Debit card trans not being earmarked.

wafflesandbeans

Hi, I have had a few transactions in the past where money has not been earmarked by the retailer at point of sale, and has been debited a few days later. I have used my debit card in Boots and Aldi in the past couple of days, yet what I have spent has not been reflected in my available balance. (available bal was £30.00 before, and is £30.00 now). I've looked at some of the other threads in the forum but I couldn't see anything that might explain this.

I don't think this is normal practice for card transactions, or is it? I don't notice it happening very often, and it doesn't bother me too much as I keep to a tight budget, but I was under the impression that retailers normally earmark. Is there anyone with the know-how that can tell me why this might happen?

Thanks much

molerat

I find that Boots and Aldi are the two that often for some reason do not log instantly but having shopped in both this week they have so who knows.

MABLE

I find when I use my contactless card issued by BC that the transaction never gets earmarked.

InsideInsurance

There is no actual requirement for them to ringfence money, just as there is no actual requirement for them to seek card authorisation or do any security checks. The more that they do do in terms of these different options however the more likely they get their money and the less transaction fees they pay.

Different vendors take a different position on what they see cost effective for them to do when balancing implementation costs & running costs -v- reducing fraud & non-payment -v- creating barriers to purchase

Its just always a case of having to be aware of your spending against your balance and not relying on the fact that just because you've paid for something using plastic that the money goes instantly

ihateyes

exactly. some shops have had is called a 'floor limit'. therefore they dont always get real time authorisation. thus it doesnt show immediately.

Gromitt

If the shop doesn't do a full auth then your card payment will be processed faster and they'll be onto their next customer. If they do, then the transaction takes longer and your at the till longer.

In Home Bargains it seems like any transaction under £10 gives you an instant "remove card" after verifying your PIN, where as a tranasction over £10 says "Please wait" afterwards. The difference is about 5 - 6 seconds in total. The first doesn't show up as a transaction for about 3 days, the second shows up within hours.

They are probably thinking that people who steal CCs and DDs are unlikely to be making small purchases, they'll typically go for several hundreds of pounds.

reclusive46

Is it just me or is it full auth chip and pin transactions that are slow? I was in the US and if it was under 25 dollars you don't need to sign either and when they swiped it through, it seemed to go through instantly (As in receipt would print straight away) and all US transactions are online.

pqrdef

I expect this will become more common as contactless cards take over. It will upset a lot of people who rely on their available balance.

wafflesandbeans

Thanks a lot for the replies, they have all been helpful. I'm glad I now know the technical reasoning behind it! I can see why Aldi do it, the cashiers have to move at lightspeed...

Gromitt

reclusive46 wrote: »

Is it just me or is it full auth chip and pin transactions that are slow?

No, I feel that way too, thinking "Why it is taking so long, is it dialling a number to confirm the payment?", whilst feeling guilty about holding up the queue of customers. My Home Bargains transaction was the exact opposite, it was quicker than paying with cash.

reclusive46 wrote: »

I was in the US and if it was under 25 dollars you don't need to sign either and when they swiped it through, it seemed to go through instantly

It doesn't go through instantly, but they have calculated that the number of sub $25 purchases that are fraudulent are low, so they can afford to take the hit if it gets refused or reported as such later.

Macca83_2

I've only ever seen it happen once with my accounts. Paid for a hotel in Edinburgh and it took them 2 months to take the money which drove me a bit spare as i only usually keep what i have to in my current account. They didn't ear mark at it any point.