U2 concert ticket holders hit by Visa problem

People who bought standing tickets for U2's upcoming concerts in Dublin and paid for them with Bank of Ireland Visa cards may have to jump through additional hoops if they want to see the band.

The bank is in the process of replacing hundreds of thousands of its customers’ Visa cards with cards from rival provider Mastercard and it has been sending letters to affected customers advising them to destroy their old credit cards on receipt of the new ones.

However, anyone who bought so-called "paperless" tickets for the U2 concerts using the bank's Visa cards will need to present the actual plastic card used to make the purchase when they arrive at the 3Arena for the concerts, which take place at the end of November, or else they will not be able to gain admission.

Bank of Ireland said that, despite the problems it may present for fans of the band, it was standing over its call for customers to destroy their old cards.

Old cards

“It is not unique to this situation. Whenever any card is replaced, for whatever reason, we always advise customers to destroy the old card,” a spokesman said.

Initially Ticketmaster told The Irish Times that the bank’s cancelling of customers’ Visa cards would not cause any problems, as the “transaction has already taken place . . . and there is no interaction with any credit card company or bank on the night of the event”.

However, Bank of Ireland subsequently contacted Ticketmaster and told the company that it had advised customers to destroy credit cards.

“If a customer has destroyed their credit card and has purchased a standing ticket for one of the U2 shows, they can contact Ticketmaster’s customer service line.

“We will ensure they are able to access the show,” an updated Ticketmaster statement said.

A spokesman for the company said that this did not apply to seated tickets.