EcoCard

The EcoCard Prepaid MasterCard® Terms and Conditions

These terms and conditions apply to your Prepaid Card. You must read them carefully. In these terms and conditions "you" means the named Prepaid Cardholder and the authorised user of the Prepaid Card. "We", "us" or "our" means Newcastle Building Society, Newcastle Card Solutions Limited or PSI-Pay Ltd acting on its behalf. “Website” means our website at www.ecocard.com.

1. Your Prepaid MasterCard® Card

You can use the Prepaid Card / E-Money Account at any location that displays the MasterCard® acceptance mark, including shops, restaurants, online, or on the telephone. You can also use your Prepaid Card overseas. Before using the Prepaid Card you need to make sure there are enough funds loaded on it. You will not be able and should not attempt to use your Prepaid Card after its expiry date. However we will issue you with a new Prepaid Card prior to expiry.

Your Prepaid Card is not a credit card and can only be connected to your bank account for the purposes of loading the card. You will not earn any interest on any funds loaded on your Prepaid Card.

2. Applying for and activating your Prepaid Card

To apply for our Prepaid Card you must be at least 18 years old and an EU resident. We will require evidence of who you are and your address. We may ask you to provide some documentary evidence to prove this and/or we may carry out checks on you electronically.

You must sign the signature strip on the back of the Prepaid Card as soon as it is received. Please refer to our Website (www.ecocard.com) for all Prepaid Card loading options, or refer to the “Loading your Prepaid Card” section below.

By using the Prepaid Card you are agreeing to these terms and conditions.

3.Loading your Prepaid Card

Once your application has been approved, you will be sent your Personal Identification Number (PIN) and the EcoCard Prepaid MasterCard® to your registered address. Please note that the PIN will be sent separately from the EcoCard Prepaid MasterCard® for security purposes. You must sign the signature strip on the back of the Prepaid Cars as soon as it is received.

Once you have received the EcoCard Prepaid MasterCard®, you must ‘Activate’ your card on the EcoCard website. You will not be able to withdraw from your EcoCard Prepaid MasterCard® until you have activated your card online first.

Funds can be taken from your EcoCard e-wallet through your EcoCard Prepaid follow the instructions at the Website.

Funds withdrawn using the EcoCard Prepaid MasterCard® will be debited from your chosen linked EcoCard account. The balance on your Prepaid Card can never exceed the maximum initial load, at any time. We reserve the right to refuse to accept any particular loading transaction.

Your funds will be available for use when we receive them. A Load/Reload Fee may apply for each load/reload that you make. Please see Section 12 below for details of when a Load/Reload fee will apply and how much it will be.

4. Using your Prepaid Card

Detailed instructions on how to use your Prepaid Card are found on the Website. You will need to follow these instructions when using your Prepaid Card.

We will deduct the value of your transactions from the balance on your Prepaid Card. We will also deduct any applicable fees as soon as they become payable by you, see our Fees section below for details of our fees.

The Prepaid Card belongs to us. We may ask you to stop using your Prepaid Card and return it to us or destroy it. We may at anytime suspend, restrict or cancel your Prepaid Card or refuse to issue or replace a Prepaid Card for reasons relating to the following:

we are concerned about security of your account or Prepaid Cards we have issued to you;
we suspect your account is being used in an unauthorised or fraudulent manner;
or we need to do so to comply with the law.

If we do this, we will tell you as soon as we can or are permitted to do so after we have taken these steps.

Like other payment cards, we cannot guarantee a retailer will accept your Prepaid Card. We may also refuse to pay a transaction:

if we are concerned about security of your Prepaid Card or we suspect your Prepaid Card is being used in an unauthorised or fraudulent manner;
if sufficient funds are not loaded on your Prepaid Card at the time of a transaction to cover the amount of the transaction and any applicable fees;
if there is an outstanding Shortfall on the Prepaid Card in accordance with condition 12;
if we have reasonable grounds to believe that you are acting in breach of this agreement;
if we believe that a transaction is potentially suspicious or illegal (for example, if we believe that a transaction is being made fraudulently); or
because of errors, failures (whether mechanical or otherwise) or refusals by merchants, payment processors or payment schemes processing transactions.

If we refuse to authorise a transaction, we will, if practicable, tell you why immediately unless it would be unlawful for us to do so. You may correct any information we hold and which may have caused us to refuse a transaction by contacting us on support@ecocard.com.

5. Authorising Transactions

Subject to the features of the particular Prepaid Card, the authorisation of a transaction can include authorising any single transaction, a series or recurring transactions (including transactions for an indefinite period) or pre-authorising future transactions of a certain or uncertain amount.

