• expired

No Foreign Transaction Fees (i.e. Use ANY Mastercard/Visa & Avoid Foreign Transaction Fees) via DiviPay Virtual Mastercard

1710

This is an ongoing benefit with no specific end date. The waiver of forex fees is an ongoing benefit. However, there will be a 2% funding fee charged in the future (after the beta period) as per kungbernard's comment (from the T&Cs).

This was previously posted but has been marked expired for over a month. It also, for some reason, did not receive a very positive response. I suspect it's because the benefits were not highlighted clearly.

I've used DiviPay a few times now to make overseas transactions instead of 28 Degrees. I also don't have a Credit Card that both waives foreign transaction fees and earns me points, so this, for me, is the only way I can earn points and have forex fees waived.

Really good for when you're buying stuff off Gearbest, Geekbuying etc. which are priced in USD.

I've found their exchange rates to be incredible, for example..

I bought this Xiaomi Mi Band 2 posted, priced at USD $14.44, estimated to be (in the title) at $18.11 AUD. xe.com showed $17.92. I was charged $17.94.

Why don't you just use 28 Degrees/Citibank?

Because you don't earn any points. Yes you could use one of the other cards that earn you points and waive overseas transaction fees (e.g. Coles Rewards, Bankwest Qantas/More Platinum, CBA Diamond/Platinum, ANZ Travel Adventures), but this allows you to use any Credit Card. This means you could use a card that earns you points at a better rate (or a more valuable currency of points) than one of the ones I listed.

In addition, if you don't have a CC and can't (or don't want to) apply for one, this is another way for you to have forex fees waived.

DiviPay market themselves as being useful for splitting transactions with friends, but I find them most useful simply for waiving overseas transaction fees, being able to top up with any Mastercard/Visa and being able to earn full points on the transactions. They also market themselves on the basis of anonymity - i.e. you can use a "virtual" Mastercard to make payments without revealing your real Credit Card details.

If your item is ~$15.50 AUD, just top up $16 and get a refund for the unused amount. You'll probably get points on $16 worth of spend rather than $15, because the $0.50 refund won't trigger a points reversal*!
*Depends on how points are calculated by your Credit Card provider.

Summary:

  • Open Account
  • Enter Credit Card Details into "Profile" section - this will be your funding card - only Mastercard/Visa accepted at this stage
  • Create Virtual Personal or Group Card (you need to specify value for group cards)
  • Fund account (can only be funded once) with required amount
  • Use Mastercard to make payments online, particularly useful for transactions in foreign currency
  • Obtain refund of unused amount. Refund will go back to funding card (I believe)

There are other little quirky things about it - some of which I have not figured out, others of which will make this post too long if I include everything! But their FAQ section is pretty good and my link below has some additional info.


This was first posted on The Bulging Wallet on 11 September 2017. Please click through to read about DiviPay in more detail, and subscribe to the mailing list/follow on Facebook if you enjoy the content.

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closed Comments

  • +9

    I've realised this has sorta read like an advert, almost as if I'm sockpuppeting..

    For the record I am not associated or affiliated with them in any way, but have just genuinely had generally positive experiences with DiviPay.

    • +3

      No, you don't.. and incidentally this post has just "made my day" .. (well actually this, and the free order i just put through on aussiefarmers..)

      I leave for europe next week and could really use a deal like this divipay.. I'll have a read through the t's and c's, but it sounds just like what i need.

      Thanks OP! +

    • I am not able to open the deal.
      I have tried 2 different browsers.
      Is any1 having the same problem ?

    • +1

      Thanks illumination, for taking the time to provide such a detailed and clear writeup.

  • Wait didn't you have the Coles Mastercard? I think it's no annual fee for life atm with 10k flybuys. That card has no foreign transaction fees and earns you points as well. If you time it right it earn 1 velocity point per $1 spend during the 15% transfer from flybuys to velocity.

    • +3

      I have the no annual fee Coles Mastercard which earns points at a terrible rate and does not waive foreign transaction fees. I hold it as my "Price Protection" card.

