Lloyds reserving twice the transaction amount?

polkadot

I have two classic accounts with Lloyds TSB,one for direct debits and one for general housekeeping. I've noticed that they have started reserving twice the transaction amount.

I first noticed it when I did an Asda online shop-the total was £154, I logged in every day to check when it had gone off. The day it did I noticed that my available balance was still significantly lower than my current balance. When I did the maths-it was lower by £154.

I called the call centre and was told there was nothing they could do-it was Asda's choice to do this and I had to wait for Asda to release it.
They were pretty unhelpful (and rude to boot) so I called my branch manager. He immediately recognised what happened and released it.

This morning I was doing the books and noticed the same thing (current more than available) so I did the maths. It's an amount of £12.76-which is exactly the same amount that was processed yesterday for our Friday night curry which I ordered via Just-Eat.

Is it Lloyds doing it, or is it the vendor? Is it allowed? And if not, how do I put a stop to it? Isnt it bad enough we're already so strapped and have to deal with this?

Mark_In_Hampshire

Have a look at this - it sounds familiar:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2529913

pjread

Does it automatically release a day after the transaction?

Mark_In_Hampshire

I'd thought it was 72 hours, but varied by card scheme/issuer - though perhaps someone can confirm that. May be shorter these days.

Azrael_1701

Mark_In_Hampshire wrote: »

I'd thought it was 72 hours, but varied by card scheme/issuer - though perhaps someone can confirm that. May be shorter these days.

depends on the issuer, HBoS is 5 working days.

polkadot

Im not sure I understand about the 3 or 5 days thing. I can already see the amount of £12.76 on my bank statement paid to Just-eat, but there is still a difference of £12.76 between my current balance and my available balance.

Im not sure who asked about it releasing within a day, but no-it takes a few days. So basically if I wsant to make a transaction of £12.00 (for example) I need to ensure that I have £24 available for that transaction...or thats how it appears to me going by these transactions?

If I had an available balance of £30 on the day that I made the £12 transaction, I would only have had £6 available after that for another transaction in the same period.

I havent read the link provided yet as Ive been out at midwife appointments etc today, so I will read it now. Im really confused by this and worried that if it continues, I might run into charges if for example a DD was attempted at such a time.

dzug1

Pretty sure it's the vendor - the transaction is authorised when the order is placed.

When the order is completed they put the transaction through again - but neglect to cancel the original authorisation. Whether that's through ignorance, laziness, etc, I don't know. It's possible I suppose that the bank's system forces them to do it that way - which puts the blame back on the bank......

Mikeyorks

It's not the Bank. It's the retailer or the merchant acquirer who handles the retailer card transactions.

These are phantom transactions caused by the original not completing properly or incompetence. In the case of Asda it's likely the latter as it happens too often.

There is no link between the genuine transaction hitting your Bank account and the 'reserved' amount from the phantom transaction being returned to you. This depends on when your Bank software gives up waiting for the transaction to arrive - and returns the money to you. Despite a '5 day' guidance (which I can't access anymore ) from the association that 'regulates' card services .... banks do their own thing. Some are as short as 3 working days - in my experience Halifax is 7 working days.

How to avoid it ...... don't do online shops at Asda. But I think you're unfortunate the takeaway decided to join in co-incidentally? The ultimate deterrent is to use a Credit Card for all online transactions (same thing can happen - but you don't notice it as it's not your money in use at that point)

polkadot

Thanks Mike, I thought this was the case. I have considered getting a cash back credit card, but the last time I applied (and I dont remember when that was) it was declined. I had some credit outstanding with classic confidence at the time and this has now been paid off. I suppose potentially my credit rating could look better now but Im not sure where the best places are to check? I am a SAHM and my income into my bank account (which is used for household expenses) is about £690 a month (DLA,LHA and CB), so Im not sure Id qualify for one.

DH's credit card is maxed (in snowball at the moment) and he has a maxed out OD, so not sure he'd get another cc for the purpose (again, Ive never checked his credit rating as I dont know where to do it without paying hefty subscription fees?)