FPS Passport

Bubu · #1 03-03-2005, 11:06 AM

What is FPS Passport ? How does it work ? Why would one use it instead of neteller ? Could someone give me a link to its website ? It's listed as one of the cash out options in Emprie Poker, but I can't find any link to it and googling just gives me a whole bunch of affiliate links.

B

Mizzles · #2 03-03-2005, 05:07 PM

OK just got off the phone with them. Epassporte basically works as a debit card which can be used for online purchases. If put funds into your epassporte account using a credit card, there is a 5% service charge, however if transfer funds from a gaming site, there is no fee. There is a $2 service charge to transfer funds to a bank account. Unlike neteller, no social security numbers involved here. Hey I'm thinking of diving in, anyone used this???

Bubu · #3 03-03-2005, 06:06 PM

I am still confused as to what use this could have outside the i-gmabling world. Why would you fund a epassaporte Visa card with another Visa card ? I think I am missing something here.

Rednax · #4 03-03-2005, 08:02 PM

No social security #? So for those flying below radar this might work? What do they require for ID and account setup and stuff? And can it only be used for online purchases?

Mizzles · #5 03-03-2005, 08:38 PM

The said they require a mastercard / visa account information to set up the account. If you link it to a bank account, obviously they would require that information also, I think along with another credit card. I believe for a $35 you can get a real live debit card that works as a mastercard / visa debit card.

jasonHoldEm · #6 03-03-2005, 09:08 PM

Epassporte is a virtual visa. Basically the "real world" reason you use it is to protect your (real) credit card number from being stolen online. You can also set it up under an alias (the virtual card that is) to protect your identity.

It works like this: When you sign up for an account you register a (real world) credit card with them and load your virutal card with $XXX funds which are charged to your card. There is a fee for this, I don't remember how much but it's sorta steep.

So now you have $XXX - fee balance on your virutal card. You can go shopping with this at amazon or whatever if you are so inclined. Similar to neteller, epassporte also allows transfers between accounts and for Party and skins you can deposit using your epassporte account (you enter your account name, not the virutal visa numbers). You have to deposit to one of the skins before you can withdraw money back out. So you have to eat the initial load fee once...you can then bonus whore the epassporte bonus (EPASS I think) at all the skins and more than cover your costs.

I mainly use mine for online shopping (you just have a string of numbers not an actual card so you can't go down to the local wal-mart and buy something). Most major sites will accept the virtual card online; however, some reject the card because it is foreign (epassporte is linked to a bank somewhere in the carribean I believe). I don't recomend getting the physical card that is linked to your account because it is an electron card and you'll have a very hard time finding anyone in the real world who accepts it (do your homework first before you spend the money)...I have no idea how well it works for ATM's etc but I have heard a lot of grumbling concerning attempting to use the physical electron card at stores and having it be rejected.

I do recommend getting it for the EPASS bonuses and the virtual visa number you can use online...also as was already mentioned it makes cashing out from intertops poker a little easier (cashout to your epassporte account and then move that back to another party skin...obviously if you want to move the money to somewhere else like stars you'd have to go through neteller).

Hope this helps,
J

morgant · #7 03-03-2005, 09:48 PM

i have been using this for all of my online money i want to use in the real world. i have the visa electron and when you sign up you get the virtual visa automatically.

you use another credit card to signup, which I assume is used to verify your credit and backup your account. I have had my limits increased and to do so, you must verify with them another credit card. There customer service is horrid, and some of their policies are also. For instance, i wanted to get my online visa limit increased to 3k so i can buy a laptop. In order to do so, i have to have 7k in my account, then send in the proper documentation, before they will consider giving me the limits. Basically, you would get your money in there and could possibly not be able to use it for what you put it there for. I was irate about this, but its their policy and there was nothin i could do about it.

I use the visa electron card a lot. And it works almost anywhere i go. It does not look like a traditional cc, and almost looks fake, so you get checked out a lot, id, clerk has to ask manager, but it works for me, marriot, best buy, grocery store, almost anywhere. I have 1500 a day atm withdrawal limits. each use of the electron card or point of sale, which is the atm card as well, is a 2$ fee from epass. THey are slimey though. They setup a tsunami relief donation thingy, i gave them a few bucks for it, and yes, they charged me on the transfer [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img].

i did the minimum initial loading of the virtual card for $50 i think, and paid 35 for the electron, dont recall the fees though.

one gripe(if above wasnt enough), when you check into a hotel, or i bought airline tickets from orbitz, orbitz holds the tickets via my card, then the airline charges me the full price of the ticket. so the orbitz charge remained on my epass account as pending, but the funds while pending are taken from my balance, i call orbitz, they assure me that with cc, in several days the charge drops off the card. its 3 weeks later and the charge is still pending, i have like 1500 of them from various things like this. i finally call epass(which is akin to calling party) i ask why they are not dropped, they tell me i have to have the company with the pending charge send them a document with the company's letterhead saying to drop the charge!! i went ballistic, got a manager on the phone, i am asking, so everytime i reserve something with your card, it will remain pending and its my responsibility to get that company to send you the docs....etc......finally i ask, what if i never get them to send the docs, you confiscate the funds, he said it drops off after a month...........what a dikhed, could he not have said that in the beginning, so anyways, this is my longwinded review of epassporte.

epassporte is incompetent, inferior, and kinda expensive, exactly like party. i use it everyday and whenever i can, exactly like party.

also...i dont believe you can withdraw funds into your bank account....if so, please advise me how.

Mizzles · #8 03-03-2005, 10:25 PM

They told me withdrawing funds to your bank account is a recently added feature

sellthekids · #9 03-04-2005, 08:01 AM

What I found funny was that I tried to deposit into Absolute using the Visa option and guess what? epassporte rejected the transaction [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]. I guess they figure online gambling sites aren't reputable enough [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img].

I got it mainly for Intertops and whoring the Party skins for the EPASS bonus.

Rednax · #10 03-04-2005, 11:37 AM

Thank you very much everyone. Good to know. (Bad news about the relief fund charge though - my god!)

So the original loading of the card appears on your cc as a charge?

And each use of the physical card costs $2? Buy groceries - $2; buy gas - $2; shop at Best Buy - $2?

And each use of the virtual card is free? Including money transfers to and from Party skins? Beyond the one-time initial $35 load fee that is charged to and appears on your credit card statements?

Have I got it? (I have to repeat things about 5 times before they start to sink in and make sense.) Thanks again!