Nationwide Contactless Card

miamoo232

Hello and apologies if this has been posted before.

I have recently upgraded my Nationwide basic Flex Account and have received a Contactless Card. I have read numerous posts on here and can't seem to find a straight answer to my simple question as follows:

If I am low on funds but my income is being paid on the next day, will I be able to use it the day before to pay for some emergency shopping, say at Tescos, as long as below the £30 limit, without requiring authorisation/pin number?

I would be extremely embarrassed if it was declined.

Hope you can help.

M.x

Don80

As it is a basic account, I would expect that the account balance would still be checked for available funds before ANY transaction would be authorised. If it was me I wouldn't chance it, unless as a "test" you also had the cash to pay.

JuicyJesus

The above post is correct. On a basic bank account, contactless cards will ask for authorisation (as with all transactions).

miamoo232

Thanks for your replies however I think you misunderstood. I had a basic account but upgraded to a standard Flexaccount. My previous account only gave me a cashcard - does this make a difference?

colsten

Why not try it out with a single low-cost item, at one of the self-checkouts? If the card gets rejected, pay with cash. Don't get embarrassed if the card doesn't work. It can happen to any of us.

worried_jim

I'm sure I heard on the radio this week that from October all contactless payments would be live so everything would be authed against available funds. Think it was on moneybox

molerat

Generally transactions over £15 seem to require auth but some retailers auth for very small amounts - I have £7 auth'd from Tesco and £5 from Card Factory but £17 from Asda and £10 from Poundland have not.

WillPS

I wouldn't depend on it. Even if it works on one occasion that's not a guarantee it'll work a second, these things can all be changed dynamically.