Contactless Payments dont show up in available balance!!!

Gary1963

I had a contactless transaction show up as pending for the very first time and it was from a payment at a small cafe.
Chip and Pin do not always show up immediately.
Making a purchase at Boots for example using C&P never shows up!
I think it depends on retailers, floor limits etc.

reclusive46

It also depends on the card type. I've noticed Amex generally authorise online in the UK more often for Chip and PIN than Visa and MC (Often because Amex will only allow retailers to process offline is the retailers systems are down).

Mrs_Ryan

I was in London Friday and it was there I noticed two contactless payments come up in pending transactions pretty much straight off for the first time- one was to Asda and one to B&M, and the Tube fares I used my card for showed Saturday morning. I last used my card on their readers at 10.30pm on Friday night when I touched out at Hounslow Central so that was pretty quick going.
An offline card is something very new to me, this is my first offline card in about fifteen years. I made my first contactless transaction on Tuesday at the Post Office and that transaction along with one in M&S and one in Greggs the same day all came off two days later. If I use Chip and Pin (which I'm loathe to do, I need a Chip and Signature card really, but I use my card a lot and I struggle to write) it does show immediately. I used my card in Jack Wills in Covent Garden at 10.20 am and at 10.30am when I checked my app it was already pending.
It is a struggle to remember, I'm used to online cards but I need contactless as using a PIN is getting harder due to my dyscalculia worsening and the brain fog from my fibromyalgia. I never have a large balance- low income- and I've read with interest what some people on here say 'don't use contactless or a debit card at all if a low balance blah blah' one size doesn't fit all it's perfectly possible to use contactless responsibly with a low balance. I have no choice (I don't have a credit card and I don't use cash as I struggle to count coins. I'm ok with a note but I struggle to work out if I have the correct change or what coins I need to pay with)

djpailo

Actually, using contactless, saved me from going into overdraft. I made a mistake, but it hadn't processed the transaction yet.

Ben8282

I don't believe that you have any grounds whatsoever for making a complaint. You really should keep track of your spending. How do you imagine people managed in the days of manual charge forms, no internet banking and ATM's which only updated the balance once a day?
It is not only contactless payments which will not show up. It applies to any transaction which has not been authorised (ie transactions within the retailers floor limit). The worst offender here for me is McDonalds. Chip/PIM transactions very rarely show up until debited.

Robin9

Ben8282 wrote: »

I don't believe that you have any grounds whatsoever for making a complaint. You really should keep track of your spending. How do you imagine people managed in the days of manual charge forms, no internet banking and ATM's which only updated the balance once a day?
It is not only contactless payments which will not show up. It applies to any transaction which has not been authorised (ie transactions within the retailers floor limit). The worst offender here for me is McDonalds. Chip/PIM transactions very rarely show up until debited.

Not forgetting cheques - they rely on somebody paying them in and then going through the clearance process

miller

This seems like a good thread to ask: does anyone know how long a retailer has to submit card payments for settlement? I have seen 1 year mentioned on Google. I have got a contactless payment which still has not appeared 1 week later.

Obviously this is not the same as still being liable for the debt which is generally longer depending on the circumstances I think (with certain exceptions e.g. utilities can only back bill 1 year).

colsten

1 week is no time.

miller

You've been watching Back to the Future tributes.

Mender331

I'm with Lloyds and I can confirm that indeed they don't show up for a couple of days. So one needs to be very careful if you are close to a zero balance to avoid overdraft charges. None of the banks seem to warn people about this.