Has anyone heard of Irish Credit providers offering a secured Credit card (basically you pay a deposit and your credit limit is set to this). It is suitable for people with poor/no credit history who still need a card facility. They can then the card by putting funds onto it.
With Chip & PIN, most laser cards are now going to have Maestro functionality, which means they can be used abroad. Though agreed not ideal for the net, though some sites now accept laser. e.g. Aer Lingus.