A Prepaid Card transaction will be regarded as authorised by you where you:

Authorise the transaction at the point of sale by following the instructions provided by the merchant or retailer to authorise the transaction, which may include:
- entering your PIN or providing any other security code;
- signing a sales voucher;
- providing the Prepaid Card details and/ or providing any other details as requested;
- waving/swiping the Prepaid Card over a card reader or inserting your prepaid card into a card reading device for the purpose of making a payment.
insert a Prepaid Card and enter your PIN to request a cash withdrawal at an ATM;
make a request for a cash advance at any bank counter.

Authorisation for a transaction may not be withdrawn (or revoked) by you after the time it is received. However, the following transactions may be withdrawn if you or an additional Prepaid Cardholder gives notice to the supplier (providing a copy of the notice to us):

any transaction which is agreed to take place on a date later than the date is was authorised as long as notice was provided no later than the close of business on the business day before it was due to take place;

We may charge you a fee if a transaction is revoked by you under this condition, please see our fees table in section 12 below.

We will pay the funds required by the retailer or merchant to cover the transactions authorised by you within 3 days of us receiving their request. A transaction (the payment order) will be received as follows:

for purchases and ATM transactions, at the time we receive the transaction instruction from the merchant acquirer or ATM operator;
for other transactions which are communicated directly to us, at the time you ask us to complete the transaction.
If, in relation to;
- purchases and ATM transactions, we receive the transaction instruction from the merchant acquirer or ATM operator; or
- other transactions communicated directly to us, you ask us to complete the transaction after 3pm GMT, the transaction instruction or request will be deemed to have been received by us on the following business day.

6. Cancellation and expiry of your Prepaid Card

This agreement will continue indefinitely unless terminated. You have a legal right to cancel your Prepaid Card up to 14 days after you receive the Prepaid Card without being charged the Refund Fee – this 14 day period is known as the “Cooling-Off Period”. Under these terms and conditions, you also have the right to cancel your Prepaid Card at any time after the 14 day Cooling-Off Period without notice and any funds remaining on your Prepaid Card will be returned to you within 5 days subject to satisfactory checks being completed.

We may also cancel your agreement for any reason by giving you at least 2 month's notice:

if this agreement or your card expires on a set date and we have not agreed to renew this Agreement;
if you break an important part of this agreement, or repeatedly break the agreement and fail to resolve the matter in a timely manner;
if you act in a manner that is threatening or abusive to our staff, or any or our representatives;
if you fail to pay fees or charges that you have incurred or fail to put right any shortfall;
in the event of your death.

We may also cancel this agreement or suspend your card or account immediately if we believe your Prepaid Card is deliberately being used by you to commit fraud or for other illegal purposes. If we do this we will tell you as soon as we are permitted to do so.

If we cancel your Prepaid Card you must tell us what you want us to do with any unused funds within 3 months of the date we tell you your Prepaid Card is cancelled. We can return the funds to the loading source, to a bank account in the same name as the prepaid card account or we can issue a cheque for your refund. Please note we will need to verify your identity in order to satisfy Anti Money Laundering requirements. If we receive no contact within three months, the funds will be returned to the loading source.

If your Prepaid Card is cancelled, we will immediately block your Prepaid Card so it cannot be used.

You will not be entitled to a refund of money you have already spent on transactions authorised, or pending or any fees for use of the Prepaid Card before the Prepaid Card is cancelled or expires. You can cancel your Prepaid Card by sending an email to us using the “contact us” function on the Website, and confirming that you have destroyed your Prepaid Card.

If you cancel your Prepaid Card, once all transactions and fees have been deducted, we will arrange for any unused funds to be refunded to you, see "Your Right to a Refund" section below for further information. A Refund Fee may be charged (see Fees section below) unless you have arranged to transfer any unused funds to another Prepaid Card managed by us, or you cancel your Prepaid Card within 14 days of receiving it.

Your Prepaid Card will be valid for 2 years. When it expires, unless we are told otherwise, we will issue you with a replacement prepaid card.

7. Keeping your Prepaid Card secure

You should treat your Prepaid Card like cash. If it is lost or stolen, you may lose some or all of your money on your Prepaid Card, in the same way as if you lost cash in your wallet or purse. As a result, you must keep your Prepaid Card safe and not let anyone else use it. If you are issued with a PIN, you must immediately memorise the PIN, then destroy the notification. You must keep your PIN secret at all times. Do not write it down or reveal it to anyone. You can change you PIN to something more memorable at most ATM machines by following the on screen instructions.

We recommend that you check the balance on your Prepaid Card regularly online at the Website. We will provide you with your Prepaid Card balance and a statement of recent transactions either by electronic means or on our secure webpage at any time. Your statement will show:

information relating to each Prepaid Card transaction which will enable it to be identified;
the amount of the Prepaid Card transaction shown in the currency in which the transaction was paid or debited to the account;
the amount of charges for the transaction;
the date the transaction is authorised or posted on to the account.

