Who or what is Jaja, and what have they done with my credit card account?

[Mike Barton]

I recently logged into my mobile banking app to check my credit card account as I had been hitting it rather hard over the past few weeks on Christmas shopping and wanted to see how much I should pay off when I noticed that bizarrely my credit card account was no longer listed. On ringing the number on the back of the card and after being put on hold and passed around I was finally informed that "Yaya handles that now, you need to contact them".

Say wha???

A bit of googling then leads me to the surprising news that my credit card and that of half a million others had, without my by or leave, been sold to a bunch of Norwegian computer nerds who now controlled my account. The company in question being Jaja (pron. Yaya).

They do have an app which needs to be downloaded but which steadfastly refused to accept my phone number, judging by the almost universally awful reviews on Google Play Store even if I could download it I couldn't use it.

I then got through on the phone to a charming lady in the call centre, who sounded like she was just chatting off the top of her head, rather than the usual proscribed script, who cheerfully admitted that the whole set-up was overwhelmed and in chaos and customers' payments were being missed and probably they did go through, and maybe multiple times but don't worry they'd sort that out later, and no she couldn't tell me anything about my account because she couldn't access it and all in all wasn't she having a pretty crap day of things but hopefully it would all come right eventually (I paraphrase but not by much). I should add she was very nice and I enjoyed chatting to her but when I came off the call I was no wiser than when I started.

Has any esteemed member any knowledge of this Jaja crowd and any suggestions for further action? I should stress that the card is functional and payments are going through, I simply have no idea how much they amount to or what I need to pay off.

 

[dingerr]

What credit card is it?

If it’s one I use i’ll be cancelling it immediately.

 

[Mike Barton]

Bank of Ireland apparently sold their UK operation to Jaja so that meant all UK BoI credit cards as well as post Office and AA credit cards, so if you have either of those three you're one of the half million.

Exclusive: Jaja Finance swaps CEO following Bank of Ireland credit card migration - AltFi

Ex-Monedo boss David Chan will take over at Jaja once regulatory approval is granted.

www.altfi.com

It's an interesting sale, one would have thought credit cards were one of the few remaining profit centres for high street banks these days, if they are offloading them to fintech startups it would indicate otherwise and make you wonder what the next service to be sold off will be.

 

[Mike Barton]

Only the Mail has picked up the chaotic handover.

Credit card chaos after 500,000 accounts are taken over by Jaja

Post Office, Bank of Ireland and AA customers were bought by Jaja when it took over the Bank of Ireland's credit cards. But since the transfer customers have reported a plethora of issues.

www.thisismoney.co.uk

 

[Ecosse]

I'd make a minutely close study of your business via JaJa Internet banking for a start if you are not already signed up.

Manage your account - Bank of Ireland UK

Credit Cards Your credit card provider changed from Bank of Ireland UK to Jaja Finance Ltd (Jaja) on 3 October 2020. You can find out more information below. We have temporarily withdrawn our cards for new customers. However, exciting new features will be available when our new credit card is...

www.bankofirelanduk.com

You ought to be able to download a PDF of all your transactions as I do with the Clydesdale...which has become a bit ropey since the sale to Virgin.
Maybe a good wake up call to get a bit more forensic with where your hard earned wedge is going tbh.
Bottom line is, the one individual you can 100% trust with your money is you.

 

[Mike Barton]

I'd make a minutely close study of your business via JaJa Internet banking for a start if you are not already signed up.

Manage your account - Bank of Ireland UK

Credit Cards Your credit card provider changed from Bank of Ireland UK to Jaja Finance Ltd (Jaja) on 3 October 2020. You can find out more information below. We have temporarily withdrawn our cards for new customers. However, exciting new features will be available when our new credit card is...

www.bankofirelanduk.com

You ought to be able to download a PDF of all your transactions as I do with the Clydesdale...which has become a bit ropey since the sale to Virgin.
Maybe a good wake up call to get a bit more forensic with where your hard earned wedge is going tbh.
Bottom line is, the one individual you can 100% trust with your money is you.

Yes, of course the onus is on me and I think I may just close the account, as regards getting a PDF of my transactions that would certainly be helpful but as I cannot even log onto the app in the first place that might prove to be a difficulty.

Have a read of the eye-watering reviews of the app on that Play Store link.

 

[Turret_Monster]

Mrs TM had a PO credit card which was transfered to Jaja. She forgot to pay her bill which led to them calling her on our landline. I had no clue who they were and as soon as I heard the name assumed it was some sort of amateurish phishing expedition and chinned them off. That ought to be a lesson to anyone who thinks a 'groovy' company name is the way to go.

