Failed use of debit card (check card)
 

Yesterday I tried to pay on-line for an Easy Jet airline ticket with my VISA debit (check) card.
The reason for the attempt was that the fare was cheaper by so doing. (>$10.00)

The attempt failed. The message said the card was not valid. I called the bank on the hot line and the human who answered checked my account and said that my card was in good standing.

Anybody got any clues as to what might cause the card to be rejected?

I emailed the airline, but all I can get is a robotic chirp -- standard response to complaint form #128-4.

Bob,

I recall this happening to me once & it turned out to be my fault. I can't recall the exact details but I had made a mistake in the card details I had typed in while making the booking. It might have been the card number or maybe the expiry date, but whatever - it was my mistake.

Are you 100% sure you got it right?

Jim

Expiry date is 09.
Account is in order.
I checked the number closely.
I presume the security code is the 3 numbers on the back near the signature block.

With many US debit cards you must call your bank and specifically allow European transactions---or anywhere outside the United States. I had to do it with mine.

Your problem may be the security codes. On my cards the are all 4 digits - not 3 - and are on the front of the card. Perhaps check that with the card vendor.

I tried to book an EasyJet flight a few months ago. I can't remember whether my VISA was rejected, and then I succeeded with my MasterCard, or vice versa. There was no reason either should have been rejected. This was a regular credit card, not a debit card.

One time this happened to me and it was because I was entering a newer phone number then what was listed on my bank account. If all the information doesn't match it won't go through. Including if your middle initial is on the debit card and statement but you aren't putting it on the plane ticket or vice versa. Good luck....

I just got a good answer from the issuer of my debit card why my attempted debit card transaction failed.

I called the customer service number and the person I spoke with said that the computer system was not responding at the time I tried the transaction. There was no way that account information could be accessed by any means and for that reason the sale was not successful.

I will try again later.

I had this happen recently with Delta and my mastercard. The airlines use companies that process the cards and verify addresses and there can be glitches at times. At least that was what my bank told me. Delta of course blamed it on mastercard but I was able to shop online with my card so I know nothing was wrong with my card.

aha!
the card was fine, the system was broken!
don't you HATE when that happens?
:)

sounds strange, but I needed to have my card Visa/debit "activated" at my bank.
I had used the card in person many times, but when I used it as you had it was declined.
Very frustrating, rnag/visited the bank and eventually they came up with the answer! good luck.

Hi all,

Very often the system will reject a debit card.

A charge card guarantees the seller that the bill will be paid by Visa or MC, etc.

A debit card does not.

((I))

Just last week I was able to use my debit card (with the Visa logo) to pay for our hotel deposit in London for May. The hotel did not have my card to swipe, they simply had the credit card deposit for with the numbers on it.

I did call my bank and let them know that there would be "just one" charge from the UK (for now), and I let them know the vendor.

The hotel had no problem entering my debit card info and processing the deposit.

I use Bank Of America.

It is not uncommon for there to be a brief time when charge transactions cannot be verified from Europe.

I saw a warning of this a few years ago and was glad I knew about it before my first trip to London.

When I arrived at my hotel, the first charge card I presented was rejected. I gave them my other one and had no problem. The first card did not have another problem during the trip.

About 30 minutes later, I tried using my debit card to get cash at an ATM and it was rejected. That happened again at the next two ATMs I tried.

After lunch I tried it again and had no problem then or during the rest of the trip. I even used it at the same ATMs that rejected it earlier.

Which is one of the reasons I like to have a little local currency in my wallet when I arrive.

Keith

Another thing is that the amount you were trying to debit may have exceeded your daily limit. Call your bank and ask them what your limit is.

A logistical ? to Ira--if there is no implied guarantee of payment, then what purpose does the Visa logo on said debit card mean? It would not seem very likely that it is there as an adornment.

The system will reject a debit card if the verification mechanism is either not working or busy to check the account funds and freeze them. With a credit card, the computer code simply checks the available credit against the purchase (purchase = or < credit) and gives an approval code. With a debit, the same company does the verification, but the process is different. There is a hold placed on the funds equal to the purchase, and then the debit actually is withdrawn within a 2 to 7 day period afterwards. The committed funds, however, cannot be used until the time expires for the actual debit (electronic funds transfer) to take place.

We have two children in college with debit cards, and have had situations in which they were in the university bookstore to purchase books, then changed their minds after the transaction was completed. Even with an immediate "credit" of the debit, the funds were still frozen for the waiting period until our bank saw that the debit would not be taken, and the hold dropped off. Needless to say, this caused much gnashing of teeth among the teenaged set. In one instance involving a debit of $150, the bookstore manager called our bank, told the EFT manager that the debit would not be presented, and then our bank had to manually take it off my daughter's account each day until the expiration of the hold. With a credit card, the amount is reversed immediately. This is one good reason to use a credit card, not a debit, while traveling.

Thanks for all the replies. As i said earlier, the bank's computer was pitching a fit when I tried to conclude the transaction, or at least that is the reason I got from the bank rep.

The amount was less than $200, so I doubt if the problem was a dollar limit.

I have not tried since then to see what would work. My chief reason for doing it was that I could save a few dollars.
Had I been away from home, I would have used my credit card because of the added protection, but I was at my home desk and the attempt was to buy an airline ticket.

I will try again and see what happens.
The transaction has yet to be retried and concluded.

Thank you, kswl, for that explanation. When I saw Bob's original post on Saturday, my first thought was, "I didn't know I could use a debit card this way." My second thought was "I wouldn't want to use a debit card for this kind of transaction." You have confirmed that my second thought was correct.

The other reason not to use a debt card that way is that you do not have the same protections that you do when you use a credit card.

A few years back someone got a hold of my debt card number. They told an arm of Ebay that I had made a $1,300 purchase from them.

I was months and a lot of time & effort (including filing a police report) getting the bank to credit my checking account the money.

They wouldn't even give me the name and address of the person claiming I had made a purchase.

Keith