A Major Disappointment with My MegaFon Credit Card

Hello everyone!

I've been hearing about the MegaFon bank card for a while now, but I finally got one when I needed to make a purchase and the required amount was only available on two wallets: WebMoney and Yandex Money. After reading reviews, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to get one anyway. It's super convenient to withdraw money, and it's just as easy to spend it as I want to - whether it's in cash or in a regular store.

MegaFon Bank Card You can find all the necessary information in the booklet that came with the card.

MegaFon Bank Card for free The conditions for using this card are really attractive:

Annual maintenance: 0 %.

Online payments: buy products and services online without commissions or overpayments.

Choose the best deals and get up to 20 % cashback on promotions from our partners.

Internet and mobile banking.

Interest rates and operations.

Commission: 0 % for withdrawing cash from ATMs.

20 % for checking your balance at ATMs.

0 % for SMS notifications about operations: topping up your account, activating or blocking your card, money transfers, and payments.

0 % for blocking and unblocking your card.

30 % per month for remote card management via SMS.

Cost of issuance:

For the "Get Connected" and "All Inclusive" plans, M, L, XL, VIP, XS, and S, it's 0 rubles.

149 rubles for all other plans.

You'll get an extra 10 MB for every 100 rubles spent when using a MegaFon card.

MegaFon card is free Right now, MegaFon offers three types of cards:

MegaFon Standard (with contactless payment). I chose this one.

*MegaFon Gold. It has MasterCard privileges (which ones, I have no idea) and you'll have to pay 99 or 249 rubles when you sign up, unless you're on the "Get Connected" M, L, XL, or VIP plan.

*Virtual card "Phone Account. You can pay with your smartphone.

MegaFon card is free Where to buy?

I had no issues buying the card. I went to the MegaFon store in my local mall, and it took about half an hour to set up. If you already have a MegaFon card, the process will be even faster. Since I don't use MegaFon for my phone, I had to buy a SIM card first. The tariff in our region is available in the "Get Connected" line (expensive plans with a monthly fee). I wasn't planning to use the service, so I chose the cheapest option, which was 300 rubles plus 10 rubles to put on my account. A month later, I switched to the "Transition to Zero" plan.

I was handed a bank card with instructions right away after submitting my application. It's an unnamed card, so I didn't have to wait two or three weeks for it to arrive. I got it, used it - that's it. The consultant actually called me to give me the PIN code for the card. To activate it, I needed to make a purchase using the card within a few days (important note: I had to insert the card into a machine and enter the PIN code to pay). Alternatively, I could have withdrawn cash at any ATM.

The issuer is Bank 'Round'. Never heard of them before (wish I hadn't).

MegaFon bank card for free I downloaded the MegaFon app on my phone, which shows my account balance, incoming and outgoing transactions, tariffs, and other useful (and not-so-useful) info.

I registered for the Round Bank online banking system and started experimenting with the card.

I made my first withdrawal from my e-wallet. The money arrived instantly, with a small fee deducted only by Webmoney e-wallet. Yandex Money doesn't charge a thing for transferring money to my phone. I really liked it, so I withdrew even more. At that point, I didn't need to make a purchase, so I left the money on my account to earn interest (8% interest on the 'on demand' deposit (provided the account balance is at least 500 rubles) - that's a great interest rate). I even considered depositing more to earn interest, but my intuition told me to use the card for a bit longer and get a better feel for its benefits.

I was really happy with the service for the first month. The trouble started when I switched to the tariff without a subscription fee, so I only pay for the services I use. I inserted the MTS SIM card into my old phone (I didn't want to lose it, just in case) - it's the only phone I have that can receive SMS and make calls, and it's mostly used to play kids' songs for my daughter.

I got an SMS about successfully switching to the 'Transition to Zero' tariff. To be sure, I checked my personal account and saw that I wasn't subscribed to any paid services, so I breathed a sigh of relief. A week later, I got an SMS saying that the 'Internet XS' option had been connected with a tariff of 6 rubles per day - I didn't think much of it (after all, I had turned everything off). The next day, I got an SMS saying that the tariff for this option was now 9 rubles per day. I decided to log in to my personal account two days later, and oh... it turned out that the amount had been deducted for three days of internet use.

The amount was small, so I shouldn't be complaining about it. But I didn't ask for the service, and I didn't use the internet. What's the basis for them charging me for it? I was left with a bad taste in my mouth, like they'd rummaged through my wallet without asking. And if I hadn't inserted the SIM card into my phone and logged in to my personal account six months later? I suspect I'd be left with nothing but memories. The accrued 2.88% pales in comparison to the 18 rubles they deducted.

