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Original poster

Strange transaction into my bank, bank don’t understand either please help?

52 replies

StrangeMoney · 04/12/2021 14:14

I have anxiety and ptsd, I am also a single parent to a 7yo.

I check my bank everyday and keep track of all transaction, I do work but this is a hangup from being on only benefits and struggling so I knew where every penny went. I would also round up on my own lists so that I always had enough.

I transfer all money out of my account into a different account. The money is then moved around from my savings either back to my current account, into my Lifetime ISA or stays in my short term savings. I use the savings to buy food and everyday things (I can access them at anytime in branch or through online banking, transferring the money to my current account to withdraw if using online/the app)

This morning I’ve checked my bank as usual expecting my current account to have around £70 in and my savings to have around £200. Savings are there as expected but current account has an extra £350 in.

I check my statement just to see if someones paid me unexpectedly (my pay days are set for wages and CM but CB or UC can sometimes change due to where in the month payday falls) but can’t see the extra £350 on my account.

I’ve gone back through my statement but all the figures add up to the £70 in my current account and £200 in savings everything has been paid as it should at the right time and has a name next to it. I’ve checked all my accounts with people like amazon and next where I’ve been ordering Christmas presents in case I’ve been given a refund for something and just missed an email but can’t see anything.

I’ve called the bank and they couldn’t understand what I was saying and actually seemed offended when I asked why there was an unexpected £350 in my account, they’ve said I must have done something or been given it by someone, but admit if I had it would appear on my statement.

I was worried it was some sort of scam so that’s why I called but they said those would appear on my statement under a random name and their systems would pick it up (which is true, I’ve paid for something on a random website before and they’ve called me to check it was me and similarly when someone’s put money in my account, they’ve called me if it’s a large amount to check I was expecting it).

I just don’t get it, the bank where unhelpful and I’m terrified I’ve got an extra £350 right before Christmas that I don’t know where has come from. It will also affect my UC so I’m worried someone will come demanding it back.

I’m always really careful where I put my bank details and if I’ve used a bank account I will only transfer the exact amount I need into a 3rd account I use for buying online.

Any ideas what it could be? I’m really scared of having more money than I should. It sounds like a ridiculous dilemma written down.

OP posts:

sashagabadon · 04/12/2021 14:40

If there is nothing extra that’s been paid in then it must be less going out. Get your paper statement for last month and the month before. Get two highlighters and go through each dd or so or other transfer and check the same on both months to spot any discrepancies.
Otherwise don’t spend it and see what happens.

Goawayangryman · 04/12/2021 14:43

Does your bank app/statement show pending payments? Mine does. It looks as if the debits have gone out but they haven't actually, and aren't reflected in my balance.

girlmom21 · 04/12/2021 14:44

Something that was a pending payment will have not been paid and gone back into your account for some reason, presumably.

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General money

Sunseed · 04/12/2021 14:46

Is there something that's due in on Monday and won't show on the transaction listing till then but has already been received by your bank overnight, I.e. was sent out Friday to be payable Monday?

VeganVampire · 04/12/2021 14:48

HSBC has recently started showing slightly different information due to 'pending' payments, both in and out. Try to leave it for a day or two to see if it catches up.

Olive60 · 04/12/2021 14:49

Could you have returned something that has been credited back to your account? I know I once questioned with a company about not receiving a refund of something I'd returned for them to tell me to go back to the date I'd ordered and it showed '+£250' on that date rather than the current date like I'd expect it to!

CheesusWept · 04/12/2021 14:51

Perhaps because it’s a Saturday, the transaction details will show up on the Monday. Sometimes that happens with my account.

TheGirlWhoLived · 04/12/2021 14:53

It’s happened to me before that somewhere I have bought from or sent money to (in this case David lloyd gym, I paid £200 odd for some membership) then it got reimbursed about a week later, the money went back into my account with no indication where it was from, 4-5 days later it went out again! But I could have spent it in that time. I would leave it a week and if it’s still there then accept it and you can use it

Original poster

StrangeMoney · 04/12/2021 14:53

Sorry if the OP wasn't clear I'm panicking.

Yesterday my bank account was as I expected it, £100+ in my current account and £200 in my savings. Bills and direct debits paid yesterday as normal so was expecting the current account to be around £70 today and my savings to be around £200.

I've woken up to a balance of £420 in my current account, and the extra £350 not showing on my statement at all, I don't know where this extra money has come from.

OP posts:

loudbatperson · 04/12/2021 14:54

I have had this happen a few times, including strangely enough at the start of this week.

My balance suddenly increased by just under £700 without showing any payments in.

It is because a payment I had made a few days prior, hadn't been fully claimed by the receiving company, so the money was released into my bank again. As this wasn't a refund or payment in it didn't show on the statement.

When you pay by debit card the money leaves your available balance, but doesn't immediately get sent to the receiver. If the receiver has a delaying in finishing claiming it, the money will be put back into your account, and the payment out will no longer show.

The money was claimed finally yesterday.

