Cancelled transactions - harassed by fraud-prevention

fozmcfc

I stopped using my Natwest card, because of the amount of times it was turned down, including one time abroad.

I would then get a letter a few days later, asking me to ring them to get the card unblocked.

I can appreciate maybe a very large purchase, or a very small purchase, or several purchases in quick succession being flagged up now and then, but my transactions were pretty standard at large well known shops for between £50 - £100 once or twice a month. You could guarantee that at least one in every 3 or 4 would be blocked. In the end it wasn't worth the hassle and embarrassment of trying to use the card.

Mind you it doesn't surprise me, I have, well think I have 2 Natwest cards active. The other card was blocked every time and and just not re-issued to me, with the balance at £0. According to Natwest it isn't active, but my online banking shows it as £0 balance, £0 available.

I've never received a letter to say, the account was being closed or a card wouldn't be re-issued to me.

dalesrider

Adyc wrote: »

Dalesrider, my point is that I would have been grateful for a call, it would have saved the hassle I am going through now. Phishing, I'm pretty careful, and as I say passwords are random in my head. This has been going on for a while:

A website is only as secure as the passwords people use. Same one used all over? If thats the case then one sites hacked, can lead to compromise elsewhere.

One way they will look at it is via ip's that have accessed the site.
This type of fraud is hard to defend. As you would be surprosed at the number of people who mve and do change passwords etc at the same time, as well as moving money around.
Moving is a expensive time.
You also have to wonder if some people use location based passwords.

Security systems are more aimed at card transactions, than other types of fraud.

dalesrider

stclair wrote: »

The Natwest Fraud department is not open 24/7 for customer contact.

Not going to get into another spat

But in this day of worldwide travel and 24/7 usage. Time they thought about it.


Interesting to note from NW site..

Need help urgently?

In an emergency

If you think your account has been fraudulently used, or if your card is lost or stolen,
it's important to get in contact with us as soon as possible.

Sad to say that NW does not even give times on lost/stolen line.... And offers a 0870 number
Some on the cards blocked abroard....

Perhaps you need to add another idea to the site....
On the need help in a emergency page..... ADD SOME TIMES the lines are open.
No time to me screams they are 24/7

Helpful banking I think not.

stclair

dalesrider wrote: »

Not going to get into another spat

But in this day of worldwide travel and 24/7 usage. Time they thought about it.


Interesting to note from NW site..



Sad to say that NW does not even give times on lost/stolen line.... And offers a 0870 number
Some on the cards blocked abroard....

Perhaps you need to add another idea to the site....
On the need help in a emergency page..... ADD SOME TIMES the lines are open.
No time to me screams they are 24/7

Helpful banking I think not.

If the opening hours are not specified they are open 24/7.

You do not have to be a customer to make a complaint:

https://www.natwest.com/global/contact-us/complain-no-account.ashx

busyladee

Personally, I would rather them decline and check with me rather than assume and let some thieving !!!!!! go on a spending spree

chattychappy

I think it's always worth remembering that CCs are not cash. They are a means of borrowing at the point of sale. It is always made clear in the T+Cs that transactions can be declined for a number of reasons including systems failure. This is reasonable IMHO. Because they work so much of the time, it comes as a surprise when they don't. Users should remember they don't have a right for their card to be accepted in any particular situation.

jennifernil

We travel abroad quite a bit, use our CCs for most things, and we always let our card providers know where and when we are going abroad.

Clarity and Nationwide have never been a problem, but the first time I tried to use my new Santander CC abroad it was refused. This despite giving them, at their request, full details of our travel plans.

On the other hand, we almost never use debit cards for purchases, certainly never abroad, yet Halifax let through a totally untypical transaction for a £1400 hotel booking in America, which virtually emptied our account. The hotel refunded it within a couple of days, but I had to chase Halifax for the charges and loss on the currency conversion, which took a couple of weeks to sort out.

So I do struggle to understand the logic sometimes.

usernameusername

Thanks for your responses everyone. I'm surprised to only find one other person out of so many with a similar story.

The purchases I listed above were from london underground (twice), TFL congestion charge, ticketweb, national express and theticketsellers - so basically all within two general forms of purchase (and no mobile top-ups, which I make regularly and strangely haven't been blocked so far).

I have different passwords for everything which I only use on secure computers/connections and change frequently.

As I said, I have to ring the banks each time they're blocked, UK or abroad. In the particular case I gave before I had no cash to pay for a phone call and it took a lot of persuasion to be able to use a phone.

Please note that I am talking about debit, not credit cards. I don't know if this changes the fraud-prevention regulations?

chattychappy

usernameusername wrote: »

Please note that I am talking about debit, not credit cards. I don't know if this changes the fraud-prevention regulations?

You are slightly better protected with CCs - particularly if your negligence is an issue. I'm less worried about CCs because I have multiple CCs and it's "their" money involved. One card gets compromised, I can use another until it is sorted. I don't have several debit cards/current accounts. Regardless of legal protection, fraud on my debit card could be a real pain because of its knock on effects.

For this reason, I rarely use my debit card for anything at all!

dalesrider

usernameusername wrote: »

Thanks for your responses everyone. I'm surprised to only find one other person out of so many with a similar story.

The purchases I listed above were from london underground (twice), TFL congestion charge, ticketweb, national express and theticketsellers - so basically all within two general forms of purchase (and no mobile top-ups, which I make regularly and strangely haven't been blocked so far).

Please note that I am talking about debit, not credit cards. I don't know if this changes the fraud-prevention regulations?

Sadly ALL popular types of purchase with fraudsters.
I guess you do not do 2 or 3 mobile top ups quickly.

What you may find is swopping from a debit to a credit or reverse will see less checks. As fraud can be diffrent across them.

Regulations are the same on credit and debit as far as it goes.
FSA insist that ALL banks have to have systems in place. There is also a limit on the % of transactions that can be refered/declined.
Too many and they get slapped with a big fine.

Fraud detection is a very fine line, between getting it right and annoying customers.
A good system will in a 4 out of 5 cases being generated, have fraudlent transactons.