Checking your bank statement

welbeck

i do not use my main current account for debit card purchases.
i have a separate one with a different bank, with limited funds, for debit card purchases.
i use my main account for paying utility bills etc via telephone automated payment system.
it works for me.
i haven't had a credit cards for several years.

I do the same, i.e. using a bank account with limited funds, for debit card payments. This account is held with a separate bank from accounts which hold larger amounts. My banking app alerts me when money is deposited or payments made. I also have not used a credit card for years. Thank you for the information on Chargeback.

i do not use my main current account for debit card purchases.
i have a separate one with a different bank, with limited funds, for debit card purchases.
i use my main account for paying utility bills etc via telephone automated payment system.
it works for me.
i haven't had a credit cards for several years.

Very amused when I was paying a restaurant bill, the inexperienced waiter managed to pay it himself through with phone in his pocket. His face was a picture as he immediately realised what had happened. I use contactless on my phone but am rather more careful about it.

And risk your account being emptied. I have had my credit card compromised a couple of times - fraudulent transactions cancelled, money refunded and card replaced. My card details had obviously been stolen. Now if that had been my debit card, my current account could have been emptied. Is it worth taking that risk? No.

welbeck

so better to use a debit card for items costing under £100, as the credit card protection only applies to items/contracts for £100+.
this does include eg if you paid £20 deposit with credit card towards a hat costing £200, paying the balance by other means.
but if it's the kind of hat i might order, ie, costing about £20 total, i'm safer paying with debit card.

Thanks for that information Wellbeck…🤓

so better to use a debit card for items costing under £100, as the credit card protection only applies to items/contracts for £100+.
this does include eg if you paid £20 deposit with credit card towards a hat costing £200, paying the balance by other means.
but if it's the kind of hat i might order, ie, costing about £20 total, i'm safer paying with debit card.

information re debit cards' use protection, see moneyhelper.org.uk

Debit cards and chargeback
Debit card payments and purchases aren't covered by section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. But if you don’t get something you have paid for by debit card, and the firm is refusing to refund you, you can ask your bank to ‘reverse the transaction' and get your money back via chargeback.

Chargeback isn’t legal protection like section 75, which applies in the UK. It’s an agreement Visa, Mastercard and American Express have signed up to. The scheme enables you to claim a refund from your card provider if a purchase doesn’t arrive or is faulty.

Here’s how to get your money back via chargeback:

Contact the company and try to get a refund first before making a claim.
You must make a claim within 120 days of making the purchase. If the purchase is for something in the future, for example, tickets to an event, the 120-day limit starts from the day the event would have happened.
The card company will try to claim your money back from the company you’ve paid, by reversing the transaction.

Be aware that claims can take some time to process because the card company must get the money refunded before it can pass it onto you.

Chargeback works for debit, credit or prepaid cards.

Re: Paying in a Cheque

Thanks for the information Ladies - I will examine his mobile banking App (He's is not tech savvy).

Haven't seen a cheque for many years!

No problem. I have never, ever, used my debit card except for withdrawing cash. First Direct will be able to send you a new PIN for your credit card - they might want to send you a new credit card at the same time and cancel the old one. You can change your PIN to something easy for you to remember at a cash point. The other benefit of using a credit card is if you have a problem with something you buy with it and the retailer is awkward the credit card company will often give you a refund. Keep safe! So many companies we buy from online store our card details even if we haven’t authorised them to, and their systems can be hacked.

Germanshepherdsmum

Not necessarily shinamae. And you might have a long argument with them. That’s why a credit card is so much safer - if your credit card details are stolen the card company are generally very quick to refund you and the fraudsters won’t have been able to access your bank account, leaving you penniless, assuming you haven’t enabled them to get hold of your PIN. Using your debit card for anything other than withdrawing cash exposes you to fraud every time.

I don’t even know the pin number for my credit card, but I suspect my bank would give me that if I asked them then just use it the same as I use a debit card?
My credit card is with First direct as well so it probably won’t be a problem. I will ring them and see. Thank you for your advice.

When there was fraud on our debit card, the bank stopped our card immediately. We were going on holiday abroad the next day. What made it worse was that it was the weekend a new card took a week to come and we had no access to cash
My daughter's wedding was cancelled on the first day of Lockdown. Thankfully the credit card company refunded most of the cash, when the hotel went bankrupt.
A bank wouldn't have done so, if we had used a debit card.

Not necessarily shinamae. And you might have a long argument with them. That’s why a credit card is so much safer - if your credit card details are stolen the card company are generally very quick to refund you and the fraudsters won’t have been able to access your bank account, leaving you penniless, assuming you haven’t enabled them to get hold of your PIN. Using your debit card for anything other than withdrawing cash exposes you to fraud every time.

NotAGran55

Dickens you can deposit up to £2K a day by cheque on the HSBC app.

You can also pay in cheques at the Post Office if that is easier for you?

... ah, the Post Office!

We had one of those as well in town. The CO-OP took on the franchise.

... it didn't 'work out' and no-one knows why.

So we've lost the PO as well.

However, the nearest one is nearer than the nearest Bank - so I'll use that

Thanks!

Dickens you can deposit up to £2K a day by cheque on the HSBC app.

You can also pay in cheques at the Post Office if that is easier for you?

Shinamae

Germanshepherdsmum

But your account could have been emptied overnight - what would you do?

I might be wrong, and obviously I’m not as educated about this subject as you are GSM, but I think my bank would compensate me, would they not?

I change my passcode frequently as well

Germanshepherdsmum

But your account could have been emptied overnight - what would you do?

I might be wrong, and obviously I’m not as educated about this subject as you are GSM, but I think my bank would compensate me, would they not?

But your account could have been emptied overnight - what would you do?

Germanshepherdsmum

Even after reading the thread?

Yes, I have had no problems and check my bank statement daily..

Dickens

Can anyone tell me if it's possible to pay in a cheque without actually going to the bank - by post?

And without a paying-in slip.

My OH has been given a cheque from a company. The bank is 20 miles away, he doesn't drive, is disabled, so a friend has to take us - and parking is at a premium anyway.

With my First direct account, you can just take a photograph of the check and it puts it in…

I haven’t had a cheque for ages but I think you can do it on your phone. Certainly at a PO (don’t know if they can supply paying in slips).

Can anyone tell me if it's possible to pay in a cheque without actually going to the bank - by post?

And without a paying-in slip.

My OH has been given a cheque from a company. The bank is 20 miles away, he doesn't drive, is disabled, so a friend has to take us - and parking is at a premium anyway.

Even after reading the thread?

I use my debit card for everything, including drawing cash out once a week, but my credit card has only ever been used for my Amazon bill…

Lots of comments re don't use a debit card. I have 2 cards, one main one, on the main a/c, that doesn't get used for any online or physical in-shop purchases, only a couple of direct debits.

I have a secondary a/c, that one with its card does get used for any online etc purchases, BUT I only transfer in enough funds from the main a/c for those purposes.

Someone else mentioned Spam emails -- you SHOULD try and remember to check that folder every couple of days. The software to filter out those 'spam' emails is extremely fallible, bordering on abysmal. I've had emails from my sister plonked into Spam, also from the local vicar, all sorts of genuine ones can get selected. Sure, probably 80%+ of Spam emails really ARE Spam, but that leaves quite a few that aren't!

I'm with Virgin Media, (They all have the same issues), and their GENUINE emails have sometimes been selected as Spam. Lots of the spoof emails that come through pretending that my a/c has been compromised do NOT get selected for Spam! Depressing isn't it!

Of course you do, and I have always done that by withdrawing cash.