 

[Mike Barton]

Mrs TM had a PO credit card which was transfered to Jaja. She forgot to pay her bill which led to them calling her on our landline. I had no clue who they were and as soon as I heard the name assumed it was some sort of amateurish phishing expedition and chinned them off. That ought to be a lesson to anyone who thinks a 'groovy' company name is the way to go.

I mentioned how chatty and informal the lady I spoke to in the call centre was, she asked me all the usual stuff, all my security details, the numbers, expiry date and all that, and I have to admit I gave them all to her, but I did think to myself that I was giving a chatty young woman who didn't seem to have a clue what was going on an awful lot of info about my account, an account she knew I couldn't access.

Now I phoned her, using the proper number on the bank website, so at least I am sure she does actually work for Jaja, but it has occurred to me that, well, this could be the biggest phishing expedition in UK banking history.

Perish the thought.

ETA: Has your missus now got access to her account? Does she use the app?

 

[rockpile]

I had a P.O. credit card - mainly for use overseas- and I have successfully transferred to jaja (not for rainbow) and all is working well. I haven't had to speak with anyone but I followed the on line instructions to the letter.

 

[Mike Barton]

I had a P.O. credit card - mainly for use overseas- and I have successfully transferred to jaja (not for rainbow) and all is working well. I haven't had to speak with anyone but I followed the on line instructions to the letter.

Therein lies my problem, I am overseas, the app won't let me log in.

 

[Evdhimong]

Is it a Mexican bean?

 

[rockpile]

Therein lies my problem, I am overseas, the app won't let me log in.

I got a e mail which gave instructions and just used that without the benefit of a app.

 

[OneTenner]

Bank of Ireland apparently sold their UK operation to Jaja so that meant all UK BoI credit cards as well as post Office and AA credit cards, so if you have either of those three you're one of the half million.

Exclusive: Jaja Finance swaps CEO following Bank of Ireland credit card migration - AltFi

Ex-Monedo boss David Chan will take over at Jaja once regulatory approval is granted.

www.altfi.com

It's an interesting sale, one would have thought credit cards were one of the few remaining profit centres for high street banks these days, if they are offloading them to fintech startups it would indicate otherwise and make you wonder what the next service to be sold off will be.

If I remember rightly, your debt (amount of credit owed) cannot be sold on without your permission. My experience is from defaulted debt, i'm fairly sure it also applies to credit card balances not in default too.
At the very least, I would have expected some sort of communication giving ninety days notice and the option to transfer your debt elsewhere.

 

[Mike Barton]

If I remember rightly, your debt (amount of credit owed) cannot be sold on without your permission. My experience is from defaulted debt, i'm fairly sure it also applies to credit card balances not in default too.
At the very least, I would have expected some sort of communication giving ninety days notice and the option to transfer your debt elsewhere.

Very interesting, I use my father's address as a mailing address, there has never been any problem as beyond the actual issuance of the physical card every few years I never receive any correspondence, having gone completely paperless. I must check out whether there has been something in the last few months that might have appeared to be junk mail. Thank you.

 

[Mike Barton]

I got a e mail which gave instructions and just used that without the benefit of a app.

You wouldn't believe it but logging onto the website still required a UK number, it's most frustrating.

 

[rockpile]

If I remember rightly, your debt (amount of credit owed) cannot be sold on without your permission. My experience is from defaulted debt, i'm fairly sure it also applies to credit card balances not in default too.
At the very least, I would have expected some sort of communication giving ninety days notice and the option to transfer your debt elsewhere.

I received such notice.

 

[Mike Barton]

I received such notice.

Was it a letter asking whether you agreed to the transfer or simply a notification stating that it would happen?

 

[rockpile]

Was it a letter asking whether you agreed to the transfer or simply a notification stating that it would happen?

I received a letter (post) some time ago stating that the change would take place. The e mail was giving instruction on how to create and manage an on line account.

 

[Turret_Monster]

Update time!

Mrs TM decided to pay off her outstanding balance using JaJa's app. First it threw up an error message implying it hadn't worked so she left it a few days and when there was no sign through the app that the payment had been successfu, or at her bank that one had been taken, she did it again.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and it turns out that they had eventually got round to taking both payments. Cue a businesslike telephone conversation with escalating levels of 'manager' during which she's told they have 'no escalation procedure' that will permit them to pay back the overpyment balance today. It would also appear that they have no system to query why anyone would want to pay off their total balance twice, and maybe.. oh I don't know.. check if it was accidental or deliberate.