[Shaun]

Originally Posted by Chrysalis

yeah I know someone who had a switch and it allowed him to spend money he didnt have strange, my visa certianly doesnt allow it and payment would be declined and thats the end of the matter.

VISA Electron and Solo both authorize every transaction. That's why you can't use them on a train to buy a ticket as there's no connection to the network.
Maestro and VISA debit both can be used when they can't be checked for authorisation or on paper vouchers up to the companies floor limit. That's how people can spend money they don't have. (It's the same with credit cards!)

If you have Solo or VISA Electron then you shouldn't (but I have seen it) be able to spend money that isn't there.

If you misuse your Maestro/VISA Debit card many companys do charge you for every transaction.

---------- Post added at 13:42 ---------- Previous post was at 13:34 ----------

Originally Posted by Xaccers

By taking over I just mean I'll print out the letters as per the process and get her to sign them rather than ad-hoc correspondance.


Interstingly, about 9 months ago HSBC sent her a letter saying that they no longer charged pentalty fees but £25 admin fees for increasing your overdraft to cover the outgoings.
£25 per increase. However where someone had a £100 overdraft, if they had a bill etc come out taking it to £150, they were charged £25 for the extention of the overdraft, but the overdraft remained at £100, so if monies were put into the account to bring the overdraft back into the £100 limit, then something else came out, another charge would be applied.
Also, the charging for a few quid over the limit didn't start until September, when it suddenly started and became quite heavy, with charges taking the account over the overdraft limit, and further charges because of that.

The new T&C I got from HSBC told me that they would never charge charges on charges. It may be worth digging out the leaflet and checking.

They also said they would not make a charge that was greater than the amount that you went over drawn by. for example you go £18.76 over drawn - they'd not charge you £25 for it.

Our Fair Fees Policy

Our Fair Fees Policy means that we will not charge any fees for agreeing either formal or informal overdraft requests, unless they occur frequently.

* You will not have to pay for your first agreed overdraft request (formal or informal) in any 6 month period. Each further request in a 6 month period may incur an arrangement fee.
* You will not have to pay fees for being overdrawn by £10 or less.
* You will not have to pay more in fees than you are overdrawn by in your charging month***, so a £15 overdraft will not cost you £50.
* You will not have to pay a fee for an informal overdraft request if your account is credited with covering funds by the end of the same day.

http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/personal/c...dkPk:11j77hvaa

I think that even though the charges are still too hight for my liking (I'd like to see it around the 5 to 8 pound mark) the charging policy set out by HSBC is one of the fairer ones. No fee for your first bounce in 6 months, no fee if you pay in cash to cover it before close of play. No fees if you go less than £10 overdrawn!

*** Interesting point Xassers