      The purpose of this is to be able to use any Mastercard/Visa (e.g. ANZ FF Black) and be able to earn 1 QFF pt/$ and have forex fees waived.

      • Would they let you do a product swap on top of the no annual fee? Doesn't hurt to ask.

      • Where does it say QFF? I can't find it on the site.

        • +1

          You earn the points on the ANZ card.

        • +1

          Yea sorry what ilikeradiohead said. I wasn't clear.

    • +2

      no foreign transactions fees is only for the rewards card.

    • Link to Coles credit card offer?

  • +2

    I get an "DiviPay is not currently available in your region" error when I try to complete my profile.

    • +1

    • I believe they are currently experiencing issues, probably due to the recent attention they are getting haven't been able to log into my account for most of today.

    • Not sure why. I suspect VPN? Their service is available for customers in Australia and I think US?

      • Not sure why. I suspect VPN?

        Good thinking Oh yeah that could be the issue.

        Their service is available for customers in Australia and I think US?

        I was pretty sure it's only available in Australia.

    • +2

      We are currently only available to customers in Australia. We were experiencing a few issues earlier today from the demand. Everything is now sorted so please let us know if you are still having trouble creating an account.

      • Is there any plans to bring this to Apple Pay, in the U.K. Boon has a card like this I think , and also Japan but its a different card type, not MasterCard

        • Absolutely, we are working on providing Apple/Android pay support and will hopefully be launching this feature with our mobile application later this year.

        • @divipay: thanks for reply, also as far as funding fee apply (2% coming soon) could you please rethink that if you can

          I understand you have to make money but if you can remove that fee and even charge maybe a $1 per week for you service

          Also I read your F&Q but could you make it more then single use?
          Can I pay my bills with it?
          I guess I'm not your type of customer I just guest it would be nice to fund your card using Amex so I can get Amex points on all my bills and everywhere Amex isn't

          I'm bussing you make your money from interchange fees and you have low staff, good luck

          I know there isn't much money in interchange fees seeing RBA caped it but what about a cash back card ?

          Thanks again for Apple Pay support

        • @tess1988: Thanks for your feedback, yes a small subscription model could be a great alternative if we aren't able to sustain fee free.
          As of just now, cards are multi-use (up to 60 transactions per card), we are also working on reloadable cards.
          You can definitely make all your bill payments with a DiviPay card and the features we are building are great for reoccurring and subscription based purchases.
          We will be looking in the future at how we can provide more funding methods (Amex included).
          Cash back model moving forward is again something we are looking at.

      • I tried to register but when I go to complete my profile it still comes up saying Not Available in my region, despite being in Australia.

        on a second note I had to switch my DNS servers to google, as my ISP just kept giving me a DNS error when trying to connect to divipay.com. I thought that there might be a connection?

        Any ideas?

        • Hi, this issue should now be fixed. Please let us know at [email protected] if you are still having trouble signing up.

        • @divipay:
          No Worries, still happening but I've emailed you so will continue there, thanks for the response.

    • I had similar issue. Try disable adblock.

  • From the bulging wallet - "DiviPay allows you to top up a "virtual" Mastercard to be used online for purchases. This allows you to keep your own Credit Card details secure as the card you'll be using for payment will be the Divipay Card."
    I like the sound of that, especially for overseas sites you are a bit unsure about.

    • -4

      I like the sound of that, especially for overseas sites you are a bit unsure about.

      What's there to worry about? Just make sure the checkout page has a valid certificate.

      • +5

        I can set up a website right now with a valid certificate, doesn't make me trustworthy.

      • +5

        The certificate is to secure the data between your computer and the server. But that doesn't mean the server is trustworthy - only that the data between the two connections cannot be intercepted or manipulated.
        (very basic explanation)

        • Is the data between the user and the payment processor open to interception even with a valid certificate?

