MBNA allowed a transaction after I cancelled CC

sman_uk

Hi there

Looking for some advice really. I had an MBNA Amex card that was on quite a low interest rate. MBNA wrote to me this year stating that they were going to put the interest up and gave me the opportunity to cancel my card and pay it off at the old interest rate. They stopped the card (see message below) and advised that the card would not be able to be used for transactions. However this month they have allowed a transaction from an overseas internet service provider that I had neglected to change the details on.

I have asked MBNA to reverse the transaction and explain why they allowed it in the first place.

I am afraid that they will put the interest rate up. Am I able to get the transaction reveresed?

This is the confirmation that MBNA gave me.

>>Received: 21/10/2009
>>from Customer Service
>>Thank you for contacting us regarding your rate change. I confirm your >>account will remain at the current standard rates. Also your account >>cannot be used for any future transactions, once the balance reaches >>zero your account will be closed. Please ensure any subscriptions or >>regular payments on this account are cancelled. You can request to opt >>back in at any time (subject to a review of the account when this >>request is made). I confirm that your airmiles are transferred to >>Diamond Club on a monthly basis, therefore you will not loose any >>existing air miles. Please note you will no longer be able to earn airmiles >>going forward. Many thanks.

ILW

sman_uk wrote: »

Hi there

Looking for some advice really. I had an MBNA Amex card that was on quite a low interest rate. MBNA wrote to me this year stating that they were going to put the interest up and gave me the opportunity to cancel my card and pay it off at the old interest rate. They stopped the card (see message below) and advised that the card would not be able to be used for transactions. However this month they have allowed a transaction from an overseas internet service provider that I had neglected to change the details on.

I have asked MBNA to reverse the transaction and explain why they allowed it in the first place.

I am afraid that they will put the interest rate up. Am I able to get the transaction reveresed?

This is the confirmation that MBNA gave me.

>>Received: 21/10/2009
>>from Customer Service
>>Thank you for contacting us regarding your rate change. I confirm your >>account will remain at the current standard rates. Also your account >>cannot be used for any future transactions, once the balance reaches >>zero your account will be closed. Please ensure any subscriptions or >>regular payments on this account are cancelled. You can request to opt >>back in at any time (subject to a review of the account when this >>request is made). I confirm that your airmiles are transferred to >>Diamond Club on a monthly basis, therefore you will not loose any >>existing air miles. Please note you will no longer be able to earn airmiles >>going forward. Many thanks.

It appears it was your responsibility to cancel any subscriptions etc, so you cannot blame MBNA. They may keep the lower rate though if you ask them nicely.

sman_uk

ILW wrote: »

It appears it was your responsibility to cancel any subscriptions etc, so you cannot blame MBNA. They may keep the lower rate though if you ask them nicely.

Thanks for you reply ILW.

But surely if I say that I want a card cancelled/closed that no new transactions can be put on it. It also states that:
"Your account cannot be used for any future transactions".

It also does not say "Please ensure any subscriptions or regular payments on this account are cancelled as future transactions could still be added to your account" as this would then contradict the first statement.

This is half the problem with big card companies. The semi implied and ambiguous statements

sman

System

You have a continuous payment authority. It is therefore not a new transaction but a regular payment. You will need to arrange with the overseas internet provider to take payment in another way.collections

There is nothing ambiguous. A subscription or regular payment is not a new transaction it is a continuation of an existing arrangement.

sman_uk

!!!!!! wrote: »

You have a continuous payment authority. It is therefore not a new transaction but a regular payment. You will need to arrange with the overseas internet provider to take payment in another way.collections

There is nothing ambiguous. A subscription or regular payment is not a new transaction it is a continuation of an existing arrangement.

Thanks for the reply !!!!!!, fair comments. However the dubious practice of accepting transactions after a card is cancelled even if they are a "subscription or regular payments" is only designed to keep punters in debt and is, frankly, unfair practice. It would be trivial for banks to set a system to decline all payments on a cancelled card or flag it up for customer review.

Alex_LS

You think it would be trivial, you mean.

sman_uk

Alex_LS wrote: »

You think it would be trivial, you mean.

Coming from a technical background I can say that setting something like this up would be trivial, technically.

If card is cancelled or card is overdrawn then

Decline Transaction
End

Where the issues start to arise is with the Board of a bank willingly making a change to a system that means less money coming in. Oh and not enough people complaining.

Simples!

ILW

sman_uk wrote: »

Coming from a technical background I can say that setting something like this up would be trivial, technically.

If card is cancelled or card is overdrawn then

Decline Transaction
End

Where the issues start to arise is with the Board of a bank willingly making a change to a system that means less money coming in. Oh and not enough people complaining.

Simples!

Why would they want to do that?

Alex_LS

sman_uk wrote: »

Coming from a technical background I can say that setting something like this up would be trivial, technically.

If card is cancelled or card is overdrawn then

Decline Transaction
End

Where the issues start to arise is with the Board of a bank willingly making a change to a system that means less money coming in. Oh and not enough people complaining.

Simples!

And you have, of course, considered the overheads (financial, business impact, etc.) required in addition to the simple technicality of the logic flow haven't you? Also the fact that this could not be a unilateral decision by a single card scheme member. Banking systems are not GCSE projects.

Or do you really think that the odd recurring transaction on a cancelled card and the possible subsequent chargeback are actually the reason the 'board' would want to maintain the status quo?

bengal-stripe

Continuous Payment Authorities’ or ‘Recurring Payments’ cannot be cancelled by the bank,
only by the company receiving the payment.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/recurring-payments

Even if the account is closed, the bank is duty bound to re-open the account again.

Those payments have to be cancelled at the beneficiary’s end. You failed to advise them of the change,
so they collected the money in the usual way as it became due.

Don’t blame the bank!

cse

It isn't as simple as "If card is cancelled or card is overdrawn then Decline Transaction" - continuous payment authorities do not receive an authorisation once the first payment has processed successfully, so there is no oppurtunity to decline the transaction

More to the point, in this case MBNA have said "You can request to opt back in at any time". Making another transaction is probably considered to be a request to opt back in, which they have accepted