First Direct Internet Banking 'Available Balance'.....

ddm18

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but this was about as close to the subject as I could find. I was wondering whether any other FD customers have noticed the rogue £2 difference between the available balance (shown on the payments page) and the actual balance.

I see this sort of thing quite often. Let's say for this example that I have a £500 overdraft, and £100 in my account, the payments page will show:

Available balance: £600
Balance: £100

which is correct. Then I spend £10 on my debit card, and shortly afterwards I'll see:

Available balance: £588
Balance: £100

So, the available balance has gone down by the pending £10 transaction plus a mystery £2.

Then, after a few days when the transaction has finished processing, I'll see:

Available balance: £590
Balance: £90

So it's fixed itself, the mystery £2 has been equally mysteriously re-imbursed. It's always exactly £2, and I think it's pretty much every time I have pending transactions, but it might only be most of the time. Obviously it's no big deal most of the time, but I'm wondering what will happen if that £2 puts me into my overdraft one day... :S

Otherwise, I'm very happy with FD (I agree with the minor gripes above but I can live with them )

Baldur

ddm18 wrote: »

....the mystery £2 has been equally mysteriously re-imbursed. It's always exactly £2, and I think it's pretty much every time I have pending transactions, but it might only be most of the time. Obviously it's no big deal most of the time, but I'm wondering what will happen if that £2 puts me into my overdraft one day... :S

Otherwise, I'm very happy with FD (I agree with the minor gripes above but I can live with them )

The 'mystery £2' is not a discrepancy, it's an authorisation hold and is not specific to FD.

smileysmile67

I also find some of the information online very misleading. If you go to the direct debit and standing orders section it shows you the payment made and dates etc, but it includes payments that have been reversed - even if this was done immediately. Also, they do not show d.d.'s etc that have been paid and reversed on your account statement!! If they did so you would obviously know straight away there was a problem, but you have to go to a separate page re charges to find this info, and then it is very hard to understand. I was using this page to work out which payments were outstanding etc and this misinformation has caused me major grief. Seems like they almost want you to get into trouble?? By not being readily available this info makes you less likely to question the charges they levy on you!!!!

ddm18

Baldur wrote: »

The 'mystery £2' is not a discrepancy, it's an authorisation hold and is not specific to FD.

Really? The merchant / card processor / bank holds the amount I paid *plus £2*? That's not how I read the wiki article you linked to, nor how it's appeared to work for any other bank account I've had.

What I'm saying is that I spend £10, but my available balance decreases by *£12* i.e. £2 more than the £10 transaction. Once the transaction is processed the extra £2 disappears and my available balance ends up £10 less than it was when it started, which is correct.

I'm not saying you're wrong, just that it's never happened with any other bank account before, and I don't see why the hold would be for more than the cost of the transaction.

Baldur

ddm18 wrote: »

Really? The merchant / card processor / bank holds the amount I paid *plus £2*? That's not how I read the wiki article you linked to, nor how it's appeared to work for any other bank account I've had.

What I'm saying is that I spend £10, but my available balance decreases by *£12* i.e. £2 more than the £10 transaction. Once the transaction is processed the extra £2 disappears and my available balance ends up £10 less than it was when it started, which is correct.

I'm not saying you're wrong, just that it's never happened with any other bank account before, and I don't see why the hold would be for more than the cost of the transaction.

It's a test hold authorisation, made by the retailer to ensure the validity of the card/account (often for £1 or £2) and is quite common.

As you have noticed, it drops off after a few days.

ddm18

Baldur wrote: »

It's a test hold authorisation, made by the retailer to ensure the validity of the card/account (often for £1 or £2) and is quite common.

As you have noticed, it drops off after a few days.

OK - interesting. It just seems odd, because I don't think I've changed my purchasing habits at all, just my bank account. I guess there must be something I'm doing now that has a £2 hold. I shall try and sniff it out

Thanks very much

dzug1

The test hold is done BEFORE the transaction. The transaction is then done, and the hold then 'times out' after a day or two.