8. Lost and stolen Prepaid Card and unauthorised or incorrectly executed payments

You must tell us without undue delay by calling us on our 24 hour lost and stolen card helpline +44 (0) 871 898 1012 if you know or suspect that a Prepaid Card is lost or stolen or that the PIN or password is known to an unauthorised person or if you think a transaction has been incorrectly executed.

We will refund any incorrectly executed transaction immediately unless we have any reason to believe that the incident has been caused by a breach of this agreement, gross negligence or we have reasonable grounds to suspect fraudulent activity.

However, if the investigations show that any disputed transaction was authorised by you, or you have acted fraudulently or with gross negligence (for example by failing to keep your Prepaid Card or PIN secure), you may be liable any loss we suffer because of the use of the Prepaid Card.

9. Our liability

We will not be liable for any loss arising from:

any cause which results from abnormal or unforeseen circumstances beyond our control, consequences which would have been unavoidable despite all our efforts to the contrary; or
a retailer refusing to accept your Prepaid Card; or
our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements;
loss or corruption of data unless caused by our wilful default.

We are also not liable for:

business interruption, loss of revenue, goodwill, opportunity or anticipated savings;
any indirect or consequential loss.

10.Your Right to a Refund

The Funds on your Prepaid Card

You may request a refund of the funds on your Prepaid Card provided you have more than €10 or the GBP equivalent loaded on your Prepaid Card. To do so, you can send us an e-mail using the "contact us" facility on the Website requesting a refund and confirming that you have destroyed your Prepaid Card by cutting it up. Alternatively, you can cancel your card online and we will unload the funds back into your EcoCard account. When we process your refund, we may charge a Refund Fee (see Fees section below).

Refunding Transactions

You may be entitled to claim a refund in relation to transactions where:

the transactions was not authorised under this agreement;
we are responsible for a transaction which was incorrectly executed notified us in accordance with section 8 above;
a pre-authorised transaction did not specify the exact amount at the time of its authorisation and the amount charged by a supplier is more than you or an additional Prepaid Cardholder could reasonably have expected taking into account normal spending patters on the Prepaid Card or the circumstances of the transaction;
A claim for a refund in the circumstances set out above will not be accepted if the amount of the transaction was made available to you at least 4 weeks before the transaction date or it is made more than 8 weeks after being debited to your account;
We were notified of the unauthorized/incorrectly executed transaction within 13 months of the debit date.

11. Changes to these Terms

We may change these terms at any time by notifying you by e-mail or other agreed means at least 2 months before the change is due to take effect. The up-to-date version of the Prepaid Card terms and conditions will always be available on the Website. The change will automatically take effect and you will be taken to have accepted the notified change unless you tell us that you do not agree to the change. In that event, we will treat that notice as notification that you wish immediately to terminate. In such circumstances we will refund any balance on the card in accordance with section 10 above and you will not be charged a Refund Fee.

We may make immediate changes to the exchange rate used to convert foreign transactions into Sterling. For all transactions made in a foreign currency you can find out what the applicable exchange rate was at the time of the transaction via the MasterCard website.

12. Fees and Usage Restrictions

We do not charge any fees for checking your on-line balance and transactions. However the following fees do apply:

On Application

Card issue fee

Card issue and activation FREE

Limits DAILY WITHDRAWALS:-

Minimum single withdrawal amount £10.00
Maximum single withdrawal amount £220.00
Maximum number of 3 withdrawals per day

USAGE:-

1 debit card can be issued per user, at any one-time
For full details please refer to the Terms & Conditions

Ongoing Features

Cash Withdrawal Fee

Cash withdrawal at ATM subject to a handling fee of 2%, minimum charge £1.50, maximum charge £5.00

Transaction Fees

Point of Sale transactions within stores and E-commerce (Internet purchases) transactions are subject to a handling fee of 2%, minimum 40p, maximum £10.00

Transaction Limits

The maximum number of Point of Sale transactions is 5 per day
The maximum number of E-commerce (Internet purchases) transactions is 4 per day

Service Fees

Card renewal fee £10.00
Transfer of funds from old card to a new card £2.00
Card dormancy (if the card is unused after 6 months, a monthly fee is charged along with a management fee) £6.00 per month
Transaction Revocation fee FREE

Replacement Fee

Lost / Stolen card replacement fee £10.00
Damaged card replacement fee £10.00

Other Fees

Update of customer details (i.e. Change of address etc) 20p

Closure

Cancellation or Redemption

Card cancellation fee 20p

Expiry

Card expiry fee £2.50
Card valid for 2 years

When you use your Prepaid Card at an ATM, you may also be subject to applicable fees, surcharge rules and regulations of the relevant ATM, or other financial institution or association.

