At More Payment Choices we
have noticed an increase in phone calls from our merchants stating that our
“system” created an overdraft for their customer. Actually the fact is that the
banks are using technology to discover new income – at their customer’s
expense!
Merchants need to be aware
of what their customers believe when they receive a call blaming the merchant
for creating an overdraft for them.
The customers mistakenly believe
one of two things – related to using debit cards:
1. The “system” will not approve a sale if
they (the customer) do not have money in their bank account.
2. They have up to three days before the
transaction clears the bank if they use the debit card without the PIN number. This is referred to an offline debit or signature debit.
Gone are the days when a
person paying with a signature debit will have a few days to make a deposit to
cover a purchase. The banks have updated their “system” to assess a fee when
their customer makes a purchase without available funds even if the transaction
is not actually received for a few days. What do you think? Are the banks doing
this to protect us from creating a larger overdraft or is it a way to increase
revenue for the bank?
Merchants need to know that
the overdraft fees are out of their control and customers must have funds
available in their account to avoid fees.
See what the news says in an
article published in USA
Today titled “Banking: Purchases trigger overdraft fees before they clear.”
