Halifax Visa Debit Card Transaction Failure

strawberrylane

I tried to move some money online from my Halifax current account to my building society savings account this morning using my Halifax Visa debit card but the transaction failed. It did not fail cleanly, moreover it appeared to hang at the Verified By Visa stage for several minutes, then seemed to timeout. The building society website reported an unsuccessful transaction and the funds did not appear there. However, the "Available Balance" on my Halifax account has been reduced by the amount of the failed transaction, although the "actual" balance at the Halifax has not (yet?) been debited.

I phoned the Halifax and they provided me with the Authorisation Code for the transaction. The building society were able to find the transaction from the Authorisation Code I gave them, and they said that the transaction was logged as "cancelled" on their systems.

So, it appears that the building society will not be claiming the funds from the Halifax, but I do not now have access to the funds in my Halifax account as they have been subtracted from the Available Balance.

Halifax say that this situation could take up to 5 working days to resolve, ie. before the funds become "available" again in my bank account. Does this sound right? Is there any way of speeding things up?

I am keen to understand this as the transaction was for several thousand pounds.

Thanks for any help.

rb10

The building society needs to either:

Pursue it through their card systems provider; or
Provide you with a letter confirming the amount, date, time of transaction, auth code, and your 16-digit PAN from the front of the card, and state that they will not be claiming the funds. They/you then fax this to the Payment Services department at Halifax, who will cancel the authorisation.

strawberrylane

Thanks for the above rb10. I will try what you have said. 2 questions though:

Is there a contact phone number for the relevant people in Payment Services so I can speak/liaise with them in advance of sending the fax?

Secondly, if the building society won't provide something in writing, is it correct that the funds will be released back to me by the Halifax automatically after 5 working days if they are not claimed by the building society?

Thanks.