Community Chat

[scatcat]

I haven't had a debit card in years but that exact scenario happened to me.  When you put your debit card in at the gas pump, it authorizes/puts a hold on a high $ amount since it has no idea how much you will spend on gas and you have a limit on how much you can spend on a debit card.

When I went into Costco to shop, I was declined for that reason.

Get a Costco Visa and start getting cash back on all your purchases including 4% back on gas.

[Spurt]

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@Anonymous032819 wrote:

I went to Costco today to get gas, as they have the least expensive in town.

After I filled  up, I decided to do a little shopping. I had five items in my cart, and the total came to just under $35.

When I went to pay with my Visa debit, the cashier said to me, "It says to contact the bank."

What???

I knew that I had money in my account, so I was worried as to why it wasn't being accepted.

So I swung by the bank to see what was going on.

The teller informed me that my card and account are fine.

Has anybody have something like this happen?

Why would my card be accepted at the pump, but not inside the store?

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@Anonymous032819 

I had that happened and when I contacted the Bank that has the card and it was nothing more than a random security check to verify that it was indeed a purchase I had made, after I called the bank they authorized the charge and my payment wen through....My total was $48  .....(and my purchase was not at Costco)

A friend also had this happen and her Bank told her that it was becauser this particular grocery store had found that there were a large number of fraudsters that were skimming cards and draining bank accounts....

[chrystaltree]

A few months ago, I couldn't use my debit card and I got that same contact your bank message.  It was Saturday so I couldn't.  I went online and verified my balances and there was no hold on my accounts.  On Monday, I called customer service and they were stumped.  They didn't know why it happened.  Computer glitch is all they could say.

[Sage04]

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@minimalistWF wrote:

@Anonymous032819  Debit cards are a horrible form of payment!!!  No protection from fraud, no credit history to help build your credit score and no rewards. 

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I´ve had my money replaced in no time when someone decided to go on a shopping spree. Guess it depends on the Bank.

[Sage04]

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@Love my grandkids wrote:

@minimalistWF Not so. I only use my debit card at Safeway AND my bank gives 100% protection in case of any hacking or fraud. 100%.

@Anonymous032819 Call Costco and ask them.

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@Love my grandkids  don´t know why someone would say this about using a Debit Card.

[plc123]

Our bank is good about treating our debit card just like a credit card. We own a business and some how someone got our number ( our cards were on our person) and we called and our money was back in our account within 2 days. So at least our bank treats it the same. And they either call or text if something doesn't look right.

[jannabelle1]

Having worked in banking for many years before I retired, here's what I think happened. It had nothing to do with your account. Instead, when a debit or credit card is used at a gas station, a "hold" is placed on your account for a certain amount when authorization is given on your card (at a gas station). It used to be $100 no matter what you ended up spending for the gas. Next time, go to the store first and get your gas last.

[BabyYoda]

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@jannabelle1 wrote:

Having worked in banking for many years before I retired, here's what I think happened. It had nothing to do with your account. Instead, when a debit or credit card is used at a gas station, a "hold" is placed on your account for a certain amount when authorization is given on your card (at a gas station). It used to be $100 no matter what you ended up spending for the gas. Next time, go to the store first and get your gas last.

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I agree @jannabelle1 I always get gas after I go to Costco. This happened to me a few times and I figured it out on my own to shop first then get gas.