        • @whooah1979: what they are saying is that a server certificate is only about the connection between your web browser & the webserver.
          You don't know what happens after that. There may not even be a payment processor (eg. bank) involved - the webserver may just stick the details ​into a database or email them out to someone…

    • +1

      Yes, we are seeing a lot of our early customers generate single use virtual cards for this reason. The DiviPay virtual card provides an added layer of security for regular purchases, new or foreign purchases and of course, is great for subscription services, ensuring you will never be charged more than you expect.

  • I've added my credit card but I don't see a virtual card. How it'll work? How I can add it on iOS wallet? Thanks in advance.

    • No available through Apple Wallet as per their FAQ.

    • The Apple Pay feature is not available but I believe they have been working on it. And I believe it's coming as a feature part of their mobile app.

      • Yes, we are currently working on providing mobile payment support and plan to launch this feature with our mobile application later this year.

        • So you will not be supporting Apple Pay? Because "through your mobile application" sounds like an android thing.

        • +1

          @cynix: No from my understanding their plans are to offer Apple Pay but you would activate it through the app by clicking a button. And the card would be automatically loaded into Apple Pay.

          Similar to how the cards work with Boon available in some European countries, and the way it now works with ANZ which is the first Australian bank offering this feature.

        • @Kyle-K: good to hear that. Looking forward to it then.

        • @Kyle-K: Thanks Kyle-K, you are correct in our approach here.

    • I've added my credit card but I don't see a virtual card.

      You need to create a virtual card.

      Adding your CC just allows the virtual card (which you have yet to create) to be funded.

      • Thanks illumination.

  • I really like this concept, great idea and business model

    • There's multiple companies trying to do similar things in the UK and the US.

  • +1

    One reason I use 28 degree is that they have fantastic protection and dispute resolution process, which has so far always been in my favor, and claim can be made even more than 6 months after the transaction happenned. Wonder if using 28 degrees through DiviPay will affect that?

    • Not quite the same thing but I bought my phone on ebay with PayPal (to be able to use a coupon) with my Amex Platinum Edge and they covered the insurance when I dropped it and shattered the screen. So, YMMV?

      • +2

        With PayPal, the seller is still listed as the merchant.

        But with Divipay, it sounds as though your credit card will record a payment to Divipay & then you use the virtual card to buy whatever you wanna buy. [Essentially the same as buying a prepaid gift/visa/master/eftpos card & using that to purchase some products.] I'd imagine you won't be covered by your credit card's insurance

      • usually card insurance will ask u to pay excess, so in the case of a phone screen ($200 for a general apple replacement), how much excess did you pay?

        • $50, the standard amount for Amex Platinum Edge.

    • It will affect it because ultimately you're paying with a DiviPay card. It won't be seen as a 28 Degrees transaction.

      You can do chargebacks via DiviPay but I would assume it is better done directly through 28 Degrees (or any other CC for that matter).

      edit: What love a bargain said

  • +1

    Site is really slow

    • +1

      Yeah just went to have a look at the FAQS and the site crashed. Does not fill me with confidence.
      Could be the ol' OzBargain accidental DDOS haha.

  • +3

    Game changer if they start providing support for Amex.

    • When they do Ill join.

    • Agreed. They used to apparently. And used to also support PayPal.

      I didn't know their service back then though.

      • The only method supported for loading funds into your virtual cards was PayPal initially now they've remove that support. They have their own credit card loading facility now. So I'm guessing originally you could've loaded funds using Amex via PayPal.

  • +3

    Hmm, wonder if this would let me purchase Nintendo switch games from the South African eshop…

    Have tried 3 different cards so far without success.

    • How much cheaper are they there?

  • It was better when you could fund it from paypal.

    • -1

      That would of been awesome as I could of used my Amex card that I do for all my Amazon purchases.

      • +4

        Did you mean could have? ;)

      • *have *have

    • I know I don't know why they didn't keep both loading methods. However this products been through so many changes and iterations it's hard to keep up.

    • Didn't even know that was possible before.

      Was this how people used to top up with AMEX, or did they accept AMEX directly?

      • Was this how people used to top up with AMEX, or did they accept AMEX directly?

        I'm not aware of them supporting AMEX ever only Visa and MasterCard and they're currently only MasterCard despite the website showing Visa in their screenshots. Not to mention the mobile apps are not available to the public.