I would advise going over every transaction you have made with your card in the last week or so and checking against your bank account which one doesn't show. You will mostly likely find one. Do not spend the money though, as the receiver will claim it soon.

JenniferAllisonPhillipaSue · 04/12/2021 14:57

Did you make any kind of payment in the last six months (say) to somebody else for £350? It could be that said payment didn't go through correctly - it showed as debited from you, but didn't reach the recipient and instead sat in limbo; and now, unclaimed, it has been refunded to you as the sender.

filka · 04/12/2021 15:07

Could you have forgotten to transfer to one of your other accounts? So this one is higher but another one is lower by £350.

Go back to a date when you had the amount of money you expected to have, then order a statement from then up to when the money appeared. Or do it online. Make sure that you can see the transaction and the resulting balance. Check all your transfers between accounts and the balances on the other accounts.

Original poster

StrangeMoney · 04/12/2021 15:07

@loudbatperson

I have had this happen a few times, including strangely enough at the start of this week.

My balance suddenly increased by just under £700 without showing any payments in.

The money was claimed finally yesterday.

Thank you this explains it, I paid someone for something over £300 a few weeks ago, they took the money at the time. Now the transaction has disappeared off my statement, i've just found it by checking both.

So the money is mine, order still stands so need to put the money back in my account so that i can pay for it.

Thank you so much @loudbatperson

OP posts:

careerchangeperhaps · 04/12/2021 15:08

I would look at it again on Monday. Sometimes online banking apps and / or online banking show transactions in a funny way for a day or two when pending payments don't fully show. Saturday isn't a working day so that's probably what's happened here.
I bet by Monday it will have disappeared and the accounts will be as expected.
If not, I think you've probably made an accounting error somewhere along the way if there isn't a specific transaction that's the obvious cause of the additional funding.

LemonElephant · 04/12/2021 15:13

Don’t spend it. My bank does this sometimes where one day there will be what is supposed to be in there, and the next there’s an extra so and so amount of money but nothing on the statements as to where it has come from, and nothing in pending payments. But within a few days it’s transactions that I have made that have been taken out of my account, then bounced back in for god knows what reason, then the payments get taken again so my account is back to the amount that is should be iyswim!

burnoutbabe · 04/12/2021 16:11

they can't just delete an item off your statement? i assume you mean its removed off your running balance seen on online banking?

that still seems sus, it should show as going out and then reversal, not just removed as if never there. thats very poor from the bank?

girlmom21 · 04/12/2021 16:15

@burnoutbabe

they can't just delete an item off your statement? i assume you mean its removed off your running balance seen on online banking?

that still seems sus, it should show as going out and then reversal, not just removed as if never there. thats very poor from the bank?

No it would show as a pending transaction until it's not. If it doesn't get processed then it makes sense for it to be removed as the payment wasn't refunded - it was never completed.

Sometimes refunds show as the purchase date and sometimes they show on the refund date. The bank don't choose how it's displayed. It depends on the other persons bank too .

loudbatperson · 04/12/2021 16:16

@StrangeMoney I am glad it has cleared it up for you :)

NothingIsWrong · 04/12/2021 16:16

No the removal as if it never was is what happens if an amount is authorised but then not claimed.

burnoutbabe · 04/12/2021 16:29

right, but then it wouldn't be shown on a statement would it? if you get one of those officially created every month, that would not show pending items if they can just be removed without any indication?

I glance at my running balance on my online account during the month but the statement is the official record. that one CAN NOT be changed - though a reversal in a later month is of course possible.

Original poster

StrangeMoney · 04/12/2021 16:36

@burnoutbabe the amount was in my pending transaction so showed as "Tesco PLC -£350" (not Tesco but just an example) and has now disappeared from pending, it's not disappeared off that actual statement if that makes sense.

I still have an order with the company but they can't take the money until the order is confirmed (I'm assuming they can't confirm as it might be due to the parts shortage, it's an electrical item) so the transaction has disappeared from my statement and they will try again when the order is confirmed.

Hope that makes sense.

OP posts:

Prettypennies · 04/12/2021 16:41

If you pay with PayPal there’s sometimes a delay with the money leaving your account

GiltEdges · 04/12/2021 16:49

Sometimes a payment credits to your account before the actual transaction is visible. As it's a Saturday I'd check again on Monday and see if it's there.

Oblomov21 · 04/12/2021 17:02

I'm sorry I don't quite understand what you are saying. You expected the balance to be £70? Was it actually £70 yesterday? So a deposit has been made into your account but isn't yet showing?

Original poster

StrangeMoney · 04/12/2021 17:54

@Oblomov21

I'm sorry I don't quite understand what you are saying. You expected the balance to be £70? Was it actually £70 yesterday? So a deposit has been made into your account but isn't yet showing?

Balance yesterday was £100+ then bills went out and took it down to £70 which I was expecting.

This morning I was expecting the balance to be £70 but found it to be £420 instead and couldn't understand why but I think I've worked it.

OP posts:

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