Comments on: $50 mystery charges on motorist’s debit card explained

By: osteen

osteen — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 02:48:24 +0000

HOW IS IT THAT IF I HAVE, SAY, 20 bucks on my card, the gas pump will shut off automatically at $20! This would indicate that the debit card company AND/OR the station was fully aware of how much I had on my card! The idea that the cc company has to hold a certain amount for several days just doesn’t add up. It actually makes more sense to me that they would use that missing money’s “interest-earning potential” for as long as they can. After all, how do you think a bank makes money off a SAVINGS account? To think they don’t have the “technology” to determine how much gas I actually pumped immediately is just too much of a stretch. we’re sending folks to the moon for heavensakes

By: Johanna

Johanna — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:05:52 +0000

safeway does it too! only its $75 dollars, because of them i got $45 in overdraft charges because they witheld 150 dollars from my account for more than 2 weeks.

By: PM

PM — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:57:22 +0000

I ended up paying 5000+ $$ amount for 3200$$ air ticket from expedia website through my debit card as my credit card does not have this limit. which overshot my checking account and had to pay 160$$ as penalty for overdrawn and insufficient funds.
Hopefully the “extra” amount gets credited back to my account in next couple of days, exact timeframe is unknown.
This is atrocious and unrequired headache.

By: Kevin M

Kevin M — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 20:00:07 +0000

@Jasper: The problem with debit cards and “holds” is that for a checking account (as opposed to a credit line), there’s no such thing as a hold, at least not at many banks. When an item is presented for payment against a checking account, it’s either paid or not. So what would be a “hold” on a credit line becomes a charge against a checking account.

In theory, yes, reversing a charge should be immediate, just like a purchase. But it’s not (for the return & fraud reasons I noted) and unless/until the banks are forced to change those rules, a return’s going to take longer to process than releasing a hold.

In other words, I’m not defending the process, just explaining why a debit card gets treated differently in these situations.

@ThePlaz: It’s true that gas can’t be returned, but lots of things sold at a gas station can be. My guess is that some of their processing rules cover all purchases made at the site.

@J Bloe: No, many banks (at least here) offer free debit cards to their checking account customers. I pay no fee for mine, so it costs no more to use than a credit card. That many not be the case everywhere.

By: Rick Damiani

Rick Damiani — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 14:38:58 +0000

Most debit cards work as credit cards too, and that’s the best of both worlds. Run the transaction as credit instead of debit and you don’t have to deal with actual funds being held like you do with a debit card.

By: ajaynejr

ajaynejr — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:08:03 +0000

Anybody who uses a debit card should try to get and use a credit card instead. It just takes discipline to pay the bill in full and on time.

By: Richard

Richard — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 22:58:08 +0000

Restaurants do the same thing to account for a customer’s presumed tip. We ate at an establishment and used the debit card for the bill and left the tip in cash, but the credit card company automatically tacked on an additional 20% to our actual bill. It disappeared in a week or so, but be warned.

By: Jasper

Jasper — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:20:17 +0000

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2007/11/debit-card-purc.html#posts

This is an overview of how your debit card differs from your cc. Very useful.

By: David Hook

David Hook — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 04:05:58 +0000

Having had the same problems with using credit cards at gas stations here in Canada, I’ve found the simplest solution is to pull up at the pump, go inside and get the cashier to pre-authorise the pump with however much gas I want (paying inside by credit card) then going back out and putting in the car the same amount of gas I’ve already paid for. The pump won’t let you pump any more than this.

By: J. Bloe

J. Bloe — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 00:36:55 +0000

Don’t you also get charged a fee when using a debit card? About 20-50 cents? I can’t understand why people use debit cards and give a cut to their bank at every purchase. Use a credit card and of course pay the full balance every month. Discover gives you 1% cash back on every purchase. Many cards have promotion periods where they give you 5% cash back on gasoline purchases. Discover currently has 5% cash back on groceries through December. Why give money away when you can get a discount.