About to go over my limit

branney

Silly, i know...

Today I made an online transaction which will put me £29 over my limit of £1200 with Capital One.

First off, the online retailer will not attempt to authorise until Monday. Do you think Capital One will authorise this amount over the limit?

Secondly, I phoned Capital One and they would not take a debit card payment until I was over the limit, however if I check daily, they will not charge me if I pay by debit card the same day I go over the limit.

Anyway, today I paid off last months balance of £869 in full by bank transfer, which states 'up to 4 working days' to arrive. If the online retailer authorises the transaction on Monday, it should take 3 working days to hit my card, right?

That should put me in the clear, as the credit and debit should both hit simultaneously. Have I gone a bit too close to the mark?

nearlyrich

Have you asked Cap One to raise your limit? If you have had the card for a while and your balance is paid off monthly they might be willing to up your limit. I would ask for double what you normally spend per month plus a little bit more for peace of mind. Hope it get's sorted, I hate paying CC companies and banks anything, I think it's about 10 years since I did.

YorkshireBoy

branney wrote:

Today I made an online transaction which will put me £29 over my limit of £1200 with Capital One.

First off, the online retailer will not attempt to authorise until Monday. Do you think Capital One will authorise this amount over the limit?

Yes I do, because then they can apply the "over limit" charge (of £25?)

branney wrote:

Secondly, I phoned Capital One and they would not take a debit card payment until I was over the limit, however if I check daily, they will not charge me if I pay by debit card the same day I go over the limit.

I'm not sure I understand this

branney wrote:

Anyway, today I paid off last months balance of £869 in full by bank transfer, which states 'up to 4 working days' to arrive. If the online retailer authorises the transaction on Monday, it should take 3 working days to hit my card, right?

Wrong - or at least not according to my CC statement for last month. When I compare the "transaction date" and the "date debited", at best it's 3 days, and at worst it's only a day. This is probably due to weekends so I'd assume that the purchase is debited on the second working day following transaction.

branney wrote:

That should put me in the clear, as the credit and debit should both hit simultaneously. Have I gone a bit too close to the mark?

I think you've over-stepped it, and will be extremely surprised if you are not "fined" for it.

branney

YorkshireBoy wrote:

I'm not sure I understand this

what i meant was i checked with capital one before buying anything, and they are prepared to let me pay by debit card, WITHOUT fining me, if i call them on the SAME DAY that i go over my limit.

thanks for the info on how long transactions take. i kinda suspected this as my car insurance came out after just 2 working days. i think the retailer could debit me on wednesday.

is there a chance today's payment by bank transfer will hit on wednesday too?

branney

nearlyrich wrote:

Have you asked Cap One to raise your limit? If you have had the card for a while and your balance is paid off monthly they might be willing to up your limit. I would ask for double what you normally spend per month plus a little bit more for peace of mind. Hope it get's sorted, I hate paying CC companies and banks anything, I think it's about 10 years since I did.

last month my car insurance authorised a transaction then took the money after 2 days, without cancelling the authorisation. this meant the card company were holding the money back twice, so i had to have the limit raised. now, another raise is not available, even for just £50!

mountainofdebt

I've found that if I make a payment using the my bank's online system that it hits the credit card account on the 3rd working day - so if you did this then it would reach your account on Wednesday.

branney

YorkshireBoy wrote:

Wrong - or at least not according to my CC statement for last month. When I compare the "transaction date" and the "date debited", at best it's 3 days, and at worst it's only a day. This is probably due to weekends so I'd assume that the purchase is debited on the second working day following transaction.

I think you've over-stepped it, and will be extremely surprised if you are not "fined" for it.

going by your advice, i have sadly now been charged (you told me so!). however i left it one working day, and it turns out the company went and took the payment the SAME working day as the authorisation. is this abnormal?

ie on sunday they had not even attempted to authorise, as confirmed by capital one. on monday they authorised and emailed me to say they were posting the goods. on tuesday i played it careful and called capital one to make sure i wasnt overdrawn (since my bank transfer should hit tomorrow) and the b*ggers have already taken the payment on monday! ZERO working days delay

you live and learn, eh? this is my first charge with them after 2 years of an account, and i also have another card which i don't use currently. do you think they will cancel off the charge if i threaten to close my account and use the other card? i only pay my balance off in full about 2/3 of the time, so they would make money off me to let me keep it open...

branney

Just to let you know, they agreed to refund the £20, though it did not go on until I reminded them a week or two later! Not sure whether that policy would extend to a charge every year, or whether it was a one-off, and I don't intend to find out!

Robert_Sterling_3

branney wrote:

do you think they will cancel off the charge if i threaten to close my account and use the other card? i only pay my balance off in full about 2/3 of the time, so they would make money off me to let me keep it open...

When I am in the wrong I do not threaten the people who are in the right.
I prefer to admit that I am in the wrong and that they are fully entitled having regard to their terms and conditions to make a charge. I then go on to invite them to refund the charge.

branney

Robert_Sterling wrote:

When I am in the wrong I do not threaten the people who are in the right.
I prefer to admit that I am in the wrong and that they are fully entitled having regard to their terms and conditions to make a charge. I then go on to invite them to refund the charge.

thanks, you are right there. i should have accepted the charge, then taken the company which caused it to the small claims court, since they told me they would process my order on the monday, and take the payment a few days after. the operative word being 'few', meaning more than zero..

Curry_Queen

branney wrote:

thanks, you are right there. i should have accepted the charge, then taken the company which caused it to the small claims court, since they told me they would process my order on the monday, and take the payment a few days after. the operative word being 'few', meaning more than zero..

How can you take them to a small claims court for processing a transaction you authorised them to make, presumably for goods you have received???

When you make a transaction using your credit card, the company applies for authorisation to ensure you have the funds available before finalising your order and preparing dispatch of goods! This then earmarks that amount of money from your account so you can't go and spend it elsewhere - aka known as a pending transaction if you check your balance online. Although this may take a few days to actually clear and show up on your statement, the money has already gone the moment you place the order and make the transaction!

It is you who are in the wrong here, not the company you bought the goods from! :rolleyes: