Which Banks Immediately Update Balance

Sleighton123

I'm currently with First Direct for my everyday account which i switched over but as someone who checks their bank account probably daily, i like to see my balance updated there and then when a payment is made and i am often left waiting anywhere between 24-48 hours to see the transaction appear and my balance update.

I was with Barclays (in fact i still hold an account with them) and if i make a transaction online for example, its there in my pending transactions and comes out of my available balance HOWEVER the issue i had was with banking app and Android. I don't want to be forced to use Barclays terrible Android app as its not compatible with my watch for example, although i am aware of the irony that that contactless or Samsung pay transactions may not necessarily show straight away regardless of bank, this still doesn't cover online transactions.

So my question is simply put which banks immediately update their balance when you make a transaction online (or with a retailer via chip and pin) ?

penners324

Starling & Monzo

MisterMotivated

Halifax too

Sleighton123

Thanks - Any idea on any of the other big players ?

I presume HSBC is the same as First Direct and i'd suffer the same old issues but with different branding

My wife is with nationwide so i could perhaps get the £100 switching bonus through them if they do it ? They would also be compatible with both Android/Samsung pay

Starling bank is certainly a possibility as it stands although i must admit i'd prefer a physical bank to deposit into rather than the post office

Brewer20

Tesco bank can show pending transaction pretty quickly, as a reduced available balance. I've made purchases early in the day and they show up later that day. First Direct as you say just show up maybe 2 days later.

jonnygee2

although i am aware of the irony that that contactless or Samsung pay transactions may not necessarily show straight away regardless of bank, this still doesn't cover online transactions.

Contactless and samsung pay will show instantly with Monzo and Starling too.

Fingerbobs

Halifax - Available balance updated immediately and pending transactions listed.
Barclays - Available balance updated immediately
Nationwide - Available balance updated immediately and pending transactions listed on app (but merchant names not shown), but not listed on Web site
Santander - Available balance updated immediately and pending transactions listed on app (not sure about web site)
TSB - Available balance updated immediately
Tesco - Available balance updated immediately
NatWest - Available balance updated immediately
HSBC - Available balance updated immediately, but pending transactions not listed, even though there is a place for them to be listed in the app - it says "no pending transactions" even when there are some.

davethorp

Yorkshire Bank/B also update balances immediately in my experience. Pending card transactions show up in the app statement straight away and come off both actual and available balances

Most banks these days will take card payments straight off available balances especially now there is a £0 floor limit on contactless transactions

colsten

No bank can guarantee to always update your balance immediately after you spent money. They totally depend on the retailer reporting the purchase. Not all retailers send the purchases transactions to banks immediately, and neither the retailers nor the banks are in control of the communications networks required for sending transactions. Just in the same way that your mobile provider is not in control of the network or the device(s) you use to monitor your bank account.

Whilst there are debit and credit card providers who frequently send you transaction confirmations, the only one who can possibly know what you spent is yourself. You could look into using something like the Curve card which keeps a record of what you spent. Though again, they rely on networks working and you can't be 100% certain they capture all your spending. If you are on a tight budget and unable to keep a running record of your spending, you could try using cash as that will ensure you can't spend more than you have.

System

colsten wrote: »

Whilst there are debit and credit card providers who frequently send you transaction confirmations, the only one who can possibly know what you spent is yourself.

Absolutely! I hate it when banks try to be 'modern' and populist by listing pending transactions as if they were cleared. It does not work because there will always be transactions which will appear at some point during your salary or wage period (whether that be monthly or weekly) but are not taken into account at a particular point in time because they have yet to be debited. There are other anomalies like pay-at-pump fuel stations where £1 is immediately debited but the full amount appears when it clears. All this means you cannot rely on knowing how much you have to spend during your budgeting period just by looking at your bank balance. You really are better off keeping your own record using an app or even a simple spreadsheet.

jonnygee2

No bank can guarantee to always update your balance immediately after you spent money. They totally depend on the retailer reporting the purchase. Not all retailers send the purchases transactions to banks immediately, and neither the retailers nor the banks are in control of the communications networks required for sending transactions.

This is true, however, for daily use you can normally see them.

Definitely right to point out some transactions are 'offline', but these days offline authorisations are very rare. Toll booths and card machines on planes and trains are the only retailer types I can think of that still use completely offline terminals.

The only purchase I have made in the last three years of using Monzo that was not reported instantly was a beer on Easyjet about two years ago. Other than that every single one has authorised online and shown instantly.