hughe

Thanks everyone, your replies have given me a lot to think about. It seems as though I'm certainly not the only one having this problem.

I will try a few of the suggestions and let you know if I have any luck.

Thanks again

Hugh

cneldred

you are kidding i am with RBC and mine is showing as instantly available.

Chris

terese677

We had the same problem on our recce trip some shops would accept our credit card and some didn't and after phoning Halifax bank told everything was fine and it must be the canadian machines reading it incorrectly. In one shop the manager told us he had this problem many times and could iverride it in the shop by carrying out a "forced payment" which is what he would use with payments made online without the customer being present and that worked everytime then if we had a problem.
( we opened a canadian bank account then so we wouldn't have this problem when we go back)
Best of luck
Terese

dingbat

It is the chip and pin technology, Canada has yet to implement it and most ATM's do not read the new UK cards correctly. You should try RBC in branch ATM's (not the drive-through's) and you might be OK. My Canadian Visa card had to be manually processed when I went back in Jan in a couple of shops, as it was not chip and pin and my "debit" card (Interac) needs a PIN in stores, so I had to just get cash when I needed it. I was able to use my RBC bank card in most ATM machines in the UK, but the OH had huge problems with his card from another bank. He has now switched to RBC.

jandro

How much did RBC charge you for your UK transactions? I can't find this information on RBCs website. I'm planning a visit to the UK soon.

dingbat

It depended on the amount taken out. From memory it was about $7.50 for £300 or something.