Delayed Debit Card Transaction Question

peachyprice

So, you use your debit card, the money is ring fenced, if it's not claimed within X number days the authorisation expires the money is released.

If the the retailer attempts to take the transaction after the money has been released back to the account is it a new transaction and if there is no money in the account and the account has no overdraft facility would it be declined?

This is a just hypothetical query, I always know there is enough money in my account However, a certain retailer is consistently taking 3-4 weeks for transactions to go through, I was just wondering what would happen, in theory, if the money was no plonger there.

pmduk

The authorisation is valid for 6 months apparently and there are regular complaints on here that such transactions have left them overdrawn and incurring bank charges.

noh

The authorisation does not expire after a few days. I believe it is valid for 6 months.
The money is "earmarked" it is that which drops off after a few days.

If the retailer took the money after a few weeks it would be paid to them and the current account would go into unplanned overdraft incurring fees.

peachyprice

Ah, I see, thanks, I thought once the earmarked money was released back the transaction had expired, you learn something new every day.

dr_adidas01

Actually a retailer has upto 6 years to claim a payment not 6 months!!!

reclusive46

peachyprice wrote: »

Ah, I see, thanks, I thought once the earmarked money was released back the transaction had expired, you learn something new every day.

An authorisation only expires after 6 months. Its just the bank assumes it was a pre-authorisation (Like in a hotel or car rental) and it makes the funds available.

ChiefGrasscutter

I once had a CC card purchase with a long lead time on a special item from a non-domestic industrial supplier.
It was more than 3 months but I'm sure less than 6.
I paid via a special online link they sent me at the time of order through the card verification with the online 3 party payment portal etc.

When it came to actually putting payment through come dispatch day they found that the authorisation had expired and they couldn't claim the payment and needed me to re-submit it again.
All no problem for me - but I assumed from that the authorisation had expired after only a couple of months.

richard9991

dr_adidas01 wrote: »

Actually a retailer has upto 6 years to claim a payment not 6 months!!!

the authorisation on a debit card expires after 6 months the retailer cannot claim funds after that but has 6 years to claim the debt by other means court action etc

reclusive46

ChiefGrasscutter wrote: »

n.
All no problem for me - but I assumed from that the authorisation had expired after only a couple of months.

It depends on their processor and it might well have not expired but the costs go up if you don't settle a transaction within 7 days.

dalesrider

dr_adidas01 wrote: »

Actually a retailer has upto 6 years to claim a payment not 6 months!!!

But if they claim after 6 months and quote the date of the transaction there is a chargeback right for late presentation.

Many get round this by not quoting the original transaction date, but this then opens up a unrecognised transaction which they would find very hard to reject, as they would then have to come back with the correct date of the transaction.

What people have to remember is that many co's will only debit on dispatch of the goods, which in some cases can be weeks later.
In these cases many co's will simply run a dummy auth for say £1 to check card is a live card. This will drop off. Co will then request the correct amount when they need to.