Lloyds TSB & Available Balance issues

jamierogan26

Good Morning,

I want to put out this occurance i have with my Bank account mainly to see if its normal or if this is a Lloyds TSB issue.

Currently i have a Platinum acct with Lloyds and check my online banking every 1-3 days depending on my debit card usage.

We all know that we all have "Account Balance" and "Available Balance" Figures and i always look at "Available Balance" when checking how much i really have in my acct. I understand that if i use my debit card in a store for a purchase of £30 the "Account Balance" may not be updated for 3-5 working days, however the "Available Funds" is updated straight away.

My question is has anyone noticed when not even the "Available Balance" doesn't update either? This is starting to occur quite frequently for myself and it is making it more tricky to know what has been "earmarked" on the "Available Balance" which makes it difficult to know the true balance of my acct.

This is my example:-

On Friday i bought some food for a BBQ from Sainsburys which came to £30. On Friday evening i checked my online banking with Lloyds and looked at the "Available Balance" NOT "Acct Balance" which show £250 available.

I have not used my card or acct this weekend nor on Monday. However today that £30 has come out of the "Available Balance" & "Account Balance"

My question is why didn't my "Available balance" not update almost straight away as the funds should really have been "earmarked"

I rang up Lloyds to ask how they calculate both acct balance figures to which they gave me the usual explanation. When i told them the scenario they replied saying that it wasn't their issue but 99% of retailers usually earmark funds the minute you use your debit card but sometimes it doesn't happen.

I was under the assumption (Maybe thats my mistake) that in this world of internet banking and 247 access the available balance was always up to date. Obviously not.

So i suppose the only way to be 100% sure is check online banking before you make a purchase and then again after to see if it has come out of the available balance figure?

I would like to know if anyone else has experienced this, whether it is normal? Or is this a Lloyds TSB system issue?

Cheers!

dr_adidas01

jamierogan26 wrote: »

Good Morning,

I want to put out this occurance i have with my Bank account mainly to see if its normal or if this is a Lloyds TSB issue.

Currently i have a Platinum acct with Lloyds and check my online banking every 1-3 days depending on my debit card usage.

We all know that we all have "Account Balance" and "Available Balance" Figures and i always look at "Available Balance" when checking how much i really have in my acct. I understand that if i use my debit card in a store for a purchase of £30 the "Account Balance" may not be updated for 3-5 working days, however the "Available Funds" is updated straight away.

My question is has anyone noticed when not even the "Available Balance" doesn't update either? This is starting to occur quite frequently for myself and it is making it more tricky to know what has been "earmarked" on the "Available Balance" which makes it difficult to know the true balance of my acct.

This is my example:-

On Friday i bought some food for a BBQ from Sainsburys which came to £30. On Friday evening i checked my online banking with Lloyds and looked at the "Available Balance" NOT "Acct Balance" which show £250 available.

I have not used my card or acct this weekend nor on Monday. However today that £30 has come out of the "Available Balance" & "Account Balance"

My question is why didn't my "Available balance" not update almost straight away as the funds should really have been "earmarked"

I rang up Lloyds to ask how they calculate both acct balance figures to which they gave me the usual explanation. When i told them the scenario they replied saying that it wasn't their issue but 99% of retailers usually earmark funds the minute you use your debit card but sometimes it doesn't happen.

I was under the assumption (Maybe thats my mistake) that in this world of internet banking and 247 access the available balance was always up to date. Obviously not.

So i suppose the only way to be 100% sure is check online banking before you make a purchase and then again after to see if it has come out of the available balance figure?

I would like to know if anyone else has experienced this, whether it is normal? Or is this a Lloyds TSB system issue?

Cheers!

Its normal not all retailers earmark the full amount when you pay for something, from my experience Asda don't earmark the full amount when you pay for your shopping, they earmark £1 then a few days later they collect the full amount.

Also pay at the pump petrol stations don't always earmark the full amount either just £1 then collect the money 2-3 days later.

As most people will tell you never go off what your internet banking says, you should be keeping a mental note of what you have in and what you have spent. I find keeping the receipts for items purchased helps me know how much I've spent and how much I should have left.

Jamie_Carter

It all depends on the card merchant company that the store uses. Some earmark them money immediately, some take the money immediately, some don't take it for a few days.

I remember years ago being told that debit card payments took the same time as cheques to clear. So I used mine at Tescos, and it put me overdrawn. So I asked the bank, who said that most of the supermarkets take the money immediately.

dalesrider

jamierogan26 wrote: »

I was under the assumption (Maybe thats my mistake) that in this world of internet banking and 247 access the available balance was always up to date. Obviously not.

I would like to know if anyone else has experienced this, whether it is normal? Or is this a Lloyds TSB system issue?

Cheers!

Your online balance is as update as it can be.

