Laser card "authorised but not yet debited"

Spocker

Just a little heads up for anyone who uses Laser cards out there... (at least this was something I didn't know, maybe everyone else did )

I was trying to may a payment to my credit card this morning of €100, having €101* in my current/laser account but was told that there was "insufficent funds"...

So I rang the lady on the telephone and said whats the story.. She told me that there was an "authorised but not yet debited" laser card transaction of €31 - this is quite correct (having ordered a copy of Quake 4 using the CDWOW link from the Bargin Alerts thread) - and that amount was reserved for that payment, giving me an actual balance of €70 - hence the insufficent funds... "but this isn't what I see on the screen in front of me", I say. "Oh no", she says, "we can see that only on our system"

I have to say, that was news to me - I always worked on the premise that I could use the laser today, lodge/transfer the money tomorrow and be debited the day after, but apparently this isn't the case. Did I just miss this or was this always the way?

*Note: amounts altered to protect posters identity

BuffyBot

This is how it works. Funds don't always come out straightaway. The transactions can be authorised immediately but can take a couple of days to clear.

Same happened to my UK visa debit card the other day. Bought a flight, but it was still showing as an incoming transaction for the next couple of days until it appeared on my statement. My available balance was minus the cost of the flight.

Spocker

Well, you learn something new every day!

So would I be correct in assuming that, although the max transactions on a Laser per day is €1500 and my balance is 0, then the biggest transaction I could do is €130 (the cheque guarantee amount)...?

BuffyBot

The cheque guarantee amount is seperate from the Laser function of your card.

Spocker

So if my balance is €0 and I have no (authorised) overdraft, what would the biggest amount be I could Laser then...?

MrPudding

Dr. Spock wrote:

So if my balance is €0 and I have no (authorised) overdraft, what would the biggest amount be I could Laser then...?

Nothing. It decides if the transaction can be authorised based on your actual balance. If it is working properly you would not be able to carry out any lazer transactions.

I have seen lazer transactions take over a week to appear on my account. Most annoying. I do not remember that kind of delay with Switch or Delta.

MrP

parsi

Laser is usually quite fast but a dunnes payment took a month once. Credit cards work the same way - authorised but not debited. In fact often if you had given your card number for mail order and were waiting for the item and new that the company only debited when it shipped you could ring the card company and ask if there were any transactions working their way through..

If you're close to your limit thats the time to write a cheque !

Our man in Havana

I once had some petrol station laser debits comeout 6 months afterwards. My laser card once let me run up over a grand in an unauthourised OD. Go Figure!

BC

Its quite normal for laser transactions to take up to a week to come out of your account, and as someone else said sometimes it can take months!

nlgbbbblth

I went to Connemara for New Year's in 1995 and when I got there I discovered that I had left my cashcard at home.

I had a cheque book and cheque card so I went into an arcade and asked them could I cash a cheque for £100. They gave it to me in £1 coins.

The cheque never came out of my bank account - i.e. was never presented for payment.

I was back there last summer and went to see if the arcade was still there but it wasn't.

Our man in Havana

6 months has gone by now so the cheque is worthless. Hard luck on them, You got yourself a free €100.

oq4v3ht0u76kf2

Or indeed €127...

Spocker

Bond-007 wrote:

I once had some petrol station laser debits comeout 6 months afterwards. My laser card once let me run up over a grand in an unauthourised OD. Go Figure!

Did they hit you with any charges for the unauthorised OD...?

Our man in Havana

Dr. Spock wrote:

Did they hit you with any charges for the unauthorised OD...?

You can be sure they did!