Aqua card declined in shop...

[Deleted User]

So I just went to the shops to buy some food for £4, and the card was declined, I got them to ring customer support and they confirmed no money was taken. Tho i have logged into my account, and i have availble funds £7, and i used the card yesterday for xbox game pass 1 month free trail, which they are to take 7-9£ in 2 months time(I plan to cancel after free period , and pay for a year) ... So why has it declined? I got a text saying payment was made etc, and i checked acc and it is on pending transactions, tho no amount has been removed from avaible funds like it normally would.



Am i going to be loosing my account? I have only had it for 2 months, I planned on paying the full amount on the 6th of next month, Do you think it has something to do with the xbox game pass, do they reserve funds or something? I would phone aqua, but i have no credit till i get paid..(I never use my phone, hence never having credit)?


Also, I have noticed my credit rating has gone down like 160points on experion? I took out a Argos card few weeks ago,, is this why? I have not had a late payment, or anything?(And never planned too either) so !!!!!! lol?



EDIT: I have been making payments of just over half the acc value each month, for past 2 months, (And then using it) and planned to pay in full this month, and then only use 1/4 of acc, and be better with money lol(Not that i cant pay it, i just want to save and be "better" lol) :what is happerning?




Thanks... :beer:

Willing2Learn

[quote=[Deleted User];discussion/6017798]Do you think it has something to do with the xbox game pass, do they reserve funds or something?[/QUOTE]Yes, you are correct. The Xbox payment has been preauthorised and will show on the Aqua online portal as a pending transaction.

The best way to use the card is to spend on groceries and travel costs as these amounts will be in your normal monthly budget and you will not overspend. Then pay the full amount on the statement each month, preferably by Direct Debit. A DD will mean your payment is guaranteed to be made on or before the due date.

Ignore your credit score. Aqua neither see nor use you 'score'. It is pretty much meaningless.

[Deleted User]

Ok thanks! What does this mean for my card tho, seen as they have declined a pa
yment?? I know you are right, and i intend to jsut use for groceries! I have been spending, and taking cash out, and if they looked at my statements would think "!!!!!! is he diong", my statments look "irreatic" (Tho i always pay on day i get paid over half) lol... and i do not want that, I intend to pay card in full, and give to my mother, and she does my food shop, and i will use the card... but she will look after it .. so i am not tempted to use for other things.


So what does this meen for my card, having been declined? looks bad? nothing?
Also, i do not have xbox gamepass show in my acc at all? ( I only asked as i googled about it, thinking it must having something to do with it seen as i only did that last night!)



Thanks!

Willing2Learn

Hopefully, that the card has been declined, will mean that you will not have gone over the limit.

Cash withdrawals are a big 'no-no' as far as a credit card goes. For each cash withdrawal you will pay a fee, plus higher interest than your standard interest. Try to never use a credit card this way...

[Deleted User]

The only thing looking “erratic” with your usage is the fact you’re withdrawing cash.
Stop doing that immediately.

[Deleted User]

Yea i am giving card to my mtherto buy food shop every week, and wont be using cash withdrawals, hope i am ok.

D_M_E

1. You should not be giving the card to anyone, let alone your mother, to do shopping - you should be the only one using it.
If you have also given her your PIN number then that is also asking for a CIFAS fraud marker if they find out.

2. It's not clear whether the £4 is in pending from what you have written - if it is, then you need to dispute it.

Candyapple

[quote=[Deleted User];75966138]Yea i am giving card to my mtherto buy food shop every week, and wont be using cash withdrawals, hope i am ok.[/QUOTE]

Does your mum not have her own bank card / credit card?

What happens if the card declines at the till when she’s using it? The cashier would see that the card is registered to a man’s name and she could be in all kinds of trouble. If you really want your mum to use your credit card, ask for her to be added as an additional cardholder to your account so she gets her own card.

The transaction could have declined for any number of reasons, the only way you’ll find out is to call Aqua and ask.

It doesn’t sound like you have a clue as to how credit cards work if you are withdrawing cash from Aqua who is a subprime lender. If you’re not careful, you will end up back here posting in a short time asking about how to clear your debts as you are now x-amount of thousands in debt due to the high interest rates and never clearing your balance.

The way to use Aqua and other cards that are with subprime lenders is to buy something small on them, e.g. a weekly shop, some petrol, train ticket etc. Then make sure you set up a direct debit to clear the FULL balance each and every month. That is all you need to do. Don’t go mad with the spending and when they increase your limit, again don’t see it as a target to increase your spending on nonsense. And whatever you do, DO NOT ever withdraw cash from them. If you need cash and you work, use the debit card attached to your bank account that your wages get paid into.

