The missing one pound 6 November 2009 at 10:57AM in Budgeting & bank accounts 12 replies 21.5K views

irn-Bru_head

When checking my current account I have noticed over a period of time that once a month there is a 1 pound difference in account balance and available balance. This 1 pound disappears and then re-appears again in two days time. It doesn't leave the account, no transaction is processed, and it’s just unavailable. Now I know that I haven't used my debit card for 1 pound.
I called the bank and asked them what was going on and they couldn't say as the transaction hadn't gone through, but just earmarked. Therefore they were unable to trace the transaction and help me.
They did give one very strange explanation about an old debit card number can still be used to take money out of the account, but this only happens in special circumstances. To which I asked. What was the point of renewing debit cards if the old one can still withdraw money?
Question to you, has anybody else experienced this disappearing re-appearing pound??
I know it's only a pound, but its the fact that someone can make my money unavailable to me.

What if the bank are doing this to millions of other accounts, now that is a lot money to play with for two days

lincsdan86

irn-Bru_head wrote: »

When checking my current account I have noticed over a period of time that once a month there is a 1 pound difference in account balance and available balance. This 1 pound disappears and then re-appears again in two days time. It doesn't leave the account, no transaction is processed, and it’s just unavailable. Now I know that I haven't used my debit card for 1 pound.
I called the bank and asked them what was going on and they couldn't say as the transaction hadn't gone through, but just earmarked. Therefore they were unable to trace the transaction and help me.
They did give one very strange explanation about an old debit card number can still be used to take money out of the account, but this only happens in special circumstances. To which I asked. What was the point of renewing debit cards if the old one can still withdraw money?
Question to you, has anybody else experienced this disappearing re-appearing pound??
I know it's only a pound, but its the fact that someone can make my money unavailable to me.

What if the bank are doing this to millions of other accounts, now that is a lot money to play with for two days

This often happens with my Barclays account, one day it is unavailable and then the next day it has come back, it is very annoying and makes me think that someone is trying to use my account without my knowledge. Hence why I check it very day :rolleyes:

bobblebob

I called the bank and asked them what was going on and they couldn't say as the transaction hadn't gone through, but just earmarked. Therefore they were unable to trace the transaction and help me.

Thats not true. Play.com once did this to my account when i changed my card details. Thinking it was a scammer i asked my bank what pending transactions where on my account. They told me it was play.com. A few days later the money was put back in, even tho never taken like with you

ScottySmog

This happens to me quite frequently and I had no idea what it was.

Have you made an online payment using "Verified by Visa" lately?

It turns out they take an amount - usually £1 but sometimes £2.50 - which shows as pending for a week and then drops off without been taken.

soundbet

Lots of retailers do this as standard. They are testing your card to make sure its valid. The biggest culprit it Tesco. If you use pay at the pump to get petrol you'll see this happening.

kezzae

I have a Barclays account and this happens regularly to me too!!
I have Just checked and there is a difference of a pound showing this morning and I havent used my card to pay for anything.

chambta

Sounds like authorised POS transactions that are never actually debited. As soundbet says a card can and will be pre-authorised for things like petrol and this amount will drop off the system in approximately 48 hours.

jonathon

ScottySmog wrote: »

This happens to me quite frequently and I had no idea what it was.

Have you made an online payment using "Verified by Visa" lately?

It turns out they take an amount - usually £1 but sometimes £2.50 - which shows as pending for a week and then drops off without been taken.

thanks for that i have £2.50 pending and i think thats what it is.

poppie123

I checked my barclays account this morning to find £1 missing between cleared balance and balance.

I no longer use my debit card online/Phone transactions due to fraud in the past, (02 prepay ltd in September) i only ever use it to pay for stuff in shops (chip and Pin) and to withdraw money as i was advised by barclays that it is always best to use a credit card if shopping online.

I last used my debit card at lunch time on Tuesday in 2 shops.
Obviously i checked today and noticed the £1 and rang my bank who could see it was a pre authorization charge that was done on the Tuesday at 5pm. They said it was highly unlikely to be any of the shops and if i hadn't used it online maybe the best thing to do would be to cancel the card and get a new one re-issued.

So that is what i have done. To top it all one of the items i brought on Tuesday using my debit card i took back yesterday for a refund before any of this had happened. I have been told that the money should still go into my account even though the card is cancelled but until it does i will worry about it.

What a joke, i now feel that i don't even want to use my new debit card when i get it.

Lokolo

It will disappear in a few days, no need to sweat about it.

hopefulfooluk

Paypal causes this to happen too if you've got your card on file with them - every now and again they will check it by authorising a pound and then letting it drop off again. I think it's to check to make sure your bank account you have on file with them is still good - that's how they sometimes let you pay with instant bank transfers via DD, but if your card has expired, say, you often can't pay with a transfer.