Maybe A Long Shot?

inspectorperez

Does anyone else suffer from memory failure like me when I see items appearing on my credit card statements which I don't recognise?

A typical example is a name which appeared on my list of Amex transactions relating to a pizza meal my family and I enjoyed last Friday. The name bore no resemblance whatsoever to the restaurant name and I know for sure that had I seen this for the first time when the month end statement was issued, I would have had no idea what this related to without a lot of soul searching.

I promptly visited the Amex app to see whether there was some means of making a note to myself which identified the transaction more clearly. No success and resorted to making a note in my diary for future reference.

Is there anyone who has knowledge of a credit card app which allows you to add narrative to transactions and thus avoid timewasting down the line and possibly also a needless enquiry with the credit card company?

NoodleDoodleMan

I have used Amex in local Tesco and the transaction has come up under Max Spielman !!!

The amount spent was correct - but nothing to do with photo prints etc.

eskbanker

inspectorperez said:

Is there anyone who has knowledge of a credit card app which allows you to add narrative to transactions and thus avoid timewasting down the line and possibly also a needless enquiry with the credit card company?

There are various budgeting apps that interact with financial institutions, usually discussed on the banking board (Yolt, Emma, Money Dashboard, etc), which may facilitate this, or you could just take paper receipts with purchases and reconcile statements with them, as many have done for years?

born_again

Often retailers can be franchises. So many McDonalds are & will debit under franchise name instead.
Tesco, bet someone has moved a terminal from a outlet in store.

Sandtree

inspectorperez said:

Does anyone else suffer from memory failure like me when I see items appearing on my credit card statements which I don't recognise?

Yes, and sometimes when you go digging you just go further down the rabbit hole. Years ago had AmEx call about a suspect transaction and didn't recognise the name (lets say "ABC"). So they then said that the company appears to make music equipment and software. Nope, not anything I'd have bought.

Was 2 hours later when on the train home and thinking about it and the "and software" rang a bell so check through my emails and I had bought some software that day, but nothing to do with music and a totally different brand name but down in the footer of the website was reference to that they were part of the ABC Group

inspectorperez

eskbanker said:

inspectorperez said:

Is there anyone who has knowledge of a credit card app which allows you to add narrative to transactions and thus avoid timewasting down the line and possibly also a needless enquiry with the credit card company?

There are various budgeting apps that interact with financial institutions, usually discussed on the banking board (Yolt, Emma, Money Dashboard, etc), which may facilitate this, or you could just take paper receipts with purchases and reconcile statements with them, as many have done for years?

Thanks for that.

After years in business of hoarding bits of paper to evidence credit card spending, I moved on from that when I retired and try do most things "E" style these days.

MalMonroe

Yes, sometimes on an invoice or email receipt there will be a note saying, 'this will appear as xxxxx on your credit card statement'. As long as we know! If that doesn't appear on an invoice or receipt, one could spend too much time trying to find out exactly what the name is. 

crumpet_man

Curve would solve this but it doesn't work with Amex.
Instant notifications on transactions and you can add a note, add a receipt (photo or attach a file)

inspectorperez

crumpet_man said:

Curve would solve this but it doesn't work with Amex.
Instant notifications on transactions and you can add a note, add a receipt (photo or attach a file)

Many thanks for that.

I don't believe I've heard of Curve before but you have prompted me to go and find out a bit more about it. I see there is information on this website and will do further research. The idea of carrying just one card around is quite appealing, although as you say, it doesn't work with Amex. The adding note feature is just what I am on about and this may be the solution I'm looking for.

cymruchris

Yes happened recently. I had a transaction pop up late on a Friday night for a Brewery - and being a non-drinker knowing that I hadn't ordered anything alcoholic got onto Barclaycard to ring the fraud bell. Got a new card dispatched - and then remembered that a week previous to the transaction, I'd taken my Aunty to lunch in a restaurant (not a pub) - and the amount matched. With the delay of the transaction popping up - and with it being alcohol related - I instantly thought it wasn't mine. I called Barclaycard back and apologised for my error and immediately settled the payment. 

lr1277

I once had a meal in a fast food restaurant and paid by card. The transaction took approximately 3 months to billed to (or at least appear on) my account. However I was waiting for that transaction as I had recorded it in software called Home Accountz. Unfortunately Home Accountz is no longer supported (but still available at certain sites). So I too am looking at some alternatives listed above.

The name of the restaurant was shown on my statement so it was easy to reconcile.