Debit Card Renewal

in the early days of Credit Cards, BoS gave me one of each.

I had one of each from Barclays.

for a while I had one of each from Midland Access / HSBC

I have been warned that I will soon get my MBNA Mastercard replaced by a Visa card, but my existing PIN etc will carry forward. With at least two banks doing the same thing I suspect that processing costs might be driving the decisions to change.

It is sad from the cardholder's point of view. I had (still have) a Visa card, and I deliberately went for a Mastercard from a different bank to accompany it so if there is a problem with one card (whether by the bank or card issuer), there was always another I could use. I am going to end up with all Visa cards now.

A bit of an insight - a relative of mine has two accounts, an everyday banking account and a "rainy day emergency" account. They were in different banks, and each provided a debit card. When the everyday card was nearing expiry, a replacement card just arrived in the post. When the rainy day card reached its expiry date, there was no replacement. When the cardholder asked the bank why they hadn't provided a replacement the bank said that it was policy not to replace a card if the expiring one hadn't been used, unless the customer asked for one.

Would that be Santander by any chance? I've got a "rainy day" account with them (in case the regular ATM system fails). I worked out (with the customer service people) that I just claim that my expiring one is damaged and they issue a new one (with a long expiry date).

No, it was Nationwide. When the customer asked for one ("What is the point of an account to be used for emergencies if I haven't got a card to access the money when I need it?") it was supplied without the need for lies.

Ditto.

I still have a Nationwide InvestDirect a/c which is now just a branch-based a/c but the reason for keeping some emergency money in it is because it uses the Link network of holes-in-the-wall so even if my main banking debit card doesn't work, I should (theoretically) still be able access cash.

Also got some free money after they took over Virgin money.

Because I hadn't used it for a while they didn't send out a replacement card. All it needs is to pay some money in at least once per year.