Are purchases made with an Expend card (such as the purchase of travel services) protected like they are when using a credit card?
Prepaid debit cards (like Expend) aren't like credit cards, which offer Section 75 protection as part of the Consumer Credit Act. Debit card users do, however, have access to Mastercard's Chargeback scheme, which allows them to request a refund on disputed transactions.
It is crucial to recognise that, although Expend is able to provide a user with a prepaid debit card on the Expend platform, Expend is not the card issuer and therefore does not have any contact with the funds a user places into their account. Accordingly, funds are protected by PFS, Expend’s card issuer.
In the event of a dispute, your first recourse should be to ask the retailer or service provider whether they will replace or fulfil your purchase, or correct a disputed transaction. If the issue cannot be resolved in this way, you can also draw on the protection offered by Mastercard, by asking us to process a refund request. This is what's known as a chargeback.
Some possible reasons for claiming a chargeback include the following:
Goods or services were not provided
Goods or services were not as described or defective, damaged or not suitable for its intended purpose
The merchant didn’t honour the terms and conditions of a contract
A processing error or other technical issue occurred
You were charged an incorrect amount or there were multiple charges
You were the victim of fraud
If you couldn't resolve your issue with a merchant or service provided, you can contact Expend (via in-app chat or by emailing help@expend.io) to apply for a chargeback. Your claim should be made within 8 weeks of the transaction and you'll need to provide some evidence that you tried to resolve the issue, such as letters you sent to the merchant or an email exchange. For fees associated with a chargeback dispute, please consult our terms and conditions.
Our support team will do their utmost to help you through the disputes process, but as this involves a third party, users must be aware that these disputes may take at least 45 days to resolve as per PFS’s terms and conditions clause 14.
Mastercard has posted the following video about chargebacks:
Note that we don't currently offer extra travel insurance (insuring you for incidents while travelling) with Expend cards. Only the purchase of travel services are protected by the chargeback scheme.