Confused about Available Balance.

1080Roger

I bought a couple of DVDs on Amazon for £48 and I had £113 in my bank prior to the purchase.
It says on my NatWest account that my available balance is £13.97 however it says my balance is £65.26.

I have only spent £48 from £113 and my available balance is £13? How does this add up?

Do I have £65 or £13?

Saver-upper

Was £52 already "ring-fenced" for other (previous) purchases?

£113.00-
48.00 should leave £65.00 in account.

But if there is only £13,the other £52 may have been taken out for another purchase you have already made,or maybe a direct debit?

1080Roger

Saver-upper wrote: »

Was £52 already "ring-fenced" for other (previous) purchases?

£113.00-
48.00 should leave £65.00 in account.

But if there is only £13,the other £52 may have been taken out for another purchase you have already made,or maybe a direct debit?

I have not bought anything else other than the £48 however i ordered something over Amazon US which came to £51 but I CANCELLED that. It does not state as a charge in my statements.

Saver-upper

Hmmm,that is interesting.Sounds to me like they have taken the money out (or planning to),despite you cancelling the order.

alanq

Saver-upper wrote: »

Sounds to me like they have taken the money out (or planning to),despite you cancelling the order.

I wouldn't assume that. In my experience it is not unusual for cancelled orders to leave a reduced available balance. One would hope that if there was no plan to take a payment the locked amount would be released but all too often it isn't and it is left to automatically time out after a week or so. For small purchases and largish balances this is not much of an issue but with small balances and expensive purchases this could leave the cardholder in serious difficulty.