Petrol Forecourt now charging mandatory holding fees, who is responsible for the charge?

VoxNonIncerta

I recently filled up to £99 at Sainsbury's and noticed a holding fee of £100 on my credit card. This is the first time it has happened and I assumed it was due to the £99 max being used. I contacted my bank Nationwide who said it was Sainsbury's that have put this in place and when I contacted Sainsbury's they said it was Visa/Mastercard via your bank who have put this in place. So my main question is who actually is charging me?

In addition to this I did ask my bank directly as to how an unknown, unauthorised transaction could be approved? Why is it even necessary considering I've paid for my petrol and why is it specifically a fuel issue, you don't get the same charge for shopping. None of these questions could be answered. They coming back saying don't worry about it and that it will drop off in 7 days, my response was to say how about don't do it at all.

Is this legal that they can just place this charge without notification or authorisation?

eskbanker

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2021/07/changes-to-pay-at-pump-up-to-p100-withheld-from-customers-accoun/ explains this, and yes, it's legal....

VoxNonIncerta

But who is the 'driving' force behind it? Is it a bank thing or a supermarket because they both blame each other and it wasn't clear from the article.

eskbanker

VoxNonIncerta said:

But who is the 'driving' force behind it? Is it a bank thing or a supermarket because they both blame each other and it wasn't clear from the article.

The article explains that it's the card schemes:

The practice, which has been implemented by payment providers American Express, Mastercard and Visa....

and UK Finance supports it too:

What do Amex, Mastercard and Visa say?

Mastercard and Visa told us the move should prevent shoppers from falling into unarranged overdrafts because they won't be attempting to buy more fuel than they can afford. They add that it should also make it easier for people with basic bank accounts to access pay-at-pump services as their cards are declined automatically under the old system. We've asked Amex to comment and we'll update this story if we hear back. 

Banking trade body UK Finance says it supports the change. A spokesperson said: "UK Finance supports initiatives from the payments sector to make paying for goods and services easier."

Sandtree

VoxNonIncerta said:

I recently filled up to £99 at Sainsbury's and noticed a holding fee of £100 on my credit card. This is the first time it has happened and I assumed it was due to the £99 max being used. I contacted my bank Nationwide who said it was Sainsbury's that have put this in place and when I contacted Sainsbury's they said it was Visa/Mastercard via your bank who have put this in place. So my main question is who actually is charging me?

In addition to this I did ask my bank directly as to how an unknown, unauthorised transaction could be approved? Why is it even necessary considering I've paid for my petrol and why is it specifically a fuel issue, you don't get the same charge for shopping. None of these questions could be answered. They coming back saying don't worry about it and that it will drop off in 7 days, my response was to say how about don't do it at all.

Is this legal that they can just place this charge without notification or authorisation?

No one is charging you... the petrol pump requests authorisation for £100, assuming it receives it then it starts dispensing petrol. Once you have stopped fueling up then it will request funds for the amount actually taken. The charge should cause the the authorisation to drop away but sometimes it will stick in which case it falls away in line with your bank's policy for dropping authorisations which is normally 7-10 days.

The most common time you will see similar happening is when you check into a hotel and they ask you to give your card for any food/drinks you want to charge to your room. As the amount you will spend isn't known at the time of check-in they either have a fixed amount, a per night amount or a formula (eg % of room rate) and will get authorisation for this amount but when you check out they will charge the actual amount. 

TadleyBaggie

Sandtree said:

The most common time you will see similar happening is when you check into a hotel and they ask you to give your card for any food/drinks you want to charge to your room. As the amount you will spend isn't known at the time of check-in they either have a fixed amount, a per night amount or a formula (eg % of room rate) and will get authorisation for this amount but when you check out they will charge the actual amount. 

I registered a debit card recently when checking into a hotel, nothing showed up on my account until they took the actual amount I'd spent a few days later.

Hippycamper

I don’t know who is charging the £99.00 on my Amex app - is it Sainsbury’s or is it Amex?

All I know is that when I go to Sainsbury’s to fill up, it’s quickest to pre pay. That involves me showing my nectar card to the pump, putting my credit card into the pump, typing in my PIN number, and then the pump gives me petrol, I drive off, and there is a pending charge of £99.00 on the app.

a few days later it changes to what I actually bought/spent.

my car can now hold over £100 - what will happen now - will it go up to £200 pending - I don’t know.

If I want to pay the exact amount at the time, I suppose I could go and stand in the queue, but it’s my credit card I use, not my debit card,  which I agree using my debit card, on a Thursday (day before pay day), the machine would probably not work, and if one of the big standing orders had come out too, then £99 pending for a few days it would be a problem.

luckily Sainsbury’s give you the option to pay a person, Asda’s in my area it’s all pay at pump only.

Sandtree

TadleyBaggie said:

Sandtree said:

The most common time you will see similar happening is when you check into a hotel and they ask you to give your card for any food/drinks you want to charge to your room. As the amount you will spend isn't known at the time of check-in they either have a fixed amount, a per night amount or a formula (eg % of room rate) and will get authorisation for this amount but when you check out they will charge the actual amount. 

I registered a debit card recently when checking into a hotel, nothing showed up on my account until they took the actual amount I'd spent a few days later.

As noted, each hotel is different just as each bank and their app is different. Normally it will show up for banks that show pending payments in their apps but is going to be more noticeable in longer stays than if you say check in on Friday night and out Sunday morning where updates haven't been made due to being outside of banking hours (less of an issue these days but still persistent with some more traditional banks

Hippycamper said:

I don’t know who is charging the £99.00 on my Amex app - is it Sainsbury’s or is it Amex?

You haven't been charged anything, an amount has been authorised. It is the petrol station doing the authorisation before they are willing to give you fuel

molerat

Tesco don't hold anything.

Hippycamper

molerat said:

Tesco don't hold anything.

I’m off to Tesco. Thank you for the information 

martinbainbridge1975

as above, Tesco hold £1 reserve then the transaction appears 2/3 days later