MegaFon Bank Card Review I decided to get to the bottom of things and clear up some confusion. So, I called MegaFon's customer support. After listening to the 150th thank you for calling and how much they value my call, they finally decided to answer me. They explained that the option is connected solely in my interest, allowing me to save on the internet and MegaFon is looking out for me. But I'm the one who needs the care? At least they could have checked if I'm actually going online from this number beforehand. I'm left with a weird feeling that I was talking to an automated system with such robotic and scripted responses. I realized that I won't get any real explanations from MegaFon.

And what about the Round Bank?

Since Round Bank issued the card, it's like they're responsible for keeping my money safe on the card account, and third parties can't withdraw money without my permission to the bank. But here, it seems, there are their own conditions for non-banking services. I asked a question on the bank's website, unfortunately, I never got an answer. That's not very serious for a bank. I started studying the website, and there's no information about MegaFon's plastic cards on their website (that's strange for a bank that issued the card). All the information on their website is about cashback and interest rates on deposits, but cashback is paid by MegaFon, and you can only make payments through Round Bank.

I spent ages trying to figure out who the third party in this chain was and I finally realized I was the unnecessary third party. Not wanting to get bogged down in all the complexity, I decided to transfer the remaining balance from my MegaFon card to my card at a different bank. The transfer fee of 4.15% left me speechless - I've never seen anything like it, with a max of 3% being the norm.

Withdrawing cash from an ATM also comes with a 2.5% commission.

In the end, I spent the entire balance on purchases. I earned bonus megabytes for every thousand I spent, which I tried to use, but MegaFon had another surprise in store for me. The bonus megabytes are used up quickly and you're not even notified when they're gone, so you're left paying full price for internet until you disconnect or your balance runs out. I had a small balance, so I couldn't even scrounge up enough to use the bonus megabytes. I read a review from a girl who had 4,000 rubles deducted from her account using this method. Forget the bonus megabytes - you can easily lose your hard-earned cash on Airick.

And to make matters worse, the cashback partners list is so small that I couldn't find any in my city.

Comparing it to another bank's card when transferring with Webmoney

MegaFon card: Webmoney takes a commission for transfer, you pay a 2.5% commission for cash withdrawals, and there's no cashback for purchases. The funds are credited instantly to your phone.

Other card: Webmoney takes a commission, the bank takes a commission for crediting, around 3%, which is covered by the cashback for purchases in my case. You can withdraw cash from any ATM without commission. The funds take a few days to arrive.

Conditions on cards are roughly the same.

But the difference is that my bank never allowed itself to deduct a single penny from my account without my knowledge.

Meanwhile, the arbitrary deductions on my MTS card continue to this day, only now they don't even bother sending me SMS notifications. Every time I log into my account, it's either two or three rubles that get deducted. I don't keep much money on the card anymore. I just top it up occasionally for online purchases and then immediately deduct the amount. The fact that MTS is arbitrarily deducting money from my account is really annoying.

MTS Bank Card Reviews I'm deducting the subscription fee for the 'Who Called' service. I log into my account, and it says I'm not connected to any paid services. How am I supposed to understand that?

MTS Bank Card Reviews I'm pretty sure the card isn't secure, and no one is liable for the money on it. If something goes wrong, no one will even bother to investigate. There's no one to take responsibility or guarantee the safety of the funds. In a world where phone scams are getting more sophisticated, it's a piece of cake for experienced scammers to steal money from a card like this.

TAKING IT ALL INTO ACCOUNT, I HAVE TO SAY:

I wouldn't recommend it, but the card does have its advantages:

One thing I love about this card is that money shows up on my account instantly, no matter how I top it up.

I also appreciate how easy it is to add funds to my phone anywhere, at home, outside, or even in rural areas where coverage can be spotty. I've used this feature when my son's away at competitions, and I can quickly top up his account if he needs it.

Another plus is that I never have any issues with making payments online or in-store - it's fast and convenient.

Downsides:

One thing that keeps me up at night is the lack of security on my account. I never know what MegaFon might come up with next, so I only keep a small amount of money on the card - just in case.

Another drawback is that there's no cashback option. I've gotten so used to rewards and bonuses that this card just doesn't feel as appealing without them.

I wish MegaFon would consider introducing a limit on how much they can charge me for services - that way, I'd have more control over my spending.

Maybe this card will be a good fit for MegaFon customers who use their services a lot, but for me, it's only useful occasionally. The good news is that there's no annual fee, so I'll keep using it until the card expires. We'll see what happens then.

Just a heads up: you can use this card without losing your mind - happy shopping!

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