problems with Halifax and shopping online

lindseylou89

I'm sorry if this is in the wrong forum, but I'd really appreciate any advice or tips, or info from anyone who's had the same problem, if they're out there?

I've been shopping online for years using my trusty halifax visa (debit) card. No problems until now. Suddenly, no matter what site I try to shop at, I get an error message at the checkout to the tune of 'the card company did not authorise payment, please check and try again, or contact your card provider.'

This is baffling. I haven't updated the card or any details, haven't changed anything, I'm not overdrawn, my card still has over a year left until expiration. The only vague change has been about six months ago I registered it with the Halifax secure/verified by visa service, which just gives an extra bit of security, allegedly, but that was working fine too until a couple of weeks ago.

I've phoned the halifax and they say there's no 'physical reason' why my card shouldn't be functioning online, but they're going to send me a new one. Do you guys think this will fix the problem? I'm a bit lost without my online shopping, and starting to panic. I can't even use paypal to pay for ebay auctions anymore, I get the same error message when I try to send payment.

Has anyone had this problem before? Could it be an issue with the security settings on my pc? I'm going into the library tomorrow and will try to pay for something on a different computer, but I'm such a hopeless idiot when it comes to pc issues, that even if it is a problem with my computer I wouldn't know how to fix it. But the fact that the error message I get relates to the 'card company' and 'authorisation' makes me think that checkout gets as far as the halifax before the problem occurs, so it's not a computer issue?

sorry for the epic post, can anyone help me?

viking30

I use my Halifax debit card online all the time and all over the world. I've never had a problem unless the ammount was high (example paid for some flights, over 3,000 and had to call halifax to get them to approve) but never for lower amounts. I also use the Halifax secure/verified by visa service and have done for a year or more, never a problem.
Try the new card and see if that works if not i'd say you need to talk to halifax again.
Cheers.

jonesMUFCforever

Is it anything to do with Verified by Visa which I think Halifax have now introduced?

Mat_Lock

ejones999 wrote: »

Is it anything to do with Verified by Visa which I think Halifax have now introduced?

^^ That.

If you haven't signed up for it, or when it popped up you closed it. then you will probably struggle to buy anything. I know several people who ignored "verified by.." and they knew nothing about it.

balmk

Mat_Lock wrote: »

^^ That.

If you haven't signed up for it, or when it popped up you closed it. then you will probably struggle to buy anything. I know several people who ignored "verified by.." and they knew nothing about it.

Agree - though Halifax call it "Halifax Secure" - you can sign up via their website. More info here:

http://www.halifax.co.uk/bankaccounts/secure.asp

You may need to wait for your new card to come through first though (not sure on that bit!)