Bank at fault?

A question about : Bank at fault?

Hello All,

So a bit of background, my partner is with TSB and has a standard current account with a visa debit card and Ј300 OD limit.

Now my partner works and bills and so on come out of her account as with most people.

The issue is that say she goes to a TSB and gets a mini statement which shows she has Ј100 available on her card and she then goes into a Tescos and spends Ј10 on her card, she then goes back to a TSB and gets another statement her balance (both available and account) is still Ј100.

I bank with Santander and Halifax and I have done the same and both would show Ј90 available.

I understand floor limits and holding times within stores, I raised this to Tesco as an example and they have stated they have a generic policy and this wouldn't differ from bank to bank.

This happened and caused my partner to go over her OD limit and incur charges. At which point I raised the issue to TSB who in fact refunded ALL OD charges and also compensation.

Again this is still happening and so today I raised it back to TSB who refuse to acknowledge a problem and say the fault is with the stores she shops in.

My questions are, is this is the case why would they have refunded and provided compensation on the first time this happened? and does anyone else know of any policies or so on that would cause this to happen?

I can imagine there are many many more people out there who this happens to and get charged OD fees through no fault of their own, surly a bank has some duty of care over their customers to ensure financial difficulty's don't occur because that dont take funds from a card when they should.

If i have Ј10 and I spend Ј10 i should not be allowed to spend it again.

Many thanks

Best answers:

• In short: the bank is not at fault. You / your partner are responsible (/at fault).
  You and you partner might benefit from digesting this thread: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....php?t=5121532
• This does not relate to contact-less payment and if the bank was at fault why would have 400 have been credit to her account as a "gesture of good will" ?
• The problem here is that not all computer systems are real-time, so the transaction and new balance will only show after the 'batch' program has run, probably a few hours later. Too many people want to blame banks all the time. This is the fault of the customer IMO.
• You all seems to be missing the point.
  The bank has acknowledge that if my partner pays for something the funds should no longer be available to spend.
  They have stated if this is the case then this is a bank error.
  I have provided statements from the account and from shops that outline their floor limit policy and also how they collect the funds. in some cases this can take up to 6 months however its the banks duty to hold these funds and not make them available to the customer until they are collect.
  If this was the case then many people, and yes even those who can't/don't budget would get into difficulties.
  from what i have seen too many people take the moral high ground and this its ALWAYS the customers fault, when in reality we all know what banks are like
• I have noticed the same thing (but only with Tesco) when paying for something with my card (BoS account).
  I'm not sure if it's Tesco themselves (online banking always shows the Tesco debit being made 3/4 days after the actual transaction) or whether it's the bank's system. All other transactions go straight into the "pending" section on my online account.
  Might be worth making an enquiry to Tesco:
  https://www.tescohelp.com/tesco/forms/cs_form.html
• LP- you ask if it's the banks fault that your partner is going overdrawn when she's spending money on her account and the balance isn't updating quick enough...........
  No it's not the banks fault as I believe that it's the customers responsibility to ensure balances are kept up to date and monitored. I check my balance daily (sometimes twice daily) and could tell you at any one time what my balance is down to the penny. I always deduct any transactions from my balance and write it in my book so I have a running total of my account.
  I noted you ask if your wife should write down every transaction? In short, yes she should as I do and it prevents any costs being incurred.
  We do all know what banks are like at times but there is a level of responsibility for the customer to monitor their own account and know what their balance is.
• So if the banks systems went down for any length of time, how would your partner monitor her account ? Or would she just not bother ?
  It's her money, not the banks, she needs to keep a running total.
• May be an example will help.
  Mary gets paid Ј2,000 salary every 7th of a month. She has no other income.
  Mary has the following commitments:
• 12th: Mary withdraws Ј200 cash
• 12th: Mary pays Ј20 by debit card at Boots
• 12th: Mary pays Ј800 rent to landlord by SO
• 15th: Mary pays Ј600 to pay off credit card by DD (amount rounded for convenience)
• 18th: Mary pays Ј45 by DD for gym membership
• 19th: Mary pays Ј80 by debit card for her monthly shop at ASDA's
• 3rd: Mary pays Ј200 by SO into a savings account

This brings the total commitments between salary payments to Ј1,945.
Questions:

• what is the available balance on Mary's account on the 8th? (Hint: at least Ј2,000)
• over and beyond her above commitments, how much can Mary spend on the 8th without going overdrawn before she receives her next month's salary? (hint: not more than Ј55)
• what will happen if Mary spends Ј250 on her debit card on the 8th? (hint: her available balance will be reduced by Ј250 in the next day or two but still show Ј1,750 on the 12th. Mary will go overdrawn no later than the 3rd when her SO to the savings account executes)
• when deciding on an additional expense, should Mary ever take note of her "available balance"?