Bank Anti-Fraud / (anti-consumer)?

sonia140974

Hi
Has anyone else been hit by this so-called anti-fraud mechanism where their bank automatically stops card payments going through 'if their system thinks' you have made more transactions that you would normally do in a 'given' time?

I was woken at 7:10am today :mad: by a very embarrassing phone call from Tesco home shopping to tell me that my grocery order would not be coming as my card had been decline! DECLINED???:eek: OK, I am by no means flush, but I know for a fact that I can more that cover my grocery bill.

So I called my friendly, Asia-based bank representatives who to be honest, didn't have a clue what I was talking to - and I'm a patient person - and eventually redirected me to the 'Anti-Fraud' who very handily didn't open until 9am.

I called back at 9:01am to be told that my card was refused as it appeared I had made 'a number' of transactions in a short space of time. Having checked my account, this simply amounted to 5 x card transaction, amounting to less than £115.00 in two days - 3 of which were older transactions which simply hadn't gone through immediately.

I therefore requested that the mechanism be removed from my account and that I be the person who makes the decisions as to whether or not my card is being used 'too much'. My bank then told me they cannot remove it, but would reset it for me so that my transaction would go through successfully in the next few hours.

I want to add that this is not the first time this has happened. It also happened twice before Xmas with two other retailers. It is very embarrassing and in my opinion, although I can see the idea behind it, quite unfair that nothing can be done about it.

Thanks for listening.

hollydays

My bank picked up I was buying a slightly expensive item of clothing in another part of the country to where I live. I had to answer a few security questions over the phone,which I was happy to do,they said it was a random check!? Other than that,purchasing a two lots of different flights (short haul) seemed to get their attention,again not a problem,though inconvenient at the time.I felt quite reassured by this though.

sonia140974

hollydays wrote: »

My bank picked up I was buying a slightly expensive item of clothing in another part of the country to where I live. I had to answer a few security questions over the phone,which I was happy to do,they said it was a random check!? Other than that,purchasing a two lots of different flights (short haul) seemed to get their attention,again not a problem,though inconvenient at the time.I felt quite reassured by this though.

It is reassuring to know that they're trying, but in my opinion, a little too hard.

I mean, £115 in 5 x transaction over 2 days and they refuse an order to of all people, Tesco's for £80 !!

Not exactly a huge transaction is it.

I'd like to see the rule relaxed, if not removed altogether.

hollydays

The only think I can think of is that the other purchases were in a high risk sector. I know flights are often purchased with stolen cards,so that is why that got picked up on. They no doubt (or maybe not!) have established patterns of risk that their systems will pick up on. What type of goods were the other purchases,it does seem ridiculous at face value.

shaaark

And at the other end of the spectrum, my friend was in Los Angeles shopping when her card got declined, she simply assumed that she had reached her limit, came home and found that someone had been shopping ON THE EXACT SAME day in Liverpool, using her card fraudulently.

Shouldn't alarm bells ring for the credit card company that the owner of the card is able to magically teleport halfway across the world to shop in LA and Liverpool simultaeneously?! :eek:

sonia140974

hollydays wrote: »

What type of goods were the other purchases,it does seem ridiculous at face value.

1 x Marks & Spencer transaction by hand plus 4 x online transactions, all totalling £115.00

My point is though, shouldn't this 'protection' be a matter of choice?

dragonsoup

I was quite shocked when a transaction I made on my debit card went through WITHOUT being queried recently.

It was for a totally atypical amont for me ( £19,000!.) The car salesman was equally surprised - he had the second phone all ready for me to call and speak to them when they questioned it.

kr15snw

That is a stupid amount to decline the card.

I understood when my card was declined for £1300 last year (new laptop) as Id never bought anything more than £200 before! Lol. That took ALOT of security questions, including the name of the street next to my home address and where my last purchase was (I cant remember!!).

They thought I was the fraud user pretending to be me, trying to get my card re instated.....

maplegirl2011

this happened to me recently when i paid 2 mobile phone bills and a virgin media bill on the same day. but the thing is i pay them every month (just not normallyon the same day) but if they had looked at my account they would have known this, but instead they suspended my card and caused me lots of hassle.

pinkshoes

I think it's great when they phone you up after any unusual spending patterns!

It may have only totalled £115, but I'm sure you would have been less impressed if that £115 was spent by someone else who'd managed to get a copy of your card and was having fun shopping online with it.

What I don't like is when shops are too lazy to go through the security check, and instead just tell you your card has been rejected!

uktim29

pinkshoes wrote: »

What I don't like is when shops are too lazy to go through the security check, and instead just tell you your card has been rejected!

Back in the 90's when I worked in retail it had an option to phone up the back for a security code. I continued to work in retail up until last year and for the last few years that option has never came up, it's just declined and thats it. I don't think it can be done now.