DEBIT CARD PAYMENTS QUESTION - BANK GIVING DIFFERENT ANSWERS

xlnc99

So basically on the weekend i made various debit card payments online, probably about 10-12 payments. Nothing suspicious, just online payments to reputable companies as we have all done in our lives. Suddenly my last payment got rejected and declined. 

I called the bank and the first person stated it was because i had gone over my withdrawal limit (the total payments were worth about £550). I told the person they were online payments and not cash withdrawals - no answer and cut me off

I called back, the second person told me i was over my google pay limit, i argued this nonsense and didnt get anywhere

Called back again and then i was told it was because i had 12-13 transactions in one day and that was the limit. I had reached the limit and couldnt use my card until 12am were the card would be refreshed. I asked which was was, 12 or 13 transactions - he had no answer. I also said that is a strange number to have a limit placed, shouldn't it be 20 or 30.

Basically - no-one had a clue and i am still left in a limbo. I want to prevent this for future problems as my card was declined for the whole day due to a reason no-one knows why.

Anyone have an ideas what the issue was?

PRAISETHESUN

I've had similar things occur with TSB when trying to get 30x transactions in a month - any more than 10 or so in a single day starts to trigger their security and the card can get temporarily frozen for the rest of the day. I suspect something similar is happening to you, even if the transactions are all to "reputable" companies. I'd probably just avoid making so many payments on a single day - spread them out if you can to avoid this problem in future. The card should come unfrozen by itself. It's unlikely the person on the phone would tell you exactly what the number is (assuming they even know to begin with), just in case fraudsters could use that to their advantage.

Browntoa

I'm assuming banks automatic fraud detection software. 12 -13 transactions online is alot for 1 day . 

xlnc99

Ahh - ok thanks. I was not aware of this. I understand the need for a limit of transactions per day but surely 10 is too little! I mean that is ridiculous. Is this only online transactions or chip and pin/contactless?

Im sure i have been out on day in London and used my card at multiple times, around 20. Food, shopping etc. I dont remember getting a block then. 

xlnc99

Also as said earlier the total amount was around £500 for all transactions. So nothing huge

Mrs_Ryan

That happened to me with Metro Bank. Unfortunately I was away somewhere at the time, and trying to get an Uber back to the hotel. I eventually managed to switch the payment method to PayPal and it let me book. When I rang them they confirmed it would be okay the following day and it was thankfully. 

soulsaver

Get another current ac and card with another bank as a back up. 

xlnc99

Mrs_Ryan said:

That happened to me with Metro Bank. Unfortunately I was away somewhere at the time, and trying to get an Uber back to the hotel. I eventually managed to switch the payment method to PayPal and it let me book. When I rang them they confirmed it would be okay the following day and it was thankfully. 

What happened? How many card transactions did you do in a day?

xlnc99

soulsaver said:

Get another current ac and card with another bank as a back up. 

I do have back ups but my point was just to find out why this happened so i can prepare in the future. No explanation was given

Thrugelmir

Probably a pattern used by fraudsters. Lots of smaller transactions rather an unusual one off large transaction that immediately gets red flagged.  Banks cannot win it seems. Security is after all to protect us the customer. In the future find an alternative payment method that meets your desire to transact multiple transactions on a daily basis. 

xlnc99

I disagree with the 'banks cannot win statement'. Banks need common sense.

I have no issues with the fraud detection and the card being declined if their systems spot a red flag. The issue i have is after i call them up they cannot remove any restrictions from the card so i cannot use my card for the rest of the day. They said its because the card automatically refreshes the next day.

That is ridiculous, what if someone urgently needed to use their card and was not able to do so through no fault of their own.