If we decide to increase or impose any new fees, we will tell you by e-mail, text, or post, at least two months before any changes take effect. Authorisation will be requested for all transactions at the time of each transaction. In the unlikely event, for any reason whatsoever, a transaction is completed when there are insufficient funds on the Prepaid Card for that transaction (a "Shortfall"), the Shortfall shall be reimbursed by you unless it is due to an error on the part of the retailer where the Prepaid Card was presented, in this circumstance we may seek the Shortfall from the retailer.

You agree that once we make this Shortfall known to you, we may charge you for the Shortfall amount. We may charge the amount of the shortfall from any other Prepaid Cards that you hold with us, to any other payment method which you may designate at that time, or against any funds which you may subsequently load onto your Prepaid Card or on any additional Prepaid Card ordered by you. Until we are reimbursed the Shortfall amount, we may suspend your Prepaid Card and any additional Prepaid Cards connected to you. In addition, we reserve the right to charge you an Administration Fee for each transaction that you make using your Prepaid Card that results in a Shortfall or increases the Shortfall amount on your Prepaid Card.

13. Your Details

You must let us know as soon as possible if you change name, address, phone number or e-mail address. If we contact you in relation to your Prepaid Card, for example, to notify you that we have cancelled your Prepaid Card or to send you a refund by cheque, we will use the most recent contact details you have provided to us. Any e-mail to you will be treated as being received as soon as it is sent by us. We will not be liable to you if your contact details have changed and you have not told us.

14. Data Protection

In purchasing the Prepaid Card on the Website and using it, you agree that we can use your personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Our Privacy Policy is set out on our Website, it includes details of the personal information that we collect, how it will be used, and who we pass it to. You can tell us if you don't want to receive any marketing materials from us.

15. Disputes with Retailers

If you have any disputes about purchases made using your Prepaid Card, you should settle these with the person you bought the goods or services from. We are not responsible for the quality, safety, legality or any other aspect of any goods or services purchased with your Prepaid Card. Remember that once you have used your Prepaid Card to make a purchase we cannot stop that transaction.

16. Communication

If you have an enquiry relating to your Prepaid Card, you can use the "Contact Us" facility on the website. We will deal with your enquiry promptly. If you do not wish to enquire in this way you can alternatively call our customer service telephone line on + 44 (0) 871 898 1012 or if your card has been lost or stolen on +44 (0) 871 898 1012. The customer services telephone line is a chargeable service. Calls cost 25p per minute from a fixed BT landline. Call costs from other networks may vary.

17. Complaints

The Prepaid Card programme is managed byPSI-Pay Ltd. If you are unhappy in any way with your Prepaid Card or the way it is managed, tell us by using the e-mail enquiry facility on the Website so we can investigate the circumstances for you. Any complaints you have will be dealt with quickly and fairly. You may be able to take unresolved complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service at South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR. Telephone: 0845 080 1800 and e-mail: enquiries@financial-ombudsman.org.uk.

18. Compensation

The Prepaid Card is an electronic money product and although it is a product regulated by the Financial Services Authority, it is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. No other compensation scheme exists to cover losses claimed in connection with the Prepaid Card. This means that in the unlikely event that Newcastle Building Society becomes insolvent your funds may become valueless and unusable and as a result you may lose your money.

19. Assignment

We may assign the benefit and burden of these terms and conditions to another company at any time, on giving you 2 month’s prior notice of this. If we do this, your rights will not be affected.

20. Transfer to a new Prepaid Card

We may transfer your unused balance to a new Prepaid Card provided by a Prepaid Card issuer other than Newcastle Building Society at any time. Before we do this, we will give you 2 month's notice of the new Prepaid Card arrangements and the new Prepaid Card terms and conditions. Unless you advise us within the 2 month period that you do not want a new Prepaid Card from the new Prepaid Card issuer, you agree that we can automatically transfer the unused balance on your Prepaid Card to a new Prepaid Card provided by the new Prepaid Card issuer.

21. Governing Law

This Agreement is concluded in English. All communications with you will be in English. These terms and conditions will be construed in accordance with English law.

22. Fund Protection

As a responsible e-money issuer, Newcastle Building Society ensures that once it has received your funds they are deposited in a secure account, specifically for the purpose of redeeming transactions made by your Prepaid Card. In the event that Newcastle Building Society becomes insolvent funds that you have loaded which have arrived with and been deposited by Newcastle Building Society are protected against the claims made by creditors.

23. Prepaid Card Issuer

Your Prepaid Card is issued by Newcastle Building Society (NBS) whose principal office is Portland House, New Bridge Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE1 8AL, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (registered number 156058) as a building society and an issuer of e-money. Your Prepaid Card is the property of Newcastle Building Society and is not transferable to anyone else.