Solo (debit card)

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Solo is a debit card produced by Switch Card Services in the UK, specifically for people under 18 or on lower incomes. One particular feature of the card is that all transactions require electronic authorisation from the issuing bank. Such authorisation will not be given if there are not sufficient funds in the cardholder's account, and the funds are earmarked, if not transferred, immediately. An unauthorised overdraft may still take place if the cardholder transfers additional funds out of an account before the earmarked Solo transactions are applied to that account (much like writing a cheque and then withdrawing from the account before the cheque is cashed).

The card was launched on 1 July 1997 and in 2004 there were 7.2 million Solo cards in circulation in the UK. Its sister card is Switch.

Its main rival is the Visa Electron debit card, which can also be issued to under-18s. The main advantage of Visa Electron over Solo is that it has become widely accepted internationally. There are however some UK merchants who do not accept the Visa Electron card.

[edit] Disadvantages

[edit] Acceptance

One notable disadvantage of the Solo was that the card was rarely accepted on internet based retailers. Use of the Paypal network could overcome this. However over time Solo became more and more accepted both in high street stores and on on-line retailers alike. Solo cards are closely linked with the Switch processing system (now re-branded as Maestro), however some online retailers can differentiate Solo cards from other Switch cards through their numbering scheme and prevent under 18's from purchasing online. Due to their availability to under 18s, they can also be used as a simple age-vetting mechanism; for example, when online shopping service Ocado accepted Solo, they refused to sell razor blades or alcoholic drinks to anyone paying via Solo, even though some Solo card holders are over 18 (the service now does not accept Solo, however it does not check for Solo card numbers if Switch is selected).

Currently, Solo cards cannot be used to purchase train tickets, whether pre-ordering by phone or web, or in person at station counters or FastTicket machines. This is because the rail ticket network does not have the infrastructure to authorise with the issuing bank for every payment (Solo requires the account balance to be checked with every transaction). London Underground ticket machines however accept the cards. It is possible to go overdrawn whilst shopping online, which proves convenient at times and stressful at others. However a number of train companies have announced plans to bring Solo into wider acceptance when consumers are purchasing train tickets both on-line and in train stations.