Ulster Bank Help

ME_EM_ME

Hi

I may be silly but I needed to rant & maybe get some advice.

after having checked my accounts online, I noticed I had gone overdrawn.

I contacted the branch as I have no overdraft and was at a loss as to how this occured.

I was told the following:

You made switch purchases on 15th & 17th & drew money out on 18th. The switch transactions are debited from your account on the day - meaning your available balance is lower but the next day your available balance will not show the transaction and it will be credited back to your account - allowing you to take the money out. It will then take up to an additional 3 days for the switch tranasctions to be processed in the evening. My 2 switch transactions were debited from my account on the 18th evening.

So, the system debits the money from my account on 1 day and then recredits it until the bank processes the transaction.

Call me silly but if the system knows a transaction is pending surely it would reduce the available balance accordingly and not let you go overdrawn as my other account does.

So for going £20 overdrawn I will be charged £30 and they won't refund this money as it is "not a bank error".

Anything I can do or do I have to pay RBS the money? I know they are desperate but £30 seems excessive!

Thanks

warmhands.coldheart

with most standard bank accounts, if you make a payment that takes you overdrawn they will always honour the payment whether you go overdrawn or not... if you go overdrawn without an agreed overdraft.. you have to cough up unfortunately..... it's up to you to manage your account.... Harssh I know but thats the way they work

36square

In my experience a debit card transaction is reflected in the "available balance" at the close of the business day in which it occurred. It should then take a couple of working days for the transaction to be settled and reflected in the actual balance.
So you could go overdrawn on the day you made the debit card payment (assuning the bank allows it to go through) but if you go round to the bank the next day and pay in enough cash, your account will not show an overdrawn balance.
This idea of crediting the money back the next day sounds like complete nonsense.
Still it sounds as if you were overdrawn so they were bound to charge you.

SnowyOwl_2

Take your business elsewhere if you don't like how you get treated... there is plenty of competition. You might even get a free overdraft facility. It sounds like you've been shafted by the Ulster Bank.

rocket-socks

Usually the funds would go into "witholding" i.e set aside once auth on the debit cad transcations has been given, sound like the witholding expired pretty quick there, they should stay around 3 days to allow the retailers to come in and take the funds. You should switch though the NI banks will screw you over even more than the main UK banks.

BigAl94

Threaten to close your account if you do not get the fee refunded. If they want to retain you as a customer they will do so, if they don't - they won't.