Cpa

[Pricey22]

I have just rang the bank to cancel 3 CPAs. The lady on the phone took the details but kept jumping between 2 phrases. Firstly she said that if they did take the money then i would be refunded, and then she said all we can do is monitor the situation, then back to the 1st statement and so on.

 

I have come away from the phonecall slightly confused. Are the CPAs cancelled or is the bank just monitoring them. Not quite sure how it works.

 

Any advice would be appreciated

[renegadeimp]

You need to put it in writing and not use the phone.

 

Also name and shame the bank. The fca is clear so is the law.

 

The bank MUST cancel the cpa upon your request. No ifs, no buts, no excuses.

 

Technically theyve already breached regulation by saying they have to allow it then refund it.

[Klandestine]

On a technical level the bank has no concept of a continuous payment authority.

To them the transaction appears as any other card transaction (such as your shopping at Tesco) would do.

 

When you "cancel" a "CPA", the bank takes note of the details you provide. Somebody then has to physically monitor the activity on your account and then refund the transactions that match what you have "cancelled".

 

The reason it has to be done this way is because cards were never meant to work in this way. What guarantee would retailers have if you could cancel a transaction once you've authorised it? - it would be a similar problem to bounced cheques.

[renegadeimp]

Actually youre wrong. The bank does have a CPA on the system, each bank just prefers to call it a different name. AS i said before, the FCA has already ruled on this, and indeed, it has been enshrined in regulation since 2009.

 

CPA's are only added for RECURRING payments, and not one off purchases. Meaning the likes of PDL's, GYM memberships and magazine subscriptions all utilise CPA's. These can be cancelled at anytime, and you do NOT have to tell the company you are doing so.

 

Somebody then has to physically monitor the activity on your account and then refund the transactions that match what you have "cancelled".

 

No they dont. It is completely automated. The operator notes that you wish to cancel the CPA and escalates it to the relevant department. That department then acts upon your legal request to cancel/remove the CPA and ensure further transactions are blocked through their system.

 

Once that is done on the system, the rest is automated. It has been known for some creditors to get around this by changing their merchant names, but most banks have caught on to this.

 

There isnt someone there monitoring it. That would be completely infeasible given the amount of accounts stored on a banks system.

[Klandestine]

Actually youre wrong. The bank does have a CPA on the system, each bank just prefers to call it a different name. AS i said before, the FCA has already ruled on this, and indeed, it has been enshrined in regulation since 2009.

 

CPA's are only added for RECURRING payments, and not one off purchases. Meaning the likes of PDL's, GYM memberships and magazine subscriptions all utilise CPA's. These can be cancelled at anytime, and you do NOT have to tell the company you are doing so.

 

 

 

No they dont. It is completely automated. The operator notes that you wish to cancel the CPA and escalates it to the relevant department. That department then acts upon your legal request to cancel/remove the CPA and ensure further transactions are blocked through their system.

 

Once that is done on the system, the rest is automated. It has been known for some creditors to get around this by changing their merchant names, but most banks have caught on to this.

 

There isnt someone there monitoring it. That would be completely infeasible given the amount of accounts stored on a banks system.

 

You're forgetting that many banks still use archaic backend computer systems where it isn't possible to do this.

Somebody monitoring account activity was certainly how it was done in the past but I can believe that banks have modernised and can now automate this process.

 

Legislation states you are able to withdraw your consent for payments and that would therefore class these payments as being unauthorised.

There is then an obligation for the bank to immediately "refund the amount of the unauthorised payment transaction to the payer" and "where applicable, restore the debited payment account to the state it would have been in had the unauthorised payment transaction not taken place".

The law does not state that banks have to 'block' such payments.

 

So in the OPs case, his/her bank is complying with the law.

[Pricey22]

Update....

 

So the CPAs went out on Friday, even though I asked for them to be cancelled! Now the bank are saying that they can't refund me till they show on my statement?

 

Surely they can see they the payments have gone out?

[renegadeimp]

Get in touch with the fca

The bank are breaking the law. If the cpa was cancelled then the transaction wouldnt have been allowed.

 

Those are fca rules and uk law.

[renegadeimp]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?395493-Been-refused-cpa-cancellation-since-nov-2009-Go-get-your-money-back-now!!(2-Viewing)-nbsp

[Klandestine]

If the transaction isn't showing on your statement then technically the money hasn't left your account yet. The amount to be taken will be reflected in your available balance but not your account balance yet.

 

As they have told you, they will refund the money when it actually gets taken. This does not break the law.

[manontheweb]

Its better to open a new account and not rely on banks cancelling CPA's, in my opinion.

[renegadeimp]

Id do two things. Get a new account and get the fca involved. Tell them you were forced to open a new account.