Laser transactions

penexpers

According to AIB I have €65 of outstanding Laser transactions (I'm still trying to figure out what they are) still to hit my account. AIB can't/won't say if it's one transaction, loads of transactions or where they were made. I called IPSO (who are in charge of Laser) and they said that AIB should be able to see the auths coming in and there's no reason why they can't tell me where they are coming from.

Has anyone ever come across this before? It effectively means AIB are reserving €65 of my account and it's very annoying, especially after Christmas

supermouse

I had the exact same thing happen after a recent holiday and was worried there was foreign fraud happening on my account but AIB could tell me nothing until the bank / shop that the money was taken from did their accounts and banking.
It took 3 weeks beacuse of the Christmas break to sort it out.
AIB were helpful but basically told me to either sit tight and wait and see, or else cancel my Laser card and wait 28 days for a new one to be sent out. Very difficult to survive with no money over Christmas!!!
I figured the money out in the end but its really annoying when the date you purchased a product and the date it appears on your statement vary!

Cabaal

Laser sounds great but in practice it bloody sucks, it should be like a creditcard where the money is taken out straight away

Beano

Cabaal wrote: »

Laser sounds great but in practice it bloody sucks, it should be like a creditcard where the money is taken out straight away

I thought credit cards worked the same way? If i look at my credit card bill i see a transaction date and then a posting date that is usually 3-4 days later.

Stepherunie

If you look closely on a credit card though it's off your credit balance.

I use online banking and things take days to show up in my transactions but it's taken of my available credit straight away.

Ste.phen

It's the difference between authorising and charging the amount, the 2 don't always happen at the same time (though they probably should) and aren't always teh same amount either. This is especially true for restaurants and hotels, who may 'authorise' 200 quid, for example, but eventually only charge you 100. The 200 isn't available for you to spend from the time they authorise it, and until that expires, or they put the charge though, the bank doesn't know exactly how much to take out of your account, so they err in their favour


I think retailers let the charges pile up slightly to save on processing fees, though i heard that from a friend of a friend (etc.) so it may not actually be true.

penexpers

Well according to Laser, most retailers would batch process their transaction slips on a daily basis, whereas a few smaller retailers might do it every two days.

Also they said that once a transaction is authorised, there's no time limit on a retailer to send the slip in.

I'm sorely tempted to stop using Laser now. I wish there was a solution like Mon€o (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mon€o)

Beano

i stand educated. i only got one before christmas so i'm still gettin up to speed.

GrumPy

Sorry to hi-jack, but Laser related question.


Have one with BOI and a transaction GOV LSR CHG or something similar €10! I wasn't notified of it, and can only guess it's an annual charge? Got it only today actually. Aint used card in a few days.

Toto Wolfcastle

Irish GrumPy wrote: »

Sorry to hi-jack, but Laser related question.


Have one with BOI and a transaction GOV LSR CHG or something similar €10! I wasn't notified of it, and can only guess it's an annual charge? Got it only today actually. Aint used card in a few days.

I'm guessing that's the annual government charge on Laser cards. I think they usually take it in January. I doubt the bank would notify you before taking it out as it's generally listed in the T & Cs etc.

I'd forgotten that happens at this time of year. Must check my balance!

kkontour

penexpers wrote: »

Well according to Laser, most retailers would batch process their transaction slips on a daily basis, whereas a few smaller retailers might do it every two days.

Petrol station in sligo
bought petrol on 20th July, 26th July, and 13Aug all with Laser.
All payments were taken from my account on the one day, 15th Aug. Give me a shock as it was for €170.

Stepherunie

Cabaal wrote: »

Laser sounds great but in practice it bloody sucks, it should be like a creditcard where the money is taken out straight away

I agree, I had an account in the states with Chase Bank. Had a Visa Debit card there and money was taken out of my account within the hour I bought things, even with small shops this happened.

It was so much better as a result - you knew exactly where you stood and there were never any big surprises!

Slice

Alternatively there is the Visa Electron debit card with Halifax if Laser is displeasing you

Ian Beale

penexpers wrote: »

Well according to Laser, most retailers would batch process their transaction slips on a daily basis, whereas a few smaller retailers might do it every two days.

Also they said that once a transaction is authorised, there's no time limit on a retailer to send the slip in.

Sorry for going off topic here but retailers don't send their merchant slips in the money is taken out of the customers account instantly on day 1 on day 2 security check and day 3 its processed into the merchants account,the slips the business gets is if anything goes wrong and to know how much money is in a till at the end of the day.

The only times that a merchant would show the bank the slips is if there was a problem say for example a customer gives their card in - the machine has an error and it prints off a receipt saying Transaction Canceled/Void,the card is placed in again and it is accepted money withdrawn.

But say the first time even though the merchants machine says it was canceled that it took the money from the account anyway that customer would have been charged twice,in that case you would have to show the bank the VOID slip to prove it was a fault on their end and they have to sort it out not the business.

Phew anyway my advice go to the branch that you have your account with and ask to see the transactions,if the person your speaking to says s/he can't ask to speak to the bank manager as its your money and your account your entitled to know where it has gone too.

IncredibleHulk

Irish GrumPy wrote: »

Sorry to hi-jack, but Laser related question.


Have one with BOI and a transaction GOV LSR CHG or something similar €10! I wasn't notified of it, and can only guess it's an annual charge? Got it only today actually. Aint used card in a few days.

With AIB it is €10 if used at ATM or shopping and €20 if both according to my T&Cs

JohnC.

IncredibleHulk wrote: »

With AIB it is €10 if used at ATM or shopping and €20 if both according to my T&Cs

It's is €10 Stamp Duty each for ATM card and Debit card functions. If you don't use it as a Debit card, you won't be charged the €10 Debit card Stamp Duty.

cashback

Actually one of those charges has been reduced to €5. can't remember which one..

Stepherunie

The normal ATM Card is now 5.

I have one atm card, one laser card.

ATM Charge was 5e

Laser Charge was 10e

chasm

cashback wrote: »

Actually one of those charges has been reduced to €5. can't remember which one..

It was both actually, but i think we are charged in arrears arent we? I mean the charge applied to our a/c in january/february is for last years usage.
So we will not see the benefit till next year.
Got the following from fixmytax:

Financial Cards

Changes are being made to the Stamp Duties applicable to ATM/Debit cards, charge cards and credit card accounts. The rate changes are summarised as follows:

Description Current New
Charge cards & credit card accounts €40 €30
ATM cards €10 €5
Debit cards €10 €5
Combined ATM/Debit cards €20 €10


The charges for ATM/Debit/Combined cards will take effect on the year ending 31 December 2007 and for Credit cards for the year ending 1 April 2008.