"Verified by Visa" does nothing!

FlatFour

Hi all,

First time poster here and of course I have a problem!

I've been using the "Verified by Visa" service on my Credit and Debit cards for ages. While a bit of a pain as I buy lots online I always thought it a useful thing to have...just in case.

Anyway I had a situation recently which surprised me, let me tell you what happened...

I went to order something online from a company I trust and have used lots of times. My intent was to do it on my credit card as usual. However, through not paying attention, I completed the transaction using my Debit Card by mistake. My fault as I'd been using my debit card moments earlier doing online banking and a momentary distraction (away from my desk) meant I sorta forgot which card I had out ready. Silly I know.

Anyway, I'd completed the online stores payment & got the usual "Verified by Visa" challenge screen. It was here that I realised I'd entered the wrong card details so it DID NOT validate the transaction with Verified by Visa.

I immediately telephoned the store, told them of my silly mistake, provided my Credit Card number and all was perfectly fine.

Call me paranoid (I KNOW you're all thinking it ) but I then went into my online banking to double check things. Imagine my surprise when, despite my NOT Authenticating the transaction in "Verified by Visa" that the money had left my account!!

I immediately called "Verified by Visa" as was rather confused by this. They said they could not help, but I had to go to my card issuer, even though it was THEIR service that had failed. I did this, had to answer several security questions (fine, happy with that) which consisted of me describing several recent transactions on my account in detail. I gave them FOUR transactions (regular DDs) of which they only recognised ONE *sigh* Anyway, once I was verified in their eyes I described the problem. They said they could see the transaction and that it'd NOT been authenticated by me, but could not explain why the money was still gone from my account. At this point the person "helping" me insisted that they'd have to change my "Verified by Visa" password now. I said no, I don't want you to, then insisted because I'd called them they had to. What rubbish. I knew at this stage I'd not get anything useful from them plus, despite working with Indians every day (one of my good friends & his wife are from India) I *really* struggled to understand this woman.

Anyway, I waited the 10 minutes, went into my "Verifed by Visa" account for my Debit Card, entered the temporary password, and changed my password to something better.

At the same time I thought it prudent to check the 2nd "Verifed by Visa" account I have for my Credit Card. I couldn't get in! My old password for this separate account no longer worked. I tried the temporary password from the Debit Card account just in case the two were in sync somehow. Nope. I tried the NEW password I'd just set for the Debit Card account. Nope.

Ok, I called "Verifed by Visa" once more, this time got through to an English girl who I could understand more clearly. I explained that somehow moments after my call to "Verified by Visa" about my Debit Card account, my Credit Card account was no longer accepting my password. She apologised for this but said that she cannot deal with Credit Card "Verified by Visa" accounts, only Debit Card ones!! Damn!

Ok, at this point I thought *I'd* better try to fix things & used the "I forgot my password" option on the web site. A bit insulting as I most certainly had NOT forgotten my password. So this finally got both my accounts working properly...the calls to "Verified by Visa" were pointless.

The next day I double check my current account again and the money is STILL MISSING! There is NO transaction on my account showing this, the values just drop. I.e. Balance after last transaction showing as x, current cleared funds showing as x - £300! I've no direct debits etc. of that amount, no where near, plus I do everything through my Credit Card usually. The "missing" amount ties in exactly with the amount in the transaction I did NOT authenticate in "Verified by Visa"!

So, to cut my very long story short (sigh of relief to be heard) I *declined* to give authorisation on a "Verified by Visa" transaction, yet the money still left my account. I thought that maybe it'd gone into a tempory holding area while it waited for "Verified by Visa" authentication, however I expected it to be back in my current account the next day! As it stands I'm over £300 down on where I should be.

Apologies for the very long post, just want to get peoples thoughts on this. I'm tempted to unsubscribe from "Verified by Visa" as I've spent ages on the phone and more time worrying.

Thanks for reading,

FlatFour.

noh

The money has been "earmarked" it hasn't been debited.
It should appear back as part of your available balance about 3 days after the original transaction.

FlatFour

Hi noh,

Thanks for the reply.

