eChoice for Eftpos

If not giving a credit card this Christmas, why not give a debit card?

We recommend eChoice for Eftpos.

It costs just $19.95 to set up and is a reloadable, open loop Eftpos card, a rarity in this market.

"Open loop" means that it works anywhere (In Australia) Eftpos cards are accepted as opposed to "closed loop" gift cards from Coles and Woolworths that operate in a small network of outlets only.

eMerchants is the supplier. This Brisbane firm has new Western Australian owners who are seeking to make pre-paid work well in travel. It holds the required licences to operate in the payments space.

But what really matters is that eChoice is promoting an Eftpos card.

Eftpos may be a domestic card now, but there are plans, still in the early phase, to make this scheme the success it deserves to be.

Alternative cards suffer because Woolworths will not accept pre-paid Visa cards. Visa does accept pre-paid MasterCards, a policy in place only sic elate 2009.

Coles also changed its policy in November 2009 and accepts pre-paid cards from both MasterCard and Visa.

The Woolworths approach curtails the appeal of an otherwise attractive Visa card product. Pre-paid Visa cards are also a lot more common than pre-paid MasterCards.

The best big bank pre-paid scheme card (since Bopo's demise two years ago) is ANZ's MySpace Visa - it is both reloadable and open loop. Westpac has a barely promoted youth copycat product.

The retail duopoly block also affects the other decent scheme card, from Universal Gift Card.com.au.

Universal is the only card that is easy to get in the sense that 100 per cent of the opening process takes place online.

This Sydney home production is another open loop Visa. The cards are even partly hand-crafted in Balmain.


Note: updated 26 January 2011 to make clear that Coles accepts pre-paid MasterCards and Visa cards. Woolworths accepts pre-paid MasterCards only.