NatWest customers have been urged to check their bank statements after a payments glitch had caused some accounts to be accidentally charged twice.
Customers have complained of being pushed into their overdraft after the bank confirmed a payment glitch. 112,000 customers discovered they had been debited twice as a result of a payment glitch at the bank.
While for most customers, there will be no impact, NatWest has said it will ensure that anyone affected is not left out of pocket as a result. They went on to apologise for any inconvenience caused.
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In a service status update for its customers, the bank said: “Some customer accounts are showing debit card purchases twice, and in certain cases their available balance will be lower than it should, we’re really sorry for any inconvenience.”
A NatWest spokesperson also replied to a customer complaint on Twitter, as they said: “We are aware that some NatWest customers’ accounts are showing some Visa debit card purchases twice, and in certain cases their available balance will be lower than it should.
“We are working to fix the problem, and will ensure that no customer is left out of pocket. Our customers can be assured that payments to retailers/merchants have only been made once, so there is no need to contact them. We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.”
How do I deal with a double payment?
If you find that you’ve been debited twice or more for a single payment, then contact your bank or card provider and explain the situation. Getting a refund shouldn’t be a problem – in fact they can usually sort out the problem right away. This is because it should be clear to the card provider that the debit as a result of an error.
Payments have codes and information attached to them that allow the business to see when and where the payment occurred. It should be clear from this information that the duplicate payment is in error.
There are occasions where the bank may ask you to sign a document to confirm that you didn’t authorise more than one payment. This tends to happen with high value amounts.
How do I avoid duplicate debits?
It might seem a faff, but we all need to get better at checking our statements. You can pay for this directly these days, through your debit or credit card.
But you can also use third party payment systems, like PayPal, or Open Banking Apps to pay through your phone. You can even pay through our phone bill for some things.
It’s only when banks spot their own technical glitches or there’s a big error that they tend to notice a problem with duplicate payments. So get in to the habit of scooting through your statements for all the payment systems you have every month. If you spot anything you don’t recognise, go through the appeals process for disputing transactions.
Still not happy? You can go to the Financial Ombudsman for any dispute involving a financial product, like plastic cards and third-party payment systems. The Ombudsman can look at your complaint for free too.
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