So my idea about it being in a "holding area" so to speak isn't too inacurate. I do still find it odd that there is NO transaction shown in my online banking detailed view, just a gap in my finances.

Bottom line is, at the moment at least, I have just over £300 less available to spend should I need it. Luckily I always leave a little buffer in my current account just in case, if I didn't I'd be overdrawn now & doubtless incuring charges...

Your comment has put my mind partially at rest, so thanks for that. I'll still not be totally happy though until the money is properly back & my "available funds" updated.

Cheers,

FlatFour.

FlatFour

Hi all,

Thought I'd better post back here as what happened is NOT what we thought!

Noh suggested that the money had basically been reserved hence why it was no longer showing in my bank. This made perfect sense but unfortunately is NOT the case!!

Despite me NOT authorising the transaction in "Verified by Visa" the money DID go to the vendor! I had to wait for them to issue a refund to my debit card.

So the lesson here is that if you DECLINE an authorisation request using "Verified by Visa" the money WILL still leave your account and go to the vendor. In my case the vendor was trusted and the transaction was down to my error. However this does indeed prove that "Verfied by Visa" is a pointless additional step as it most certainly does NOT stop your money going to a potentially unauthorised vendor!

What if someone had stolen my card? They'd have bought whatever they wanted, gotten to the "Verified by Visa" page, clicked Cancel (as I did) and still have been able to fraudulently aquire goods. If they knew I ordered from this particular vendor they'd likely also know that after the intial order you can elect to get goods sent to ANY address. Scary.

I think I'm going to have to make a complaint against Barclays now because of this as it makes a total mockery of the extra "Verified by Visa" steps many of us endure in our online transactions.

To be honest I'm stunned at this!

Any opinions / thoughts welcome.

Thanks,

FlatFour.

meer53

Just because you cancel out of the verified by visa screen doesnt mean that the retailer won't receive your money (as you've discovered) you can decline to use VBV but the transaction will still be processed.

For your first 3 purchases you have the option to not use VBV, after that you can still attempt to use your card but the system will warn you that further purchases may be declined. This might differ from bank to bank but thats what happens where i work. The cardholder can't "decline" transactions. Fraudsters can (and frequently do) change VBV details when using stolen cards to make purchases.

noh

What if someone had stolen my card? They'd have bought whatever they wanted, gotten to the "Verified by Visa" page, clicked Cancel (as I did) and still have been able to fraudulently aquire goods. If they knew I ordered from this particular vendor they'd likely also know that after the intial order you can elect to get goods sent to ANY address. Scary.

This is a feature of how the retailer has set up their system.
The use of verified by visa or the mastercard equivalent is not compulsory.
They have decided to take payments even if verfied by visa is not used but presumably not if the verification fails.
If verified by visa is used and a fraudulent transaction takes place then the liability falls on the bank.
If it is not used then the liability falls on the retailer.

Again if goods are delivered to any address other than the card holder address the liability for fraudulent transactions falls on the retailer.

FlatFour

Hi meer53, noh,

Thanks for your replies.

I didn't know that. I guess if I read the small print it'd likely tell me exactly what you've said. However how the whole "Verified by Visa" thing was sold to me in the first place was that it would prevent such transactions entirely, just incase my card/or card details were stolen/cloned.

I usually use my credit card for ALL transactions, but this one time I made a mistake & it's made me realise that things are not quite so clear cut as I expected.

The problem is that many people (thinking advisors in banks here) seem to paint a perfect picture of a product. You then trust their words rather than what you're asked to sign and end up not with what you expected.

Must admit, I've been signed up for Verified by Visa for so long now I forget when it all started - and how it all started.

It's all sorted now, but it's still a lesson to me to take a little more care.

I think I was a little more alarmed as this was directly from my current account rather than a credit card, potentially causing me no end of problems with failed payments etc. if I'd not had a slight buffer in the account - assuming this had been a fraudulent transaction for example.

Going to go an calm down now...I find that banking type issues stress me more than pretty much anything else!

Thanks again,

Flatfour.