I use Visa Electron all the time for train tickets and never have a problem online, not sure about over the phone though.
Visa Electron is not an officially-accepted payment method for railway tickets. Some, but not all, TOCs accept it on their websites and at their permanent ticket offices nonetheless.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
As far as I'm aware, the only thing we are obliged to accept is cash money. Maybe one of the legal eagles can clarify.
Not a legal eagle, and most definitely not getting into the definition of legal tender (otherwise you would only be able to buy most tickets in Scotland with £1 and £2 coins), but as I understand it, all franchise specifications say that TOCs must accept sterling cash (including English, Scottish, and Northern Irish notes), Visa, MasterCard, American Express, JCB, and Diners Club, rail travel vouchers, and warrants.
It is not the railway refusing to accept a method of payment, it is the BANK refusing to authorise it. the restrictions on the card are placed there by the bank, and apply to any off-line transactions, be they on-train, Tesco pay-at-pump petrol, or any shop where the phone-line is down.
Banks can, as mentioned elsewhere, set cards to reject some or all offline transactions. I had an FGW guard remark to me one evening that he had had a stack of people get on at Port Talbot Parkway and one after another tendered prepaid cards, green Lloyds cards, and other disliked cards. But he got on the phone and had most of them authorized by Bristol Parkway.
On a point of order, most pay-at-pump transactions are online. However, the way they work is that the pump tries to preauthorize the price of 50 litres (or other pre-set amount) before charging the actual amount dispensed. This can be a problem if the customer has very little in their account, and is also a problem if Visa Electron is used because the Visa Electron scheme rules don't allow preauths.
If we do proceed with the transaction without it being authorised (the infamous "can you swipe it"), then I believe that the bank can refuse to pay, and charge the TOC with their admin fees etc, AND still sting the customer for the money!
That is correct (google chargeback 4871): if a merchant either swipes a chipped card or tries a card again once it's been declined, the bank can refuse to pay the merchant.
This is something that the banks have forced on us, not something the TOC's wish to happen.
Quite true, although the TOCs could get around it by upgrading the rather ageing tech.