i purchased 15 in gas today on my debit card.....then i went to the bank withdrew some money and notice my balance was off quite a bit...so i called the banks hotline and the lady said they are putting a hold on ppls accounts for 49 dollars until the money clears for the gas (which usually takes about 2 days) since a lot of people keep overdrawing their accounts to get gas. I live in NY state. She said they started doing this at the end of July....anyone else have this happen? She told me the money would go back into my account once the 15 dollars goes through.
2007-09-12 02:53:20 · 7 answers · asked by glitterchick20016 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Personal Finance
Yes, this is really what the bank told me.
2007-09-12 03:11:33 · update #1
This is quite common.
It's called debit card holds or blocking.
All banks I am aware of do this.
It's been in the news recently mainly due to the number of people now using debit cards.
Here are a few links discussing card holds/blocking.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/credbloc.shtm
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/BetterBanking/HosedAtTheGasPumpByYourDebitCard.aspx
http://www.nacsonline.com/NR/exeres/00004052rfbwwyruikowqaeb/FactSheetsTemplate_OneCallout.asp?NRMODE=Published&NRORIGINALURL=%2fNACS%2fResource%2fPRToolkit%2fFactSheets%2fprtk_debitholds_factsheet%2ehtm&NRNODEGUID=%7bD57D8E68-6784-4F12-8673-D7073BD5E0B2%7d&NRQUERYTERMINATOR=1&cookie%5Ftest=1
This is also done on credit card transactions-You just don't see it because by the time you get the credit card bill, the hold has been removed.
This will happen not only at gas stations, but a lot of other businesses do this as well.
Make sure to keep enough money in your account to cover the holds as well.
2007-09-12 03:07:41 · answer #1 · answered by mister_galager 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes!I have I am originally from New Jersey,and that has happened to me as well I now live in Florida,n t has happened here as well but it is OK they just want to make sure the money clears because it happened when I noticed a $99.00 bill n did as u did called my bank hot-line and they told me the same thing n the next day everything was ok so that is something new they do that is why I do not use my debit card to but gas I pay cash who needs all of that but it will clear n everything should be fine not unless u-r- over drawn
2007-09-13 07:23:42 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are some gas stations that do this. The one by my house puts a hold for $75!! You may also want to try running the card as a "credit" card instead of debit to avoid the holding cost and find a gas station that does not put holds on.
2007-09-12 10:03:32 · answer #3 · answered by casw1 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is one of the reasons for NOT using a debit card. Gas stations are notorious for doing this -- have for many years. Other places that put large holds: restaurants, rental cars, hotels.
2007-09-12 10:56:24 · answer #4 · answered by bdancer222 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have heard about this for over a year because the gas station gets charged for the bounced debit if it happens, so they put funds on hold,
2007-09-12 10:23:54 · answer #5 · answered by rich2481 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
This has not happened to me at a gas station, but American Airlines has done this to me twice this year. I had overage charges both time, but my bank did reverse them for me.
2007-09-12 10:18:08 · answer #6 · answered by jigglebelly99 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What you said makes no sense. A debit card is like a check and no bank puts a hold on debit card purchases. Your card is either refected at the purchase site or not.
you sure that is what the bank said?
2007-09-12 10:04:57 · answer #7 · answered by Bob W 5 · 0⤊ 4⤋