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Here in Frequent Miler World, the US launch of the Curve Credit has been keeping our hearts aflutter. Curve is a credit card that allows you to “back it” with other credit cards (similarly to an Apple or Google wallet) and then choose which of those cards to apply a charge…up to 30 days AFTER you make the charge (see Nick’s review). This has the potential to be incredibly useful by simplifying our own wallets and making it possible to go back after the fact and reassign a charge to card with a more optimal spending category bonus. Many P1-P2 relationships will be better because of it. If you haven’t listened to this week’s Frequent Miler On The Air, you should. Nick and Greg do an excellent deep dive into the potential that Curve holds.
The biggest issue with Curve as it stood was that it only worked with Mastercard and Discover, leaving the entirety of the points-rich Visa and Amex world out of reach. Well, it looks like part of that may be changing…and much earlier than we expected.
Is Visa Credit functionality on the way?
I went to the Curve app this morning to add my Nearside Debit Card, in order to take advantage of 6 months of 3.2% cashback (2.2% for the rest of the year with Nearside, 1% for 6 months with Curve). I noticed in the screen where cards are added, it now said “Curve supports all Mastercard, VISA and Discover credit and debit cards.” Previously, only MC and Discover were listed. Nick upgraded his version of the app and found the same screen showing.
I immediately started trying to add Visa cards, but got an error message on each one saying “Try a different card.” I was able to successfully add both my Point Debit and my Wells Fargo debit cards, so nothing’s changed on that end and it looks like Visa debit is still live.
In the initial welcome e-mail that Stephen and Nick received last week there was a section saying “under construction during beta” and explaining that Curve was working on the solution to support Visa cards. So this screen changing could be just part of that process, but I’m hopeful that it means we’re close to being able to use Visa, given the wording on the app.
Quick Thoughts
This would obviously be a significant upgrade to Curve, and much earlier than expected. While there are plenty of great Mastercards to use, the Visa Universe is much richer in terms of points-earning opportunities; being able to have access to it via Curve will make the card much more valuable and user-friendly. We’ll be continuing to try adding Visa credit cards and will update as soon as we find out that it’s live.
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In a recent “on the Air” episode, Greg talked about how much mental energy he was willing to expend on choosing the right card for a given transaction. I’ve commented on a different article that I’ve found that I capture about 95 percent of available points (given my spending pattern) with only 2 or 3 cards . . . and asked whether it was worth having more cards and spending the mental energy for those few remaining points.
Then, Nick chimes in saying that Curve can be programmed with rules that even eliminates the spending of mental energy. Valuable for P1 but particularly valuable for P2. Very cool.
Let’s just hope Curve can work something out with Visa.
Can we add Visa gift cards and take advantage of the Curve 1%cash back?
The real gamer changer would be if it also allowed pre-paid debit cards. It says you can add debit cards, but so far the holy grail of allowing pre-paid debit cards to be added doesn’t seem to be permitted. If I’m wrong, please let me know. I’m still on the waiting list, so those that already got one in the U.S., please try. I’m hoping the policy simply says you can’t, but maybe some will work. That is probably the biggest reason many of us were interested in Curve… the prospect is amazing. If so, I’ll be very happy to be part of their referral/affiliate programs.
Yup. That would be a game changer. 5x everywhere.
Curious how the economics work for Curve.
If they allowed adding VGC, I’d use Curve for all shopping needs even if I wasn’t always using vgc in many places (for instance spending on a new card for the welcome bonus of points/miles). Unfortunately, more places are cash only for mos even if you present a debit with your name on it (like they’re promoting ml… who carries that much cash around). I dream of one card to rule them all, from credit to debit to pre-paid debit. I have a dream that one day no store will discriminate. They should be more suspicious of a large cash user. And, if identity is the issue, require photo ID matching the card (pre-paid or credit). Pre-paid limits fraud because it limits the amount on the card. I have a dream!
Speaking of fraud and security . . .
Visa and Mastercard mandated that by no later than about 5 or 6 or so years ago, all cards must have chips . . . as the mag stripe was being eliminated for security reasons. Visa and Mastercard also mandated that credit cards must have a PIN.
When one goes to Europe or wherever, one sees this “chip and PIN” being used.
Oh . . . but not the U.S. Because business owners complained that it would be such a financial burden to buy new payment devices. And so, Visa and Mastercard have extended the sunset of the mag stripe until roughly the year 2032 . . . swell. The rest of the world seemed to be able to afford but not us.