Clearer Statements Wanted

Campain4Clarity

I have just made a payment from my bank account online - and found that when making the payment it only shows my AVAILABLE balance (which includes my £750 overdraft which is only in place for an emergency), but it does not show my ACTUAL balance. I think this is wrong and have written to Santander because it appears that you have more money than you really have and might encourage some to go into the red., rather thank think twice before making a payment.:mad:

Also why don't credit card companies make the date on your statement which you have to make the payment by, put in large print? It is a job to find it sometimes, although it is there I wish they would make the balance and the date you have to pay it by much clearer.:cool:

Does anyone agree?

ironlady2022

I think both balances should be shown with and without overdraft but if it only shows one balance- it will state 'including overdraft'. Regarding the due date in bigger font, you can opt in for larger font statements but all credit card companies are the same. Once you have found it, it will always be in the same position. If you don't like to make manual payments, I suggest a full DD to be set up.

Bloomberg

Campain4Clarity wrote: »

I have just made a payment from my bank account online - and found that when making the payment it only shows my AVAILABLE balance (which includes my £750 overdraft which is only in place for an emergency), but it does not show my ACTUAL balance. I think this is wrong and have written to Santander because it appears that you have more money than you really have and might encourage some to go into the red., rather thank think twice before making a payment.:mad:

Also why don't credit card companies make the date on your statement which you have to make the payment by, put in large print? It is a job to find it sometimes, although it is there I wish they would make the balance and the date you have to pay it by much clearer.:cool:

Does anyone agree?

Showing the available balance including the overdraft does not give you a true picture of what you actually have. It is almost as if the bank are trying to engender a feeling that overdraft is YOUR money. HSBC do the same thing as you have described which is not ideal.

As for the credit card payment due date I set a reminder on my BlackBerry so I am not overly fussed about the relevant information not being enlarged.

dunstonh

I'm surprised that they dont show both balances. Lloyds do.

Also why don't credit card companies make the date on your statement which you have to make the payment by, put in large print? It is a job to find it sometimes, although it is there I wish they would make the balance and the date you have to pay it by much clearer.

I dont see a problem there. Its usually pretty easy to find and with statement layouts not changing often, then its not really a big deal. I suspect if you asked different people what was most important, you would end up with having the whole statement being written in bold large text and be no better off.

dzug1

Surely when you first log on it shows you both your available balance and your actual balance?

You are a fool if you make a transfer without checking that ALL the transactions you are expecting have actually happened and taking account of them if they haven't.

Spiggle

I'm with Satander but it used to be an A&L account. When I log on I see 'Balance', 'Overdraft' and 'Available Balance' which is the combination of the first two minus any payments already drawn/in the process of being drawn.

izools

Campain4Clarity wrote: »

I have just made a payment from my bank account online - and found that when making the payment it only shows my AVAILABLE balance (which includes my £750 overdraft which is only in place for an emergency), but it does not show my ACTUAL balance. I think this is wrong and have written to Santander because it appears that you have more money than you really have and might encourage some to go into the red., rather thank think twice before making a payment.:mad:

Also why don't credit card companies make the date on your statement which you have to make the payment by, put in large print? It is a job to find it sometimes, although it is there I wish they would make the balance and the date you have to pay it by much clearer.:cool:

Does anyone agree?

No.

It is perfectly standard for pending transactions to show on available balance but not on the ledger balance.

The reasons for this are simple:

When you pay by card, and the retailer has not received the money yet, it does not show up on the ledger. But it is deducted from the available balance to remind you that you've just used your card and have that much waiting to come out.

When you pay in a cheque, the amount is added to the ledger as the bank have received the request but the available balance will only reflect the amount paid by cheque once your bank have received the funds and confirmation from the sending bank that the account has enough funds for the cheque drawn.

Or in your case, you have made a request to send money on a non banking day. As the transaction can't take place until banking hours resume, your available balance is deducted by the requested amount to reflect / remind you of your request, and the funds actually leave when it is a banking day.

The list goes on, but it's actually very simple.

Your available balance reflects how much you have to spend at that exact moment without incurring any charges or requesting an unauthorized overdraft.

Simples :beer:

EDIT: You should be grateful they deduct the requested amount from your available balance. A lot of banks, don't.

opinions4u

Also why don't credit card companies make the date on your statement which you have to make the payment by, put in large print? It is a job to find it sometimes, although it is there I wish they would make the balance and the date you have to pay it by much clearer.

I have held around 30 credit cards with a dozen or so companies over a 20 year period. I have never had a problem spotting the "due by" date on a statement.

Perhaps instead of larger print they should go the whole hog and send a singing telegram to your door to communicate the due date?

JuicyJesus

izools wrote: »

When you pay in a cheque, the amount is added to the ledger as the bank have received the request but the available balance will only reflect the amount paid by cheque once your bank have received the funds and confirmation from the sending bank that the account has enough funds for the cheque drawn.

Not true. With most if not all banks, a cheque being available for drawing does not necessarily mean it has been paid. It can still be returned up until the sixth working day after it was paid in, regardless of whether it's available on the payee's account or not.

Sorry, this is a common misconception and one a lot of people get caught out by.

izools

Thanks for the clarification Jucy. I'll remember that :beer:

opinions4u - classic :rotfl:

Deefw

Campain4Clarity wrote: »

I have just made a payment from my bank account online - and found that when making the payment it only shows my AVAILABLE balance (which includes my £750 overdraft which is only in place for an emergency), but it does not show my ACTUAL balance. I think this is wrong and have written to Santander because it appears that you have more money than you really have and might encourage some to go into the red., rather thank think twice before making a payment.:mad:

Also why don't credit card companies make the date on your statement which you have to make the payment by, put in large print? It is a job to find it sometimes, although it is there I wish they would make the balance and the date you have to pay it by much clearer.:cool:

Does anyone agree?

It's not just your bank. The Royal Bank of Scotland is the same. I used my card to buy goods and it only shows on my funds available, then 2 days later i notice that i have too much money in my funds available. Still nothing on my statement, only the funds available. Calls the bank they said as the shop took too long to take the money, the 'pending' account has thrown it back into my account! So i have spent the money, got the goods, but the bank thinks its ok to just put the untaken money back. If i didn't check my statements online like a crazy horse i could have a huge charge on my lap . Is this a bank scam to try and make us go into the red??? Just so they can extort money from us AGAIN! You tell me???
D x