CA refuses transaction!

[Mrs Trellis]

Arghh!   The last time I tried to buy something online with my Credit Agricole bank card it was a nightmare.  It finally emerged that the bank had made an error in noting our email address.

Today I tried to pay a subscription, all seemed well and the phone rang to give me a code to put in.  I wrote it down carefully and entered it into the online form.  'Your bank has refused this transaction'.  I know the funds are there as the pension has just been paid in.  Why does nothing work with French banks and/or Internet?

The system also means that you can only make online purchases when at home (or possibly have a mobile to hand) so they can phone with the code.

It makes me wonder if it is safe to assume we will be able to withdraw cash in Greece - and will there be a limit per week?  I know UK bank cards have a daily limit but had no problem withdrawing cash two days running.  French banks tend to put a limit however much there is in the account!

 

[Hereford]

I am not sure what the weekly limit is but we were caught out in Germany two or three years ago as one can only use the CA debit card to draw cash ONCE A WEEK when abroad.  Luckily we had UK debit cards on us.

Before you go to Greece I think you need to check with your CA branch!

[idun]

Yes, there will be a limit on how much you can draw, could be by day or by week, or both. You had better get in touch and see and get it adjusted.

When I was back in France last, I called my conseilliere and told her I was back and wanting to draw extra cash out, and she adjusted my 'allowance' for the time I was there, she did it immediately. I have to admit that is good. IF she can do something she does it immediately. Still the bank she works for sometimes has stupid things and even she cannot over ride those things.

[NormanH]

I presume that this wasn't a new or replacement card.

If you have one of those you have to withdraw a small sum from a ATM to activate the card before it will work online or in a shop etc.

The limit you can take out is connected to the sort of card you have chosen. I can take 1500€ a week if I have to, because I decided to pay the extra to have a Gold card.

Less expensive cars have lower limits.

You can see these on the CA site.

As idun says you can negotiate this for a short specific period.

I have ben able to withdraw several times a week even in Eastern Europe but that my be a function of the Gold card

For the code sent to confirm a purchase: you can have it sent by SMS to a mobile, or by email as well as to a fixed number.

This means that you don't need to be at home, just somewhere that you can get a mobile signal.

I have an excellent CA app for my Samsung (and it exists for iPhones) which I recommend.

[nomoss]

My SIL recently viewed a house nearby (which they subsequently bought). She opened a CA current account, and believing she had sorted out her internet banking, returned to New Zealand. She speaks French quite well, having lived here for some years previously.

They tried to transfer some money and found they were only able to look at their account on line. I checked with their conseilleur and was told both parties would have to come in person to sign a contract for the full service, even though I have a Procuration Generale covering anything one could name.

BIL came over next, to complete the purchase. I went with him to the bank, where the conseilleur said she could set up the full service for them on the strength of an email from SIL, but she still wanted an email, plus my signature and a copy of said Procuration.

We did this, arranging for confirmation codes for transfers to be sent by email, as CA can't phone NZ, apparently. We also managed to put the account in their joint names, even with only one party present!, and to get a cheque book!

They tried to transfer money to pay the builder a couple of weeks back, but no email arrived. I think perhaps the (quite new) conseilleur exceeded her authoity.

They gave up, and sent a cheque.

Edit: Try to describe events more clearly!

 

 

[Mrs Trellis]

I went to the bank today and eventually was told there should be no problem, I must have entered the info wrong.  But if that was the case, surely it wouldn't have got as far as giving me the code via the phone?

After hanging around and speaking to 3 people I completely forgot to ask about withdrawing cash abroad!  The bank is only along the road so no problem.  Just that I need to transfer money from UK bank before the holiday as I don't have much in CA,

Friends who run a business here were told they can only withdraw £500 a month!

[EuroTrash]

Might you have made a mistake writing the code down (or reading your own writing)?

I have my code texted to my mobile but I lost faith in the system big time when I had my bag nicked a few months back, containing my CA card AND my mobile... which when you think about it probably happens quite a lot.

Yes CA do have a monthly cash withdrawal limit for the machines but you can negotiate the limit, each person has a personal limit. If you need more you can withdraw cash over the counter and it doesn't come off your ATM limit - but you can only cash cheques at certain times, for my branch I think it's Tuesday afternoons and Friday mornings or something daft like that.

Still and all, no major probs with CA in nearly 10 years (touch wood) they were fairly sympathetic helpful about cancelling everything and reissuing after it was all stolen.

[NormanH]

Friends who run a business here were told they can only withdraw £500 a month!

I have never heard such nonsense. Why not just refer to the bank site as I already suggested.

http://www.ca-languedoc.fr/particuliers/tous-nos-produits-particuliers.html

On cheques I started a thread last week warning about the fact that you may only be allowed to cash one a week out of your region...

[Clair]

[quote user="EuroTrash"]... CA do have a monthly cash withdrawal limit for the machines but you can negotiate the limit, each person has a personal limit.

If you need more you can withdraw cash over the counter and it doesn't come off your ATM limit - but you can only cash cheques at certain times, for my branch I think it's Tuesday afternoons and Friday mornings or something daft like that... [/quote]

I can also confirm both points:

I asked for both my withdrawal and card limits to be raised a few years ago and they have remained at the higher levels since.

I needed a large amount of cash for a delivery of wood last month and visited the village branch where I was handed a special "one-transaction" card, loaded with my account info and the amount I wanted to withdraw. No problem, as long as the account shows the correct balance.

Also last month, I forgot to transfer some money from a savings account, but remembered to pay the electricity bills (both of them!). There were also a couple of Amazon purchases going through at the same time.

The transactions were spotted by CA before I incurred any charges (€9.50 each) and CA contacted me to authorise an emergency transfer.