Banks earning money from petrol stations.

27col

It strikes me that there are a few people on here who need to get a grip of their finances. I not see how it is remotely possible to run a car if you cannot afford to spend a fiver on petrol without going overdrawn.

Dr.Shoe_2

I hardly use my debit card for anything other than petrol and/or cash withdrawals so I've always got a good Idea to the nearest tenner of how much I have left...

hoyles10

27col wrote: »

It strikes me that there are a few people on here who need to get a grip of their finances. I not see how it is remotely possible to run a car if you cannot afford to spend a fiver on petrol without going overdrawn.

I'm sure there are times where people are a bit short or something happens where they only need or be able to afford a small amount of petrol at that moment, it doesn't mean they've not got a grip on their finances or can't afford to spend money on petrol without going overdrawn.

I've been in a situation where I have been half way down the M62 when I realised that I had left my suit jacket in my office and my wallet was in it. I had to pull into the services and put £4.26 (the total amount of change I had) in petrol in my car to make sure I got home ok, that doesn't mean i've not got a grip on my finances it just means i'm a little forgetful for leaving my jacket.

hoyles10

Dr.Shoe wrote: »

I hardly use my debit card for anything other than petrol and/or cash withdrawals so I've always got a good Idea to the nearest tenner of how much I have left...

I'm the same I know within a couple of pounds how much I should have in my bank and available to spend on my credit card. I never used to but someone banked a £150 cheque about 7 months after i'd given it them and totally forgot i'd written it in the first place which knackered me up a bit. Since then I make sure I keep track of what comes and goes out of my accounts.

molerat

How did we ever manage in "the old days" before electronic point of sale when all you got was a bit of paper out of the zip zap machine and it appeared on your account about a week later but you didn't see it until your statement arrived weeks later. People seem to have forgotten their personal responsibility and assume the electronic banking system will do it all for them. We all know what assume does

Pound

maxfactor wrote: »

Quick reply,and I do keep extremely good track of my finances!

If you keep extremely good track of your finances then you would know there's a payment for petrol due even if the money hadn't been earmarked because you'd have it all written down.

It doesnt pend genious everything else does.

Only if the retailer has their tills linked with the banks, some retailers may choose not to. For example, ticket collectors on trains can take card payments with a mobile device but this isn't usually linked up to anything so this money wouldn't be earmarked.

hoyles10

I was speaking to a friend earlier who works at a Tesco fuel station and she's under the impression that if you use the self service machines then they will tell the user that they have a maximum spend of £70 regardless of if they have the money in the bank or credit card. From what she said this is so people are able to put fuel in their car in case of emergency and to get them home rather than breaking down by running out of fuel.

I'm not sure if this is the case but it would explain why people can over spend on their accounts.

I know from experience that HSBC do similar with the account we have. We don't have an overdraft and a while ago the day before pay day I checked my balance for that account which was £76, went to withdraw some money and not really paying attention I pressed £200 (which was above the Other Amount button) which it gave me. I called HSBC straight away and explained the situation and asked them where the nearest branch was so I could pay it back in. The woman was very helpful and told me that I wouldn't be charged as it was the first time it had happened and after asking a couple of questions she explained that even though I didn't have an overdraft because I checked my balance first then tried to withdraw more than what was in my account it would give it me as it's classed to them as an emergency and I may be stuck somewhere without any money.

custardy

hoyles10 wrote: »

The other thing i've noticed about using the self serve fuel stations at supermarkets is when I use a credit card it always tells me that it's authorised up to a maximum of £70 spend.

I now only have 1 card with a very small limit and I knew that I only had at the most £35 on it until I paid it off at the end of the month, so it's making it way to easy for people to go over their agreed credit card limits as well.

but i have used it to my benefit by filling up just before payday,so getting a sort of fee free overdraft

glider3560

Its a shame banks don't include the pages in their cheque books anymore where you can record your spending (presumably because people don't use them anymore). It seems that in recent years, people now want to blame someone else for their own incompetence. If you can't keep track of how much money you have in your bank account, then should you really have a bank account?

Think back 10-20 years when most transactions would be processed offline and not submitted to the bank for some time - how did people cope then without blaming their bank?

vikingaero

hoyles10 wrote: »

I was speaking to a friend earlier who works at a Tesco fuel station and she's under the impression that if you use the self service machines then they will tell the user that they have a maximum spend of £70 regardless of if they have the money in the bank or credit card. From what she said this is so people are able to put fuel in their car in case of emergency and to get them home rather than breaking down by running out of fuel.

I'm not sure if this is the case but it would explain why people can over spend on their accounts.

I don't think it does. I have a prepaid Euro Mastercard that I load for holidays. Sometimes when I come back I get rid of the balance by buying petrol at Tescos and when I insert it, the machine only authorises, the amount left on the card whether it's £90 or £31.