Tesco clarified the situation after rumours on social media suggested its fuel pumps in the county were ‘checking’ if people have at least £100 in their banks.

The rumours suggested that while the fuel pumps previously pre-authorised £1, it has now increased to £100.

The implication being that if someone does not have £100 in their bank they might not be able to buy fuel.

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This publication approached Tesco to clarify the situation.

The supermarket giant explained it had made changes to the way customers pay at the pump, to help track how much they spend on fuel.

Following discussions with Visa and Mastercard, the chain confirmed last year it would be changing the way customers pay for their fuel at a small number of its forecourts.

In the past, when a customer used a self-service pump to buy fuel, the exact cost would show up against their account balance one or two days later.

Following feedback from customers they have also increasing the maximum refill limit at our Tesco and Esso Alliance forecourts from £99 to £120.

This will allow more of our customers to fully refuel their vehicle.  

With these changes, the customer’s bank will now pre-authorise £120, with the unused amount released back to their account immediately.

The supermarket clarified that if a customer does not have £120 available in their account, the pump will tell them how much they have available and allow them to refuel up to this amount.

Previously, £1 was pre-authorised, with the full amount debited later on. This risked customers spending more money than they had available.

More information on the changes can be found here: tesco.com/help/pay-at-pump/payatpump

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Read more from this author

This story was written by Sophie Perry. She joined the team in 2021 as a digital reporter.

You can get in touch with her by emailing: sophie.perry@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @itssophieperry

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