Nationwide Fraud on Debit Card (Are they breaking the law?)

mrjam

Basically, got paid on friday into my nationwide flex account, this morning went to get some cash out and was refused. Checked my balance and it was £1590.63 but available balance was £0.00 - Phoned nationwide in a panic who said basically transactions for £500, £250, £250, £100, £100, £50 and so on right down to the last penny!! were pending. I spoke to the fraud department who told me it will take them 5 working days to "respond to my claim" but until then nothing could be done. With some advice from a friend at work he told me under the PSD (payment services directive) the money is legally required to be refunded IMMEDIATELY, not within 5 days, and that these new laws came into effect in 2009. He's a financial advisor and pretty clued up on these things and from what i've read online it looks true what he is saying. I've phoned Nationwide and told them this but they arent budging. Any ideas?

rb10

This sort of thing happens frequently - at the moment the transactions are just 'pending', and no money has yet been taken from your account. Once the money has been debited, they should then refund it straight away.

meer53

They can't refund transactions which haven't debited yet. If they're authorisations, as soon as they debit, they should be refunded.

ihateyes

mrjam wrote: »

Basically, got paid on friday into my nationwide flex account, this morning went to get some cash out and was refused. Checked my balance and it was £1590.63 but available balance was £0.00 - Phoned nationwide in a panic who said basically transactions for £500, £250, £250, £100, £100, £50 and so on right down to the last penny!! were pending. I spoke to the fraud department who told me it will take them 5 working days to "respond to my claim" but until then nothing could be done. With some advice from a friend at work he told me under the PSD (payment services directive) the money is legally required to be refunded IMMEDIATELY, not within 5 days, and that these new laws came into effect in 2009. He's a financial advisor and pretty clued up on these things and from what i've read online it looks true what he is saying. I've phoned Nationwide and told them this but they arent budging. Any ideas?

Have you taken out a payday loan or even paid a loan for someone??
sounds like the practice of a PDL.

Also id ask the bank why this didnt trigger a fraud alert.

mrjam

Thanks for the responses. No, i havent taken out any type of loan (other than my car loan which i've been paying monthly by DD for the past 2 years with no issues). I did enquire as to why this didnt look suspicious to their computers and was given a load of rubbish about not wanting to inconvenience customers, the example she gave was "If you were buying presents online and we stopped your card obviously it would inconvenience you".... Not really the point i was getting at but i find it completely pointless arguing with them on the phone as it's never got me anywhere.

They told me that they cant see where or who has taken the money, and that once the account has debited (in a few days) only THEN it will take 5 working days to respond to the claim, i said i need the money and they werent interested. Luckily my wife has a seperate bank account and has just been paid too, but that's not the point.

alanq

"How quickly must my bank refund me for an unauthorised transaction?

The bank must make the refund immediately unless it has evidence that one of the above reasons applies." (you authorised the transactions or you have acted fraudulently or with negligence)
http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/consumer_info/know_your_rights_guide.pdf

mrjam

Thanks Alan, so i am in the right in saying that as soon as these debits clear, i should be refunded and not have to wait 5 working days. So legally i'm right, but actually getting anyone to do anything about it is a different matter i guess.

meer53

Are these cash withdrawals ? Have you lost your card ?

If they are and Nationwide can see that your card and PIN were used, this may be why they aren't refunding straight away.

mrjam

meer53 wrote: »

Are these cash withdrawals ? Have you lost your card ?

If they are and Nationwide can see that your card and PIN were used, this may be why they aren't refunding straight away.

No, they are debit card transactions, i have my card still and havent ever let anyone else use it or have the pin etc, i've told them all this. I was asked "Are you sure you havent forgotten you've made these transactions?" - i think i'd remember the following day if i'd spent my entire salary overnight. Suppose they are just covering their own backs but still, i'd like them to stick to the FSA & Payment Services Directive and actually do as they are legally required to, when will banks ever work inside the law!?!

meer53

mrjam wrote: »

No, they are debit card transactions, i have my card still and havent ever let anyone else use it or have the pin etc, i've told them all this. I was asked "Are you sure you havent forgotten you've made these transactions?" - i think i'd remember the following day if i'd spent my entire salary overnight. Suppose they are just covering their own backs but still, i'd like them to stick to the FSA & Payment Services Directive and actually do as they are legally required to, when will banks ever work inside the law!?!

They should refund then as soon as the debits appear on your account. They can't refund before then as not all the transactions may debit. Some retailers may have been suspicious and may not complete the transactions.

They will stick to PSD regulations, but can't refund something which hasn't technically debited.

mrjam

meer53 wrote: »

They should refund then as soon as the debits appear on your account. They can't refund before then as not all the transactions may debit. Some retailers may have been suspicious and may not complete the transactions.

They will stick to PSD regulations, but can't refund something which hasn't technically debited.

Thanks but they arent sticking to PSD regulations, they have told me i wont get an immediate refund and that from the time the transactions actually debit it will take 5 working days. That's not immediate to me.