This w/e I am "debanked" (now resolved after a 90 hours' wait and many calls. Complaint underway)

StewedApple

To top it all up, I was asked 5 times whether I had special
circumstances, needed support etc., as the latest fad dictates. In the
end I told two different guys that the support I need is for them to
stop asking that question, but to no avail… that support is not
available.

You would benefit from a second bank account with a different organisatio which uses a different payment method e.g one using the Visa network and another using the Mastercard network. There is no guarantee these won't fail simultaneously but systems' redundancy is in everyone's best interest.

Ideally some cash at home (say £100) is also a good idea if possible.

Another reason to do this is that the government is now recognising that there are also nasty foreign actors out there who would be happy to disrupt such systems, and from the autumn they are likely to be looking to encourage the public to think about ways in which they can become more personally resilient - which is not a bad idea.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_point_of_failure

prowla

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82081318#Comment_82081318

So that's been debunked then!

GeoffTF

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82081753#Comment_82081753

Pay by Bank can be used in person with a mobile phone and a QR code, but none of the UK retailers seem to support it for in person payments. That would provide another payment option. Joining the European Payments Initiative (EPI) might also be possible. Trump could pull the plug on MasterCard and Visa.

StewedApple

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82082001#Comment_82082001

I would definitely be looking at creating resilience through diversity - the world seems to be relying more and more on technologies which can be quite vulnerable.

Andrea15

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82082007#Comment_82082007

You can say that again. With the right power cut we could all end up with no money at all.

Andrea15

I have just been on the phone with the fraud team only to be told (after being asked for the sixth time whether I had any special needs or whatever) that I need to speak with another team (that is going to be team No 4, plus 2 chats) who is going to phone me this morning.

In the meantime my daughter phone payment has bounced. Had it been mine I would have been with no phone too. 🤦🏻‍♂️🤬

jimjames

How did the transaction get as far as being blocked? Even if you'd tapped without looking it's way above the contactless limit, did you enter your PIN without checking the amount?

In some ways it's probably better to have it blocked. I had a similar one with Barclays and they paid it without query. It was a cardholder not present transaction for takeaway over the phone so I didn't even see it. Should have been £25 but was typed as £9925. Over my credit limit which I recall was something like £6k so also then triggered limit breach fees. When I complained Barclays staff couldn't understand why I had a problem with them approving it despite being over credit limit, for takeaway and cardholder not present! The restaurant did reverse it but I couldn't use the card for a week while the reversed payment was being processed and then had to fight to get the charges refunded too.

zagfles

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82082467#Comment_82082467

Yes, in your case the bank clearly haven't got a leg to stand on, it was CNP and they didn't require you to authorise on the app or by text code etc so they have no proof of your authorisation. So it's an easy refund, even if the retailer didn't play ball.

But in the OP's situation where authorisation was given through biometrics on the phone then the bank would probably be within their rights to say "well you authorised it, nothing we can do" and if the retailer didn't play ball they could have been out of pocket permanently.

I remember a story about a dodgy camera shop in Spain, years ago before contactless was a thing, where the retailer had doctored the POS device and done something like blanked off the last 2 digits and added a decimal point after the remaining last 2, so when people thought they were authorising eg EUR 7.50 they were actually authorising EUR 750 !! People had trouble getting their money back because the banks would say "you authorised by chip & PIN" !!

The_Groat_Counter

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82081727#Comment_82081727

Virgin Money is indeed now owned by Nationwide, but it's still largely operating as a separate business on a day-to-day basis - integrating it all together will be a long process.

The_Groat_Counter

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82082339#Comment_82082339

Mobile phone providers don't immediately cut off service if a bill hasn't been paid - the first step, which wouldn't normally happen straight away, would be to stop outgoing calls and texts and cut off data.