A bank can not know you have used your card, untill the retailer processes the transaction.
As other have pointed out. If you use ANY self service checkout a retailer will auth for a small amount and then debit for the full amount. Compared to when you go through a manned checkout, where they tend to auth the full amount straight away.
Experiance shows that shopping on a friday night, often means that the debit will not show fully until monday or even tuesday in some cases.
But that is a dangerous game to play as it is not always the case.
So keeping a eye via online banking can ensure you can get funds into your account in time to ensure no charges, if you are running close to your limit.

dr_adidas01

dalesrider wrote: »

Your online balance is as update as it can be.

A bank can not know you have used your card, untill the retailer processes the transaction.
As other have pointed out. If you use ANY self service checkout a retailer will auth for a small amount and then debit for the full amount. Compared to when you go through a manned checkout, where they tend to auth the full amount straight away.
Experiance shows that shopping on a friday night, often means that the debit will not show fully until monday or even tuesday in some cases.
But that is a dangerous game to play as it is not always the case.
So keeping a eye via online banking can ensure you can get funds into your account in time to ensure no charges, if you are running close to your limit.

I think you have missed the point on this one dalesrider!!!

The OP stated that his online banking isn't always up to date and yet you say "So keeping a eye via online banking can ensure you can get funds into your account in time to ensure no charges, if you are running close to your limit" how would this help in the OP's case?

Also its the other way around on check outs, the self service ones tend to seek full authorisation for the amount being processed yet going through a manned till only usually seeks authorisation of the £1. This I've noticed happen in Sainsburys and also Asda.

When I've shopped at Tesco it usually authorises the full amount of your shopping.

jamierogan26

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

Like i stated before i completely understand that "Account Balance" can be a number of days behind and as i already stated i regularly check online banking and i only take notice of "Available Balance"

I always thought that the "Available Balance" was updated almost straight away. ie as soon as i paid at the till in Sainsburys via debit card my available balance would read £30 less as its earmarking that amount until the actual money goes out of my acct a few days later.

I always thought that Available balance was up to date. But this assumption on my behalf must be wrong.

I already keep a close eye on my finances and it probably means i need to keep a closer eye.

Cheers

Jamie_Carter

jamierogan26 wrote: »

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

Like i stated before i completely understand that "Account Balance" can be a number of days behind and as i already stated i regularly check online banking and i only take notice of "Available Balance"

I always thought that the "Available Balance" was updated almost straight away. ie as soon as i paid at the till in Sainsburys via debit card my available balance would read £30 less as its earmarking that amount until the actual money goes out of my acct a few days later.

I always thought that Available balance was up to date. But this assumption on my behalf must be wrong.

I already keep a close eye on my finances and it probably means i need to keep a closer eye.

Cheers

As I said previously, different merchant companies, and secure gateways operate differently.

With one company that I used to use where I used to work, the system will check for authorisation from the bank, but transactions of under £20 aren't checked. But details were not passed to the merchant company until early hours of the following morning. Then it is the merchant company who earmark the money.

dalesrider

dr_adidas01 wrote: »

I think you have missed the point on this one dalesrider!!!

The OP stated that his online banking isn't always up to date and yet you say "So keeping a eye via online banking can ensure you can get funds into your account in time to ensure no charges, if you are running close to your limit" how would this help in the OP's case?

Also its the other way around on check outs, the self service ones tend to seek full authorisation for the amount being processed yet going through a manned till only usually seeks authorisation of the £1. This I've noticed happen in Sainsburys and also Asda.

When I've shopped at Tesco it usually authorises the full amount of your shopping.

Well, Never seen a self service auth for the full amount in 5 years of checking accounts.

The advice on online banking was a generic one and not aimed just at the OP.
As clearly until you either see avaiable balance drop, or the debit. There is little you can do.

dr_adidas01

dalesrider wrote: »

Well, Never seen a self service auth for the full amount in 5 years of checking accounts.

The advice on online banking was a generic one and not aimed just at the OP.
As clearly until you either see avaiable balance drop, or the debit. There is little you can do.

Based clearly on your spelling of Checking accounts (American) and UK and Europe where its Chequeing account.

You must either be based in the USA or other country and would have no idea how the UK banking system works and how pre-authorisations here in the UK work!!!

fleetwoodguy

just to add a little more, to this i shop almost daily at M&S and also check my online accounts daily. never do i remember it not taking off the amount i'd just spent at the till right away.

this friday i bought something on the debit card - and the transaction didn't affect the available balance at all, until it came out of my account properly yesterday afternoon. maybe there's some link to this - i'm with halifax.

MoneySaverLog

"Funds available" will show your balance (including any overdraft) and take out anything earmarked for payment. Usually they earmark a pound and then take the rest a few days later when I buy petrol using my card.

The balance on the "Your Accounts" home page does not include these earmarked funds