feel like I am being told off for spending my own money

98sidney

I have a basic account with ABBEY. I also have a visa electron card on this account.

Saturday I went to withdraw money out and the machine took my card.
I went to the bank to try and take some money out of the bank, I had my passport and bills, but as I had no statement the cashier wouldnt let me.
She did however check my account and confirmed they hadnt taken my card, so fearing a dodgy cashpoint I asked her is there a way you can stop the card, No but come back with your statement and I will do so..

When I got home I rang the bank and they said its a dodgy cashpoint and my card has been cancelled..

Today however I recieve a letter saying a security threat had been noted on my account and please ring them, which I did my spending ways had differed this past month so to them it was sus, and I had put £100 on my o2 prepaid card the week before.
So the man admitted they had taken my card because of this..

This is the 2nd time they have blocked my card because of items I have bought online..

Am I the only one this has happened too?

Xbigman

This happens all the time. Some banks anti fraud software is over sensitive and once they have blocked you once it gets even more sensitive. It eventually goes away.
Regards



X

ARTooD2

That is true....I have 2 abbey accounts and my cards used to be blocked all the time because I was using it abroad frequently....For about the last year though have had no problems....

simax

You gotta love Lloyds TSB..... my Visa Debit card is used for transactions £5-£25 usually no more.

Today I spent £540 in one hit. Thought it may have triggered as an unusual transaction, but no.

Part of me is glad, but it did set me wondering....

McKneff

I find the best way, if youre going to make an unusual transaction then ring them up before hand.

We went to Holland last year and warned them before hand that we were going out of the country and would be spending around about £1k. They said (nationwide that it was as well that we did because our card would have been blocked)

Extant

simax wrote: »

You gotta love Lloyds TSB..... my Visa Debit card is used for transactions £5-£25 usually no more.

Today I spent £540 in one hit. Thought it may have triggered as an unusual transaction, but no.

Part of me is glad, but it did set me wondering....

The occasional big hit doesn't mean much - especially if it's not from a place which has recently been reported as being involved in a fraud.

A big hit means a lot more when it's preceded by several of your £5-25 transactions at places you don't normally shop, different geographical areas, etc.

I_know_my_ABC_and_my_CMYK

Halifax once phoned up to speak to my son when he was overseas last summer (2008) as they thought someone was using hius card fraudulently. The guy from Halifax asked me if i could tell him where he was, fortunately everything was fine the debits were my sons so they didn't block the card, but this was after £600 had been taken out from a cash machine.

Ems!

I find halifax to be crazy - had no problems spending in America for 3 1/2 weeks but wouldn't let me check my balcance online out there! Came home and got blocked less than 100 miles from my house (on a £30 purchase!!) . Would say that in the 12 months of having this bank account i have had the card blocked about 10 times (maybe 3 or 4 of these were for largeish (say £500) purchases.

Having said all that - I'd rather that than they never check! So, yes, annoying tho it is , not a huge issue and hopefully it will get better!!

simax

Extant wrote: »

The occasional big hit doesn't mean much - especially if it's not from a place which has recently been reported as being involved in a fraud.

A big hit means a lot more when it's preceded by several of your £5-25 transactions at places you don't normally shop, different geographical areas, etc.

The big debit was for a Thomson holiday (or should I say my half of it!) - the other ones are usually Asda or Tescos, all local.

That would explain why it's not flagged. Thank you.

sebtomato

98sidney wrote: »

Am I the only one this has happened too?

It has been happening to me with Barclays several times, see my other thread. I guess I need to find a bank that has a well-tuned, decent fraud detection system.

Clearly, I need to stay also clear of Abbey and Halifax.

Triggles

A few years ago, we went into Abbey and personally told them we were going to the states, gave them the dates of the travel, to make sure this didn't happen. They made a note on the file. And then it was blocked TWICE while we were there! Thank goodness I still had my US card with me at the time or we'd have been in big trouble, as they gave us a lot of hassle trying to get it sorted, especially the second time. And it wasn't for large purchases either. Just run of the mill stuff. I understand their need for fraud detection systems, but what's the point of going in and giving them the travel info if it's going to be disregarded anyway??