shared debit card?

Question

i bought some stuff online & was backordered a couple of weeks, then i got an email from the store that they already shipped the products to me, but i don't have enough money on that debit card i used...i have a shared account with my mom by the way....question is, how can they charge me if i don't have enough money on that account?

i'm underage so i have a shared account with my mom

Answer 1

They can still charge the debit card account because it was a preauthorized charge. If there isn't enough money in the account, you may become overdrawn which results in overdraft fees. Use this situation to consider signing up for overdraft protection...most traditional banks offer it. In the meantime, see if your mom can make a quick deposit to avoid that overdraft.

Answer 2

I used to work for Bank of America and to explain this plainly (cause I would get asked this question all the time) more than likely when you purchased the item online you purchased it using your debit card (also known as a check card) with a Visa or MasterCard logo, right? Well, when purchasing an item online there is nowhere for you to enter your pin number which makes it a "credit" transaction. It is NOT considered a debit transaction unless you enter your pin.

A debit transaction also comes out of your account immediately. So if the money is not in the account it will be denied.

Credit transactions operate 2 ways:

A credit transaction is held the first day of the transaction and then the funds are released back into your account. Up to 72 hours later the funds will be taken out of your account even if the funds are not there.

Or

A credit transaction is processed and the funds are held. The funds are later released back into your account but in your case when the item was made available the money was taken out.

This does 2 things, most customer think they have been charged twice (which is not the case) and most people forget about the item and forget to subtract it from their accounts so when it actually does process the account it causes overdrafts.

In a credit transaction the bank makes more money and sometime the merchant does also.

Finally with that said, they can charge your account because of 2 reasons:

#1- Because of the pre-authorization hold that occurs on the first day of the transaction

#2-Most banks have an "unknown limit" in accordance with debit/credit cards that Visa and MasterCard honor. It allows customers an "emergency cash". It allows you to overdraw your account based on your history with the bank. No one knows how much your "unknown limit" is, it's just based on your history.

It can be a good thing and a bad thing. Good luck. Do me a favor though, don't yell at the person on the phone when you call the bank saying it's their fault. This stuff is explained in the small text of every bank's features and pricing when you opened your account but most people don't read the small print for whatever reason.

It's all good. If you get a fee just tell them you didn't understand how debit/credit card worked and ask for a courtesy reversal. They may reverse the fee based on your account history. Good luck!

Answer 3

Thank You Beautiful One!! I work in deposit operations and accounting dept of a bank, and we have calls on this all the time. People need to read and understand how the debit cards work before using them. Once they authorize the transaction, the merchant is guaranteed the funds. And just like you said, credit transactions are withheld from your memo/available balance on the first day, but then the amount "falls off" and within 24 to 72 hours later the amount "dead posts" to the accuont. Most people don't realize this and it gets them into trouble. But what I don't understand #1 for those who don't access their account online, or by phone. If they are accounting for the amount in their check register then this shouldn't be an issue for those who are really keeping track of the account. As long as you are writing down every amount you spend, also add a dollar each time you pay at the pump for the next 4 business days, then you can subtract it back off. and use a calculator for the math DO NOT ROUND UP OR DOWN.

#2 if you use online banking or phone account access. when the amount "falls off" your balance, this should send up a red flag. You know you made that purchace...if it dissapears, honest folks will question it and wonder why it "dissapeared". For those that don't question it, guess you thought you were getting a deal, huh?

Use common sense people, and these cards will not be an issue for anyone. And Please, don't blame the person on the phone when you call.....BANKS HAVE ZERO CONTROL OVER THE WAY THIS WORKS!!!!!
THE SETTINGS ARE CONTROLLED BY VISA/MASTERCARD PROCESSING CENTERS NOT THE BANK!!!!!

Answer 4

When they charge your debit card, it doesn't actually verify that you have funds in your account to cover. There's a 24 ot 48 hour lag time for the debit to process to your account.

If you don't have the funds, you will probably get hit with an overdraft fee. One of the reasons not to use a debit card for online purchases.

Answer 5

They will contact you that you had insufficient funds and they can try to get it as many times as they want most stop at three times but their isn't a limit and each time your bank will charge your account any where from 20.00 to 50.00 over draft charge for each attempt to get the payment, even if you only order 1.00 over what you had in your account, it is best and allot cheaper to get the money in the account ASAP to cover the order.