Visa Debit madness

Marian Walsh

I was shopping 60 miles from home yesterday - using my Visa Debit card. Suddenly my card was declined - luckily I had alternative means of payment.
I had to abandon my shopping trip and hurry home to check my bank balance on-line to make sure that no-one had emptied my bank account.

Today I went into my bank to find out what had happened. They rang Visa Debit and here's what they were told - if you try to use the card more than 10 times in a day it is classed as unusual activity and they freeze the card in case it is being used fraudulently. If you use the card in a cash point at any time during the day it resets the card and you can use it another 10 times!:eek:

They do apparently realise that this policy is going to cause problems, especially when people are out doing their Christmas shopping :rolleyes:

Ciarrai76

Marian Walsh wrote: »

I was shopping 60 miles from home yesterday - using my Visa Debit card. Suddenly my card was declined - luckily I had alternative means of payment.
I had to abandon my shopping trip and hurry home to check my bank balance on-line to make sure that no-one had emptied my bank account.

Today I went into my bank to find out what had happened. They rang Visa Debit and here's what they were told - if you try to use the card more than 10 times in a day it is classed as unusual activity and they freeze the card in case it is being used fraudulently. If you use the card in a cash point at any time during the day it resets the card and you can use it another 10 times!:eek:

They do apparently realise that this policy is going to cause problems, especially when people are out doing their Christmas shopping :rolleyes:

that's interesting! Now I am starting to realise that is might be why quite a few customers cards have not been authorized lately, despite them being sure they had enough cash in their account! As you say, it will be very inconvenient come busy times like Christmas!

Nervous Wreck

Seems like a good security measure to me. Don't think I've ever had to use my card more than 5 or so times in a day, and that woulda been Christmas shopping etc.

wmpdd3

That has always been the case even with Laser, at least that is what the customers have been told when they call to see why their card isn't working.

And its true it is around Christmas when it all comes to a head and it gets declined.

Ciarrai76

so its fair to say that if a card is declined (not authorized), it is possible that its just been used quite a bit that day by a customer?
Just handy to know, both for myself and as I work in a shop and this happens, much to the confusion of customers who are sure they had enough money in their account!

Marian Walsh

Ciarrai76 wrote: »

so its fair to say that if a card is declined (not authorized), it is possible that its just been used quite a bit that day by a customer?
Just handy to know, both for myself and as I work in a shop and this happens, much to the confusion of customers who are sure they had enough money in their account!

That's partly why I posted , because I asked a few local shopkeepers about it and they didn't know. My bank didn't even know!

duffman13

This was the case even with laser cards, anti fraud measure. When I was in banking there was a max of 20 transactions per day even if you used it an atm. I think the 20 limit is still in place so you can do 10, use an atm and do 9 more. Max daily allowance on visa debit cards is 2.5k per day so keep that in mind if your planning a crazy splurge coming up to crimbo

jc84

this happened to me recently while I was in london, i thought it only happened when abroad, bit of a joke this happening after 10 transactions

Marian Walsh

duffman13 wrote: »

This was the case even with laser cards, anti fraud measure. When I was in banking there was a max of 20 transactions per day even if you used it an atm. I think the 20 limit is still in place so you can do 10, use an atm and do 9 more. Max daily allowance on visa debit cards is 2.5k per day so keep that in mind if your planning a crazy splurge coming up to crimbo

Do people never use stolen cards in ATM machines then?

nlgbbbblth

This has been in for a while - both credit and debit cards.
I've been caught out a few times - usually when ordering different things from online sellers or paying for a bunch of ebay transactions in one go.

Once you ring the customer services number and confirm that the transactions are genuine they lift the block.

ScottStorm

Do shop keepers not offer to let you call your card issuer anymore? Used to be a please contact card issuer came up on screen.

NinjaTruncs

It would be a much better customer experience if the bank text you with this information, that way if it isn't you and you don't check your online banking very often you would get an early notification of fraud and it should reduce any embarrassment caused by card refusal.

Marian Walsh

I think that if card companies are deciding to freeze the card just because a number of transactions has been exceeded they should let you know this at the time. Being told that your card has been declined is very disturbing - I was thinking that my bank account had been emptied.

The shopkeepers I spoke to didn't know anything about this - they just assume that if cards are declined it's because of lack of funds. My bank didn't even know about it.

I'm very surprised to hear that this has been in place for some time and it hasn't affected me before now.

GerardKeating

Marian Walsh wrote: »

they just assume that if cards are declined it's because of lack of funds.

Actually, a lot of the time when my card is declined (always running up to the limit), the shops tells me their machine must be not working properly, I think there are afraid of slander/defamation/liable.

fasttalkerchat

Marian Walsh wrote: »

Do people never use stolen cards in ATM machines then?

The pin can't be bypassed on an ATM.

Ciarrai76

ScottStorm wrote: »

Do shop keepers not offer to let you call your card issuer anymore? Used to be a please contact card issuer came up on screen.

I think that's only for the shop. I have never been told to let the customer ring them, its usually only if there's an issue with the card and to alert the shop to call for authorization or if there is an issue like it being a stolen card.

wmpdd3

I think it depends on the terminal, older machines just say 'not authorised.


All in one tills sometimes say code 2 ( customer's bank issue) or 'Customer please contact card issuer'.

Marian Walsh

There was a case recently where a woman was distracted in a supermarket just after inserting her PIN number in the machine. Her card was taken and the thieves had obviously watched her enter her number. They went straight to a cash point at the other end of town and used the card.