SBS Credit Card balances don't update when payment made

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Forums › Finance and wealth management › SBS Credit Card balances don't update when payment made

quebec

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Ultimate Geek

#295225 14-Mar-2022 17:03

Recently got a SBS Card but was not aware that the service is quite average as I thought they had excellent customer service. Even the app & internet banking is quite budget but then they don't charge fees so that's expected. I can understand all that but fail to understand why the balance doesn't update when you make a payment, does for other banks. If you make a payment, it shows up in the transactions but even after few days it doesn't get adjusted towards the outstanding balance or the last statement amount due. Having a tough time trying to talk to someone as customer service don't have an answer and you can never get anyone from the credit card team on the phone even after long waits. Sent secure message, was asked to call credit card team..... Anyone else here has SBS card?

richms

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#2886097 14-Mar-2022 17:30

That is how cards work in much of the rest of the world. I remember when I was in china, some people there were blown away that I could transfer money into my card using the app and it was available instantly to use. Apparently it takes 4-6 days in the US because of archaic reasons.

Richard rich.ms

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quebec

757 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2886101 14-Mar-2022 17:36

richms:

That is how cards work in much of the rest of the world. I remember when I was in china, some people there were blown away that I could transfer money into my card using the app and it was available instantly to use. Apparently it takes 4-6 days in the US because of archaic reasons.

I've had cards in other countries where money was available instantly to use after transferring. So, with SBS when will the money get adjusted towards the outstanding balance? When the next statement is generated? So, lets' say my closing balance for the last statement was $1500.00, if I pay $1000 10 days before the due date, $1000 shows in transaction as payment but not adjusted towards the balance, does it get adjusted towards the closing balance of last statement? I need to pay only remaining $500 by due date, right? Seems very primitive way of doing this!

nztim

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#2886105 14-Mar-2022 17:44

When you swipe/insert your card or enter your CC details online what happens is the merchant does a pre authorisation to ensure you have sufficient funds

Then the merchant does a batch process every 3-4 business days when they finalise the transactions and it shows on your statement

Thats why, when you return something within a day or so you never actually see a charge on your card at all, because the merchant simply cancels the pre authorisation

If the batch process was completed and your return something they have to issue a refund

Some merchants run batch process very infrequently (BPMe App for example) where the only run the batch process once or twice every week

Same when you make a payment to your card, if the card is with your bank and you transfer money to it the funds will be available immediately but won’t come off your balance (kind of reverse pre authorisation)

When your bank and the CC company are different the process takes a few days when batch processing completed

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

quebec

757 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2886154 14-Mar-2022 17:58

nztim: Same when you make a payment to your card, if the card is with your bank and you transfer money to it the funds will be available immediately but won’t come off your balance (kind of reverse pre authorisation) When your bank and the CC company are different the process takes a few days when batch processing completed

I transferred from other bank to SBS, showed up in SBS Credit Card transaction list next day on 9th and today is 14th. Plus there was a refund from a merchant on 26/02, even that didn't get adjusted towards the outstanding balance or closing balance of the last statement. With Westpac, any refunds/payments made after the statement was generated get adjusted towards the closing balance of last statement.
Statement shows the payments/credits/refunds & those amounts are taken into consideration when calculating the closing balance on the date statement was generated. Is it possible they reconcile payments/refunds only at the date of statement generation?

boosacnoodle

398 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2886165 14-Mar-2022 18:48

You're not going to get a straight answer. The simplest explanation is that their systems are frankly archaic. They didn't even use to have same day bank transfers. I'm actually not sure if that isn't still the case. I do all of my transactions either via direct debit, ASB Debit Card or an AmEx credit card to avoid going into their crummy internet banking. Only use them because cheap mortgage rate.

KiwiSurfer

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#2886171 14-Mar-2022 19:08

I think that is quite normal. I have cards with both Amex and Kiwibank and both take a few days to update their balances and both do so in stages. Amex is quite interesting as often one part of their system will say x while another says y and finally sync after a few days. Payments into my Amex card often takes a few days to show up but will usually eventually show up with the date I made the payment and the the account balance, statement balance, etc will update the following few days. I've had Amex show an increase in available funds before the payment appears in the transaction history which seems to suggest their system will update the available balance as quickly as possible but leave the posting of the transaction for the next batch processing round. For Kiwibank cards (with payment from another Kiwibank account so the 'best' case scenario) will generally update their available funds straight away but take their time to update the actual balance. I've previously had cards with other banks (ANZ, BNZ, Westpac IIRC) and I'm sure the behaviour is similar--some faster than others but rarely 'instant' except for available balance usually updating instantly for same bank payments or next business day for different bank payments. YMMV.

WyleECoyoteNZ

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Ultimate Geek

#2886206 14-Mar-2022 20:44

Westpac changes fairly much instantly on a Westpac account > CC transfer.

e.g. if I have a $100 limit, and load a snapper card with $10, available credit instantly becomes $80. If I then transfer $15 from a Westpac account, the balance available credit then updates to be $95

Depending on the day, the transaction date of the money in, may not be the same as the transaction date

kiwigander

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#2887502 17-Mar-2022 09:36

I've been with SBS for many years. Indeed, transfer funds from a transactional (current) account to the credit card, and they take a day or two to show up in the credit card balance. I believe that's covered somewhere in the T&C's of the credit card. Kiwibank was similar when I had non-credit-card accounts with them. If you're waiting more than 2 working days, though, something's wrong; do contact the credit card team.

SBS's Internet banking is quirky, but I've long prized the ability to schedule internal transfers (not just payments) ahead of time. This didn't seem to be available at any other bank; things of course may have changed.

KiwiSurfer

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#2887831 17-Mar-2022 18:42

kiwigander:

SBS's Internet banking is quirky, but I've long prized the ability to schedule internal transfers (not just payments) ahead of time. This didn't seem to be available at any other bank; things of course may have changed.

Kiwibank offers this feature. But I think you're right that many other banks don't. ASB doesn't for example (although I have a feeling you could just use the Bill Payment feature and just enter the account number you want to receive the transfer and it'll work).