Can i use my debit card the day before pay day?

never-in-doubt

Trains do not use live systems (nor the ticket desks that you queue at) so it would go through fine. They use an older system that actually stores the number etc and claims it at the next batch run..... for instance you can buy a ticket Monday and it won't get processed til Wednesday at which point it authorises and deducts from your available balance.

binaryuniverse

Things like this why I always carry a credit card with a nil balance on it just in case.

gfplux

With banks and banking always assume that it goes the banks way and you will never ever get bank charges again.

Mrs_Ryan

I thought that was the case - but I bought a ticket at a self-service machine last Saturday with my Capital One Visa and it left my account straight away...

never-in-doubt

Mrs_Ryan wrote: »

I thought that was the case - but I bought a ticket at a self-service machine last Saturday with my Capital One Visa and it left my account straight away...

Ahh, buy on the train or at the kiosk next time and then check

glider3560

never-in-doubt wrote: »

Trains do not use live systems (nor the ticket desks that you queue at) so it would go through fine. They use an older system that actually stores the number etc and claims it at the next batch run..... for instance you can buy a ticket Monday and it won't get processed til Wednesday at which point it authorises and deducts from your available balance.

First Great Western is an exception to the bit in bold. They process payments at ticket offices immediately online, hence why they are able to accept Solo and Electron at their ticket offices.

rb10

glider3560 wrote: »

First Great Western is an exception to the bit in bold. They process payments at ticket offices immediately online, hence why they are able to accept Solo and Electron at their ticket offices.

Do they do the same on their trains??

I bought a ticket on a First Great Western train a couple of weeks ago, and put my PIN in to the guard's machine. I was going away, so couldn't check online banking to see if it had been authorised straight away, but I'm assuming they had a satellite/mobile phone link. Previously I've had to sign on trains.

opinions4u

evabeaver wrote: »

I am getting paid on Wednesday, however I need to catch a train on Tuesday afternoon and I also need to pay for the train on that day. I have a visa debit Halifax card. If I try to charge the train fare to my card will I be charged for going over my overdraft limit or will this not clear until the next day?

There are some good ideas in the posts above.

To deal with your short term need I think getting your overdraft limit temporarily increased is the best option. This, if agreed, will ensure that you have no problems and can catch your train. You can make the request online or call them.

The other suggestion that may help you in future is to hold a credit card. Not necessarily for day to day spending but for one-offs like this situation.

To be totally honest with you though, I think you need to look at how you budget. It sounds like you get paid and spend it all and then struggle in the run up to pay-day.

I'd suggest a couple of things to address this:

- get in the habit of always leaving a minimum balance in your account (e.g. £100) just in case something unexpected comes up. If you can't do the whole thing in one go build it up monthly (e.g. £20 in Nov, £40 in Dec etc).

- why don't you have a contingency savings fund? If you can't afford a train ticket now, how on earth are you going to cope if you lose your job or are off work sick for an extended period?

Please give these 2 ideas some thought. Ideally you should have 3 months of net pay set aside for a crisis. At the moment it sounds like you have nothing. Start working towards it.

glider3560

rb10 wrote: »

Do they do the same on their trains??

I bought a ticket on a First Great Western train a couple of weeks ago, and put my PIN in to the guard's machine. I was going away, so couldn't check online banking to see if it had been authorised straight away, but I'm assuming they had a satellite/mobile phone link. Previously I've had to sign on trains.

No, still offline whilst on trains AFAIK (but I still have to sign on the train from my local station).

never-in-doubt

glider3560 wrote: »

First Great Western is an exception to the bit in bold. They process payments at ticket offices immediately online, hence why they are able to accept Solo and Electron at their ticket offices.

Fair point, thanks for clarifying this. Must be a new thing, maybe too much fraud etc (it was easy in the past to use a stolen card, apparently!).....

Their systems are sooooo outdated anyway really.... My train ticket fare comes out about 11 days after I do the trip so expenses is a nightmare to work out - i'm usually a month behind!