        • You can definitely load the virtual cards with Visa, but the virtual card itself is a Mastercard.

        • @illumination: Correct and as mentioned the screenshots on their website shows as Visa the previous version used Visa virtual cards instead of MasterCard. I'm guessing PayPal could've been used to load funds to the virtual card using Amex.

        • @Kyle-K: Ah right I see what you're saying. You were referring to the cards themselves being Mastercard i.e. we were saying the same thing.

        • +1

          @illumination: Both now on the same page was a little bit confused but thought the clarification would help.

        • @Kyle-K: Hi guys, yes we will be updating our website shortly with new screenshots showing the virtual card as a Mastercard rather than a Visa. We currently only accepting loads via Visa and Mastercard, however, are looking at how we can offer additional funding sources in the future.

    • +1

      Used to be able to use Paypal only to fund DiviPay when they first launched. Didn't last long ;)

      • +1

        Definitely didn't last long.

  • Does anyone know if this will help me defeat the outrageously hard to defeat coach outlet protection on ordering?

  • How about transfer money from au to oversea, no transaction fees??

    • -2

      Was just thinking, if you could somehow use this for fee-less cash transfers overseas, bitcoin would be trashed quick as.

  • +4

    So you "fund" a virtual card. Is this treated as a cash advance, like when you "fund" a betting account? or like when you "fund" a coles gift card?

    • +1

      Hi, no, funding a DiviPay virtual card will not be treated as a cash advance.

  • +17

    DiviPay is currently free during the beta period. Thereinafter the fee will be 2%.

    https://divipay.com/terms

    So, its not a long term solution to replace 28 degrees

    • Thanks! It said it was only free to start with but I was wondering what the eventual cost would be.

    • +1

      Makes you wonder why the OP wrote "This is an ongoing benefit with no specific end date." This limited benefit during beta was also the concern in the previous deal.

      If he just said that because the end date isn't defined yet, it's still misleading to say it's ongoing.

      • +5

        I have been told in writing in a response to an email enquiry I wrote to DiviPay that the waiver of the forex fees is an ongoing benefit which is not expected to change "because it is popular with customers". This is what I was referring to in the OP and this actually still holds true.

        The 2% is a card funding fee.. which is arguably worse than them surcharging forex transactions at 2%, because it means even if you wanted a virtual card for AUD transactions, it would still cost you 2%.

        I was completely unaware of a funding fee, or that there were plans to implement a funding fee. I have amended the description to reflect this. I wasn't deliberately trying to mislead, but I apologise to anyone who has been misled by this.

    • That's a very good spot which I have admittedly completely missed. Was not aware of this at all.

      Before responding to this I wanted to clarify what exactly it was referrign to and I've found that this specifically refers to a funding fee for loading the cards. i.e. the forex waiver is expected to remain in place, however it will cost 2% to load funds to a card in the future.

      Worth it…? If they continue to only accept Mastercard/Visa, probably not. If they accept AMEX in the future, possibly.

      Anyway, I've updated the OP.

      • They used to accept Amex through paypal, doubt that will come back at no charge…

      • +1

        Hi everyone, as I mentioned in my post we are currently still experimenting with this fee and assessing whether it is appropriate.

  • +1

    so we could use these virtual cards for all of the trials like netflix, spotify etc

    • Correct.

  • Is the virtual card single use only?

    • +1

      They have single use and and reusable as well as a feature intended for groups.

      • +1

        Single use ones would be perfect for trials, new customer offer etc

        • Correct, works fine…

        • Can you get a single use virtual card without loading funds?

        • @sween64: Yes however, The virtual card cannot be removed into the amount you set up initially is loaded onto it. Also remember some providers do a test transaction with a debit of a nominal amount which they return they also sometimes do pre-authorisations. So you may not be able to use a card with no funds loaded on it.

      • +2

        I've been waiting for something similar to https://privacy.com/ to have the ability to create burner cards for Spotify, etc. So this could fit the bill.

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