Contactless Payments dont show up in available balance!!!

anoncol

dr_adidas01 wrote: »

Wrong I maybe old but I'm m not ancient I had a debit card it was a Maestro card with a £100 cheque guarantee on it from good old Midland Bank now HSBC. Back then it wasn't chip and pin you had to sign a slip of paper with your signature on it which the shop assistant checked.

I'm not sure what you mean about transparent spending I knew back then how much I had and how much I had spent, just as I do today.

I don't rely on what the available balance on my account says I make sure I know what's in my account and what I have spent by keeping a record, be it by keeping a receipt or making a note of it in a little file on my smart phone.

In that case I don't understand what has changed now and why you are talking about the old days. I too got cards before chip and pin, it's not even that old. Neither is internet banking. In fact I don't understand what your point is apart people should have an idea of what is in their account.

colsten

ianianUK, you continue to fail to realise that nothing new has been introduced with contactless cards with regard to the available balance displayed in online accounts.

For decades, the available balance has not instantly reflected all card transactions. Contactless transactions are just one of the transactions that take some time to be reflected on a current account.

As someone else commented, people have coped perfectly well before online banking. What has changed? By what magic do you expect it is now the banks who know how much people have available to spend? And by what logic would you accept that anyone apart from yourself should have the right to say how much you have left to spend?

iainUK

colsten wrote: »

ianianUK, you continue to fail to realise that nothing new has been introduced with contactless cards with regard to the available balance displayed in online accounts.

For decades, the available balance has not instantly reflected all card transactions. Contactless transactions are just one of the transactions that take some time to be reflected on a current account.

As someone else commented, people have coped perfectly well before online banking. What has changed? By what magic do you expect it is now the banks who know how much people have available to spend? And by what logic would you accept that anyone apart from yourself should have the right to say how much you have left to spend?

I'm sorry this is just not true. Debit card transactions come off the available balance straight away and show in 'pending debit card transactions' for a few days before appearing as an actual transaction and coming off the account balance.

Contactless payments, on the other hand, will never show in 'pending debit card transactions' and will only come off the available balance when coming off the account balance and appearing on the statement, which can be a week or more later.

I'm really not asking anyone for any "magic". If you think I am then that's okay, I've said what I've said.

iainUK

It is not unreasonable these days for someone to, instead of making notes or keeping files, opt to rely on online banking aswell. All electronic debit card payments are authorised at the point of sale, it is reasonable to expect Contactless would work the same. Some might think that's totally stupid, that's okay I can live with that, but it surely wouldn't hurt the banks just to make it clear.

colsten

iainUK wrote: »

I'm sorry this is just not true. Debit card transactions come off the available balance straight away .

I'm sorry but you are just so totally wrong. Whilst most of the transactions do indeed come through to the banks instantly, not all of them do. They never did, for decades, and they probably won't for several more decades hence.

colsten

iainUK wrote: »

All electronic debit card payments are authorised at the point of sale

what do you mean by "authorised at the point of sale"? Authorised by whom?The retailer? The card issuer? The account holder's bank?

If you meant to say that the bank knows about, and authorises, each and every debit card payment, you are just totally wrong.

iainUK

Ok you seem pretty adamant that normal debit card transactions and Contactless are processed in exactly the same way. My personal experience is different, I am aware of it and it's not s problem, but I just think that it's reasonable that not everyone would be and it wouldn't do any harm for the banks to make that clear, especially when providing a facility to view pending debit card transactions.

I don't dispute that there situations where for example you give your debit card details in the post and the transaction is obviously not processed straight away, but if you make the exact same payment, in the same shop, with the same card, on the same card machine, there is a difference in how Contactless payments are processed, significantly affecting the timescale before the transaction will be deducted from your balance.

eskbanker

I'm with colsten on this - as I posted six months ago right at the start of this thread, this isn't specifically a contactless issue, it relates to online versus offline authorisations and predates the introduction of contactless cards by many years. If you happen to have an online-only card then all transactions should appear as pending until settled, but if you have an offline card and transact below the retailer's floor limit then these won't (can't) show as pending, which is equally true for non-contactless cards as contactless ones. If you take a traditional non-contactless card that allows offline authorisations and start using it for cups of coffee, bus tickets, etc, then you'd soon be able to verify this!

iainUK

I accept that there are instances where debit card transactions can be made offline, albeit very rare these days. All retailers I use, the transaction shoes straight away. There is a significant difference with Contactless cards at the same retailers. Clearly there is a significant change here, when most debit card payments show pending straight away, but no Contactless payments do.

If it is your position that, because it is possible to make offline card payments already, then there is no need to let anyone know that Contactless is any different, then I'm sorry but I just find that ridiculous.

I suspect in the near future we will see banks making this clear in regard to Contactless payments.

dr_adidas01

iainUK wrote: »

I accept that there are instances where debit card transactions can be made offline, albeit very rare these days. All retailers I use, the transaction shoes straight away. There is a significant difference with Contactless cards at the same retailers. Clearly there is a significant change here, when most debit card payments show pending straight away, but no Contactless payments do.

If it is your position that, because it is possible to make offline card payments already, then there is no need to let anyone know that Contactless is any different, then I'm sorry but I just find that ridiculous.

I suspect in the near future we will see banks making this clear in regard to Contactless payments.

If all your transactions show straight away then it would seem that you have an online card that seeks authorisation for every transaction that you make.

I have an offline card that doesn't seek authorisation for every transaction, so it can be 3 to 5 days before a transaction shows on internet banking and my available balance then adjusts to show this, so again your it shows as pending debit is totally wrong this never does in my case.

As for contactless payment this again depends on how the retailer processes them, in my case I have found that nearly all of them don't show until 3-5 days, except for M&S they seem to seek an online authorisation even for contactless payments, this does then show immediately as being taken from my available balance.