Can any bank app show instant notification of Halifax Clarity credit card spend?

newlease

The Halifax app only notifies of debit card purchases not credit card. Can some other bank's app do this using the open banking data sharing or does that not work with credit cards? Is Curve the only option in this case? 

SebH

Open Banking apps are only allowed to automatically update their data 4 times in every 24 hour period. They therefore wouldn’t be able to update frequently enough to provide instant notification of your spending (although sometimes they do provide notifications of significant spending).

This is partly due to the way the APIs are set up. They are not a “push” service where the Open Banking provider gets sent new information from the bank. They are a “pull” service where the Open Banking provider must read the information held by the bank at certain intervals. By nature, they are obviously not instant in that case.

As you say, Curve is a helpful substitute if this functionality is important to you, but please remember that you will lose Section 75 protection, so I would not recommend it for large purchases. Everyday spending would probably be fine.

If using your Clarity card abroad, you also have to remember to change the currency in the Curve app so that Halifax do the conversion rather than Curve. Otherwise, you will get a slightly less favourable exchange rate.

SebH

PS: I forgot to mention that although Halifax don’t send instant notifications, they do instantly update your pending transactions. It’s not quite what you asked, but if you are willing to open the app to check your account they do provide an element of instant updating in this respect.

colsten

Curve will only notify you if the Curve card is used. If the Clarity card is used directly, there's no notifier through Curve.

hoc

I don't think any of the UK high street banks do it for credit cards. It seems to be limited to the fintechs like Starling and Monzo or specialty cards like Curve or Amex. Some digital payment providers like Google Pay can do it and even when the card and not the phone is the payment method used.

Instant notifications are very useful for catching fraud on seldom used cards or accounts.

[Deleted User]

hoc said:

I don't think any of the UK high street banks do it for credit cards. It seems to be limited to the fintechs like Starling and Monzo or specialty cards like Curve or Amex. Some digital payment providers like Google Pay can do it and even when the card and not the phone is the payment method used.

Instant notifications are very useful for catching fraud on seldom used cards or accounts.

They are only authorisations, they aren't the actual underlying transactions. 

If that's all you want to see then using a digital wallet like Google or Apple Pay is a good option without compromising S75 cover. 

gt94sss2

HSBC now offer notifications on their credit cards