Refund for purchase using card A but no longer have card A

[rainagain]

Whenever I take anything faulty back to a shop that I have paid for with card they always say "do you have the card you originally used to purchase X as we must refund back to the same card under fraud prevention".

This has never bothered me until recently when I switched bank accounts and will therefore be getting a new bank card. If I take something back to a shop after today that I paid for with my old card what will happen? I looked at a few stores online and they all say in their terms and conditions things such as:

"If you have paid by credit or debit card, we will refund the balance to the card originally used".

"If you require a refund, please bring with you the credit/debit/gift/insurance card used to place the order."

I tried a google so see if I could find anything from trading standards, etc about this but couldn't find anything.

Does anyone have any ideas about this?

[shovelheadrob]

That is a very good point, I don't know the answer, but would try asking your bank.

[addey]

I returned some stuff to a large online cycling/running retailer after about 6 months and the card I originally paid on had expired. They just asked for updated card details and the refund was put through to that, no questions asked.

On the flip side my wife tried to return an item worth £5.50 to the supermarket with the receipt but they wouldn't refund her card as I'd paid originally, even though they are joint credit cards

[littleredrooster]

In a vaguely similar situation, I took something back for a refund but forgot my wallet (and cards). The store was happy to make the refund, but only able to offer a gift voucher to the same value. I was happy to accept rather than make another 30 mile round trip.

[randomman]

There are no restrictions placed by the merchant services provider, however many stores utilise this rule in order to counter money laundering. Depending on value of item and reason for refund (you would not have to accept vouchers if defective or unfit for purpose) you could probably successfully argue your cause. If you offer further proof of id to satisfy their money laundering reqs then you are likely to throw them off enough to get your way! Just do it politely

[singlecoil]

If you originally paid with a credit card the reason why they will want to refund the card will be in order to get back the commission they paid to the CC company on the original transaction. If it was a debit card then they wouldn't have paid more than 20p, so not such a big deal.

[xyyman]

Whilst there is an element of anti-money laundering involved it will, mainly, be to enable the retailer to recover their acquirer/processor transaction fee. A part of that fee will be interchange transmitted to the issuer of the original debit/credit card. If the refund is applied to an alternative card then the original fee/interchange will not be recovered. The transaction fees paid will vary dependent, amongst other things, on card type and card scheme involved.