
Thanks that's helpful to know.
My new card has arrived and the last 4 digits (the only ones Now seem to let me view) do match my new card so that's obviously what has happened.
I can't say i'm all that impressed by my bank doing this though. A long while ago, I had a subscription to ITV Digital that was paid by debit card each month. When they went bankrupt, they auto renewed my subscription and took my monthly payment on the exact day they stopped all their services! Can't remember now, but i'd guess it was close to £30.
I phoned my bank, they insisted there was nothing they could do. They even told me that i couldn't block any further payments, basically ITV Digital could take any amount of money they want, whenever they like, and i can't ever cancel it. Once you've authorised a company to take regular payments with a debit card, they're authorised forever. Direct Debit is different, that can be cancelled but card payments have no way of cancelling. Not surprisingly i was pretty shocked. I was informed that the only way i could stop them taking any more money off me, was to report my debit card as lost or stolen to get a new card with a different number so any future payments would be declined.
I never got my money back off ITV Digital. They went bankrupt and years later i was offered something silly by the administrators, like 12p or something. So i'm not impressed my bank just give companies my new card details without even asking me if i want them to do it. Obviously in this case i would have updated my details anyway, but it takes all of 30 seconds to do it myself. If there was a reason i didn't want a company to have my new card details, i'd be basically stuffed.
09-04-2022 12:51 - edited 09-04-2022 12:54
Your bank was wrong. Perhaps not about the £30, though even there they could have applied a chargeback, as Nationwide successfully did for us when Monarch Airlines went under.
But definitely about the CPA - that they could have cancelled, at least for any payments going forward, and indeed they must do that on customer request.
In general with CPAs, use a credit card rather than a debit card if you can, as there are greater protections on credit cards.
Albeit not as great as on Direct Debits, but then Now don’t offer those.
09-04-2022 16:56 - edited 09-04-2022 16:58
I’d rather have the disputed amount increasing the possible balance to pay on my credit account, with future effect, than decreasing the actual balance on my bank account, with immediate effect…
09-04-2022 17:02
…a superyacht would be nice.