NatWest basic account......anti-fraud measures?

barbiedoll

My husband and I have a joint basic account with NatWest. My husband gets his salary paid into it and we use it to pay for shopping and petrol, and also his mobile phone and monthly car tax payments. All of our other DD's are paid out of my bank account. He also has a cash ISA, he recently got a cheque for an insurance payout (car written off) so he paid the full sum into his ISA and transferred £400 into the basic account for our holiday spends

We went on our holiday, to Cornwall last week. We tried to pay for some petrol (around £40) during the journey down, but the card payment was refused. Luckily, I had my debit card so we were able to pay for the fuel. I thought it may have been a machine error so we weren't unduly worried. During the holiday, we withdrew cash (£200) and paid for a meal out (around £160), there was no trouble with the card payments.

Upon returning home, my husband noticed that his mobile DD hadn't been paid. This was a new DD to Vodaphone, for around £8 more than his previous mobile bill with Orange. It's not for an iPhone or anything expensive, it's a bog-standard mobile phone contract, similar to the others that he has been paying ever since he has had the account. When he called the bank, they said that they had put a hold on the DD because of "suspicious activity" on the account, i.e. the transactions in Cornwall and a new mobile phone DD. It's only because he checks the account most days that he noticed the non-payment, otherwise we may well have had a "late-payment" marker put on our account.

I can understand the need for confirmation of suspicious activity on an account, I once had a call from Santander when I put through a large (for me) payment on my debit card. Indeed, I'm grateful that they are so careful with my money! But why did NatWest decline a £40 petrol purchase, but not a £160 restaurant bill? And why stop a modest (£21) mobile phone direct debit, especially from an account that has always had a similar bill? And why didn't they call if they had concerns?

stclair

Was you paying for the petrol at the counter or using the pay pump?

They do not really call due to the fact the customer has to go through security and become dubious that the call is genuine.

Paul_1977

Most basic accounts come with cards which cannot be used at petrol pumps.

As far as I know.

Online card?

Two incidents might be unrelated.

barbiedoll

The card doesn't work in those "pay at the pump" machines so we always pay at the counter. I don't mind the security measures, although it would have been a real pain if we didn't have an alternative means of paying at the time.

I can understand the caution over the mobile phone DD, I know that this is the method of choice for many fraudsters. But it just seems odd that they refused to pay the DD without at least sending an email or dropping us a call.

Not that a fraudster would get much out of our bank account anyway!

agrinnall

Make a formal complaint about not being advised that the DD wouldn't be paid, you may get an apology and perhaps a few quid as a goodwill gesture.