Instant purchase alerts/notification for VISA or Mastercard?

Ergates

Nasqueron wrote: »

I can see pending transactions within a couple of hours, maybe it's less, on my Halifax mastercard. You can check your transactions regularly if you feel you need to know daily what is going on and think not knowing immediately will somehow stop a refund of a fraudulent charge

You could. Or the lender could set up a system that will automatically alert you if/when a transaction triggers a certain set of criteria, so you don't have to manually check all the time. Doesn't that sounds like something that some people might consider a useful service? Mastercard certainly seem to think so.

eco_warrior

This is definitely the way things are going.

I have a Revolut card and it’s alerts me before the ATM even starts counting the cash.

The general public will want this for every transaction regardless of bank or payment method imo

Ergates

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

As I said you can log in and see them on the internet.

Why use instant messaging when you can just email someone? Why email someone when you can just phone them? etc...

Yes, you can log in to internet banking once a day, several times a day, once a week, whatever, and check your transaction history if you want to. But why not let the provider do it for you.

If somebody provides you with a tool you don't have to use it.

stripeyfox

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

As I said you can log in and see them on the internet.

Yes point duly noted. But having an instant notification is better for those who want it, no?

The technology exists and I presume if you don't want it you can turn it off.

worried_jim

I get instant notifications with my Starling, Monzo, and Revolut accounts.

18cc

tandem cc gives you instant notification (including if used abroad) and 0.5% cashback each month.

Nasqueron

Ergates wrote: »

You could. Or the lender could set up a system that will automatically alert you if/when a transaction triggers a certain set of criteria, so you don't have to manually check all the time. Doesn't that sounds like something that some people might consider a useful service? Mastercard certainly seem to think so.

It depends on why you think it's useful really. Getting an alert every time I buy something would be annoying. A reported fraud will still be dealt with as needed - my card was used to buy something online that I didn't see at the time, I got a text alert when they attempted to use the card again, that was blocked and the first was refunded. Knowing it had happened a week or so earlier wouldn't have changed anything.

Ergates

Nasqueron wrote: »

It depends on why you think it's useful really. Getting an alert every time I buy something would be annoying. A reported fraud will still be dealt with as needed - my card was used to buy something online that I didn't see at the time, I got a text alert when they attempted to use the card again, that was blocked and the first was refunded. Knowing it had happened a week or so earlier wouldn't have changed anything.

Whether it's considered useful or not is up to the customer. The notifications are opt in and the customer determines what the triggering criteria are. You might not want such a service, but other people do. Maybe their lives are different to yours in some what that you're not considering. "I don't need this thing therefore nobody needs it" isn't a particularly strong argument.

Off the top of my head:

It can be easier to spot fraudulent transactions if you're notified at the time it happened. If the card was used on a site or shop you actually use yourself, say Amazon, it might not stand out when reviewing your statement several weeks later. However, if you received a text message when it happened, you'd have a pretty good idea that you aren't shopping online *right now*.

The alerts can also be set up on debits cards - and you're *definitely* better off knowing sooner rather than later that someone is clearing out your bank account.

Also - on these forums you'll read stories from people who have had a hard time convincing their bank that one or more fraudulent transactions made on their credit/debit card wasn't them. It should be easy and straightforward but isn't always. Phoning up the bank the moment the transaction occurs (before it's even been posted) and saying "That wasn't me" is likely to help with that process.

Nasqueron

Ergates wrote: »

Whether it's considered useful or not is up to the customer. The notifications are opt in and the customer determines what the triggering criteria are. You might not want such a service, but other people do. Maybe their lives are different to yours in some what that you're not considering. "I don't need this thing therefore nobody needs it" isn't a particularly strong argument.

Off the top of my head:

It can be easier to spot fraudulent transactions if you're notified at the time it happened. If the card was used on a site or shop you actually use yourself, say Amazon, it might not stand out when reviewing your statement several weeks later. However, if you received a text message when it happened, you'd have a pretty good idea that you aren't shopping online *right now*.

The alerts can also be set up on debits cards - and you're *definitely* better off knowing sooner rather than later that someone is clearing out your bank account.

Also - on these forums you'll read stories from people who have had a hard time convincing their bank that one or more fraudulent transactions made on their credit/debit card wasn't them. It should be easy and straightforward but isn't always. Phoning up the bank the moment the transaction occurs (before it's even been posted) and saying "That wasn't me" is likely to help with that process.

I check my statements regularly and always notice amounts I wasn't expecting, I check my email or memory and work out where I spent it. Banks have to deal with fraudulent transactions, knowing about it now or in a week they still do. If you live in say Plymouth and a card is used to buy something to go to Edinburgh it's a simple enough complaint

Ergates

Nasqueron wrote: »

I check my statements regularly and always notice amounts I wasn't expecting, I check my email or memory and work out where I spent it. Banks have to deal with fraudulent transactions, knowing about it now or in a week they still do. If you live in say Plymouth and a card is used to buy something to go to Edinburgh it's a simple enough complaint

And if the delivery address is in Plymouth? Or it's used to buy something that isn't a physical item and thus doesn't have a delivery address. Or someone has got hold of your card (and PIN) and uses it in a physical shop or cash machine in Plymouth? And the CCTV footage is either absent or inconclusive? And it's a shop you use? Or you're abroad and a shop keeper skims your card details and puts through a second transaction after you've left the shop. Or the person investigating your claim is in a bad mood and decides to "believe" you're in on the fraud.

If dealing with fraudulent transactions is as simple and foolproof as you seem to think - then why to people have problems? Maybe they're doing it wrong. Maybe they're just not as smart as you. Or maybe you've just been lucky.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2012/may/04/banks-pin-card-fraud
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/nov/04/barclays-refuses-refund-stolen-6000-debit-card-lost
https://www.which.co.uk/news/2017/05/banks-refusing-to-refund-victims-of-card-fraud/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1KD40dVs0FmtnRv4ByszLr8/bank-fraud-easy-to-be-a-victim-hard-to-get-your-money-back

Even if knowing sooner rather than later doesn't actually help you get your money back, it *would* allow you to block the card straight away to limit your losses.