Card providers to 'reserve' up to £100 for pay at pump - here's what's happening

MSE_Emily

Motorists paying for fuel at automated supermarket pumps across the UK now face having up to £100 on their debit or credit card temporarily "reserved" while they fill up to make sure they can afford the fuel in advance. Here's what's happening and what it means for you...
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Card providers to 'reserve' up to £100 when you pay at supermarket fuel pumps - here's what's happening

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born_again

Been normal practise in Europe for decades. Never get why us POOR Brits have such a issue with it.

Also not new, was 1st tried in 2018 by Asda. 

Remember it is only if using Pay @ Pump & not if you pay in kiosk 👍

Jenni_D

born_again said:

Been normal practise in Europe for decades. Never get why us POOR Brits have such a issue with it.

Also not new, was 1st tried in 2018 by Asda. 

Remember it is only if using Pay @ Pump & not if you pay in kiosk 👍

Both those points are covered in the article. In fact it was initially trialled by VISA in 2016 (if the article is correct).  

bishbut

only some banks pay interest on current accounts so what does it matter if the don't pay interest you are not losing money I always have much more than £100 in my current account How much interest to you get anywhere today losing a few pence should not bankrupt anyone

Jenni_D

I didn't read the full article - is interest mentioned anywhere? If it is then it's a red herring ... even if the account paid 10%* (per annum) interest, the loss of interest due to £100 being reserved for 1 day would be negligible: 10% of £100 = £10 x 1/365 = 2.8p

* silly rate used just to show the absurdity of claiming a loss of interest.

Username03725

I keep a spare account with emergency cash in it, there's £8000 in it this month; the interest on it was 66p. At the same rate £100 for 1 day would earn 0.0275p. Interest is a non-event these days.

As for reserving it, it seems that the process reserves the greater of up to £100 or the available balance, then bills the actual amount. My experience of buying supermarket fuel these days with a VISA debit card is that it clears through the account by around 4pm the following day so having an amount of £100 reserved till the following afternoon isn't an issue, it'll just be reflected in a lower available balance. For the occasions where it could be an issue, it would make sense to make buying fuel the final purchase of the day.

born_again

bishbut said:

only some banks pay interest on current accounts so what does it matter if the don't pay interest you are not losing money I always have much more than £100 in my current account How much interest to you get anywhere today losing a few pence should not bankrupt anyone

You do not lose any interest as it is only a pending payment NOT a actual debit on the account. So has not effect on any interest paid.

NBLondon

Username03725 said:

As for reserving it, it seems that the process reserves the greater of up to £100 or the available balance, 

Smaller - surely?  Otherwise you would have £8000 being reserved and somebody with only £80 available gets £100 reserved.

Jenni_D

No ... if the account balance is greater than £100 then £100* is reserved. If it is less than £100 then whatever is the account balance is reserved, and in this case the pump will stop when the reserved amount is reached. The actual amount charged is whatever the transaction value was.

* I don't know if the article mentions what happens if the actual transaction value is greater than £100 - does the pump keep going or stop when the £100 reserve is reached? This is unlikely to matter for most transactions, but it's possible that some larger vehicles will require sufficient fuel to fill the tank that a value of >£100 is required.

Username03725

NBLondon said:

Username03725 said:

As for reserving it, it seems that the process reserves the greater of up to £100 or the available balance, 

Smaller - surely?  Otherwise you would have £8000 being reserved and somebody with only £80 available gets £100 reserved.

Whoops; it's either £100 or the available balance IF that's less than £100.

motorguy

I dont see it as an issue really and i can see why they're doing it.

I guess if someones bank balance is lower than £100 then its easy to go in to the shop to pay (assuming the pumps have a shop!) or go elsewhere.

I pay by credit card anyway so non balance impacting.  I guess a lot of people do that.