‘Not very fair if you’re on your last few pound in your bank’
Supermarket customers have voiced their anger after the introduction of a new £99 holding fee on all ‘pay at pump’ transactions.
The new temporary cost was introduced at Asda stores in Hull on Sunday, leaving motorists in the East Yorkshire city fuming.
Other large supermarkets such as Tesco have also begun rolling out the new holding fee.
Previously, motorists would have £1 blocked out in their bank account when filling up before being charge the full price for their fuel one to three days later.
However after Visa and Mastercard introduced new rules last year, that holding fee has risen to £99.
This means banks will now be able to temporarily block out £99 on motorists’ accounts until their transaction has been processed days later.
Motorists in Hull have been voicing their anger at the change on social media, Hull Live reports.
One user wrote on Facebook: “£99 bank balance to fill up at Asda Kingswood instead of a £1 now.
“Wondered why everyone kept driving off (including myself).”
Another wrote: “Not very fair if you’re on your last few pound in your bank.”
If you have less than £100 in your bank account, then whatever is the amount left is reserved, in what is known as “partial authorisation”. You will then be billed for the actual amount that is used and any money spare returned.
Another person pointed out the thinking behind the rule change, saying: “The issue was that people where creating fake accounts with £1 in and filling up £100 plus.
“Card obviously will never have the money in the account so it was never recouped.”
According to the Mirror, the benefit of the new system is that you will be debited for your actual petrol bill on the day of the purchase, as oppose to a few days later like with the old system.
Martyn James, who operates consumer website Resolver, dealt with over 2,000 complaints related to this new issue last year.
He said: “The way this is supposed to work is the money is ‘temporarily’ held on your account (meaning you can’t spend it) until the end of the transaction when the correct amount should be debited.
“Now the problem – as anyone who has used pay at the pump services will know – is sometimes the machines don’t do what they are supposed to.
“People have been reporting problems anyway with automated pumps, with keying in details, incorrect billing and other issues.
“Many people are rightly concerned that the £99 is being debited in error after they’ve driven away.
“The good news is if this happens, it should be pretty clear that there is an error and your bank should be able to step in on your behalf.”
An Asda spokesman previously explained: “The new rules imposed by Visa and Mastercard mean that the pre-authorisation has changed to £99 which means your bank may create a temporary hold of up to £99 while you fill up.
“On completing the transaction, the actual amount is deducted immediately from your account and the pre-authorised amount is immediately cancelled.
“The solution makes it easier for you to keep control of your finances when you pay for your petrol at the pump, however if an issue does arise you should first contact the bank that issued your card.”
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