T-G-C

[quote=[Deleted User];discussion/6017798]So I just went to the shops to buy some food for £4, and the card was declined, I got them to ring customer support and they confirmed no money was taken. Tho i have logged into my account, and i have availble funds £7, and i used the card yesterday for xbox game pass 1 month free trail, which they are to take 7-9£ in 2 months time(I plan to cancel after free period , and pay for a year) ... So why has it declined? I got a text saying payment was made etc, and i checked acc and it is on pending transactions, tho no amount has been removed from avaible funds like it normally would.



Am i going to be loosing my account? I have only had it for 2 months, I planned on paying the full amount on the 6th of next month, Do you think it has something to do with the xbox game pass, do they reserve funds or something? I would phone aqua, but i have no credit till i get paid..(I never use my phone, hence never having credit)?


Also, I have noticed my credit rating has gone down like 160points on experion? I took out a Argos card few weeks ago,, is this why? I have not had a late payment, or anything?(And never planned too either) so !!!!!! lol?



EDIT: I have been making payments of just over half the acc value each month, for past 2 months, (And then using it) and planned to pay in full this month, and then only use 1/4 of acc, and be better with money lol(Not that i cant pay it, i just want to save and be "better" lol) :what is happerning?




Thanks... :beer:[/QUOTE]

A new credit account will lower a credit score, but this is a temporary impact and provided the new account is used responsibly, it will create a positive impact over time.

For the Xbox Game Pass free trial offer, Microsoft will send a request to the card issuer to ensure that it is valid, however no funds are taken as part of this process. This should not lower your available credit, as Microsoft charge £0 for this check. This is not the reason for the transaction being declined.

The most common reasons for a decline is: the card has been blocked for security reasons; there is not enough credit to cover the purchase; there is a problem with the card terminal or an unresolved issue with the card's account. For a specific reason and resolution, you must contact the card issuer directly.

You haven't specified how large your credit limit is, but generally it should not be consumed in its entirety, or near enough in your case. There is nothing wrong with making good use of the card, but if using it for the purpose of getting better offers in the future from mainstream providers, it would be best to keep under 50% utilization each month. You are correct to not clear the entire balance each month, as this can come across to some providers as you being an unprofitable customer, rather than the common sense notion of being a reliable one. However, this does not mean you should carry over a balance for a long duration, most notably because of the interest rate of subprime. Never carry a balance of more than 50% utilization though, as being "maxed out" is one thing, but continuing to be over a duration is another.

As for the credit score, it is nothing to fret about. As long as you are managing your credit accounts well, then it will balance out over time.

Terry_Towelling

First things first, don't give your card to anyone else to use. If it's your card, only you should be using it and only you should know the PIN. There may be specific reasons why you are letting your mother have your card but, really, you shouldn't be doing that.

You are obviously getting very close to your credit limit and there is a high chance that interest added to your account will take you over it. That means you may incur an over-limit charge.

I'm not sure but I don't think the company offering the X-box free trial will have pre-authorised anything so far in advance, and if nothing is showing as pending for that, then I think you can rule that out as the cause of your £4 declined transaction.

The real issue here is the fact that your £4 transaction was declined but it seems to be showing on your account as a pending transaction. That means the transaction was approved by your card company and not declined.

There could be many reasons why the shop said it was declined but the most likely is something known as a 'time-out'. What that means is your card company was late sending their approval for the purchase, the retailer's systems couldn't be bothered to wait any longer for their response and closed the transaction request down as a 'decline'. Other reasons for a time-out could be telecoms/power supply problems somewhere along the line.

In theory, what should now happen is the shop will not process any transaction and the pending item will drop off your card company's system within the next few days (could be up to 14 days).

If that doesn't happen and you get charged with the £4, you might want to complain to the shop (hopefully you kept the 'decline' receipt). If that gets you nowhere, you can explain what happened to your card company. They might not believe you because they will only have your word for it and you might need to supply them with the 'decline' receipt as proof. However, they are more likely to say, 'OK, here's your £4 back' and write off the loss because that will be the cheapest course of action for them.

One other thing, if your card company does not have a Freephone number or you don't have a phone contract that covers all calling costs, you could spend more in telephone charges complaining than the £4 you are trying to recover.

Does the decline make your account look bad? No. Should you take cash out with a credit card? Generally, no. Should you pay your card off in full every month? Yes.

[Deleted User]

Willing2Learn wrote: »

Yes, you are correct. The Xbox payment has been preauthorised and will show on the Aqua online portal as a pending transaction.

The best way to use the card is to spend on groceries and travel costs as these amounts will be in your normal monthly budget and you will not overspend. Then pay the full amount on the statement each month, preferably by Direct Debit. A DD will mean your payment is guaranteed to be made on or before the due date.

Ignore your credit score. Aqua neither see nor use you 'score'. It is pretty much meaningless.

I have not gave anyone my pin number, i meant that she would look after it, and take me shopping, and i use the card. thanks tho.