The Key Points
Positives:
- When you use the Curve card, retailers and online merchants do not get the card details for the underlying credit and debit cards, which can reduce the risk of fraud.
- Curve offer all card users Curve Consumer Protection, which covers purchases made with the Curve card.
Potential Concerns:
- Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, consumers get certain rights when they purchase an item with a credit card. If you purchase something with the Curve card, but with an underlying credit card, you will not get these rights, as it is seen as purchasing via a 3rd party.
What Is Curve?
Curve is designed to be a payment solution that enables you to carry just one card – the Curve card. The way that it does this, is that it allows you to connect all of your other cards to the Curve app, whether debit or credit cards, and then choose which card you want to use for each payment. You can then empty your wallet of your other cards, and just use the Curve card to pay ‘virtually’ with your other cards.
Curve was launched in 2016, and as of 2021 claimed to have over 500,000 customers across the UK and Europe.
Is Curve Safe – The Details
Regulation:
Curve are a UK based company and are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, which guarantees various protections for consumers.
Protection/Insurances:
Under Section 25 of the Consumer Credit Act, UK consumers who purchase products with credit cards have a variety of protections. Payments made with the Curve card, even if the underlying card is a credit card, are not protected by Section 75, as it is seen as the purchase was made via a third party.
Curve are well aware of this issue, and they provide their own insurance for purchases, called Curve Customer Protection. It is designed to give customers the same sort of protection offered by Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. You can see more about this here.
Investment Risks:
Curve do not offer any investment products or hold your money.
Company:
Curve is a relatively new startup, and as such, they are still not profitable, and funded by investment. Their revenue and customer base is growing however, so there don’t appear to be any immediate concerns.
Security & Personal Data:
Curve do have access to various types of a customer’s sensitive data, such as debit and credit card details, and details of transactions. Curve state that they follow the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) which is the financial industry set of standards that are used by any provider who handle credit card data. In addition, they comply fully with all GDPR requirements.
Resources:
Trustpilot
https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.curve.app
https://www.reddit.com/r/CurveCard/
Summary
There are relatively few risks with Curve, as they do not hold your money or offer any investment. Rather, Curve can offer you more security, as using the card means that retailers do not get your other card details, and if you lose your wallet, then you just cancel the Curve card via the app, and do not lose all of your other cards.