Tesco online groceries and in app authorisation

Help
1

Hi,

This is a fairly specific problem but I imagine there will be others that it affects. I can’t think of a way around it. The situation:

  1. We use Tesco online deliveries for groceries.
  2. We book slots pretty much as soon as they are released (usually 4 weeks ahead) and add a ‘holding item’ to the order (e.g. a bottle of orange squash).
  3. Throughout the week the family (me, wife and adult children) add items to the order, all using the one login to the Tesco app.
  4. Each person ‘checks out’ on the app, to save their items.
  5. Shopping is paid for through my Monzo joint account card and delivered.

This system has worked well for ages but Tesco have introduced SCA every time anyone adds an item to the order and checks out. So, when my daughter adds some milk to the order, I have to authorise the payment in the Monzo app, otherwise the check out fails. All well and good when we’re together but I was driving the other day and, obviously, couldn’t authorise the payment.

My partner isn’t able to approve the authorisation requests, as the payment is from my card. We could change it so it comes from her card I suppose, but would just have the same problem.

The only way I can think around this is to use a different account that doesn’t ask for authorisation each time. e.g. a Tesco credit card and have this DD from a Monzo pot monthly. I’d like to avoid having another account - does anyone else have any ideas?

TIA

2

There was another thread similar to this recently, I’ll see if I can find it.

But this is going to be the norm as the authorisation is going to be enforced by everyone.

3

Thanks, I did search the forum and couldn’t find anything.

I suppose taking a step back, each time a larger spend is requested from my card I need to authorise it, which is why Tesco have introduced this.

So, changing accounts isn’t going to help as whatever account I have will still require SCA of one form or another.

Unless anyone else has any ideas, we’ll just have to change our behaviour - back to a list on the fridge that we buy in one go! Not exactly progress!

4

You could buy a gift card, top your account up for over and above what your shopping costs and then (hopefully) you’ll just be able to add items each time as it won’t need the authorisation

https://www.tescogiftcards.com/

1 Like
5

We get around this by having a shared shopping list in another app (we use AnyList for iOS) and we each add our needed items to that - then it all gets added to the Tesco basket the night before delivery date

6

I know AmEx has added an “approved merchant list”. I’m not sure whether this functionality will ever come to any other financial institution, but it’s pretty useful for this exact situation. I have a couple of regular merchants (Sainsbury’s in our case) that either me or my partner may use at any time, and AmEx will autoapprove 3D Secure on every transaction from those merchants. You can add/remove merchants from the list as you please.

2 Likes
7

Yeah basically I seem to recall Monzo staff jumping in, to say this is going to be the new normal for all banks and as such that was the end of that.

Whether things develop and change in the future, who knows :thinking:

8

I thought it was still down to the banks whether to pass approval into the customer or ‘wing it’ on their own authority so you might find a bank/ card provider that’s a little happier to recognise your spending pattern and go along with it.

9

We use a shopping list on Alexa and just sort it out the day before delivery (with Sainsbury’s). There a Sainsbury’s integration with Alexa, but I don’t trust it enough to try it out yet.

Last year Nationwide credit card white listed Sainsbury’s for me, so that I never had an issue with authorisation after an SMS didn’t turn up.

Recently Starling didn’t ask for authorisation for transactions under £50, but they’ve started doing so now.

I think the only solution going forward for you is to maintain a shopping list everyone can add to. There are plenty of free cross platform ones around.

10

I think I have a solution to my problem, just in case anyone has the same specific issue:

Tesco allow you to check out initially and then edit the order but leave it un-checked out. You can then open the same order on a different device and add items - i.e. other family members can add to the open order. There doesn’t seem to be a time limit to check out on editing the order, other than about midnight on the evening before delivery.

Once finalised, e.g. the night before delivery is due, I then check out, complete the SCA and hey presto!

The only time it needs checking out before this is if we need to book another slot or change something in another order.

The one variable is what happens if we forget to check out? I’m going to experiment by checking out and then going back in, adding some extra beers and not checking out - if I get the beer, all is well!

I wonder if this works with other supermarkets too?

11

If you don’t check out your amends with Asda you don’t get the additional things

12

Oh, so I’m risking not receiving my beers on Friday then? Better buy some more separately, just to be safe!!

1 Like
13

Sainsbury’s give you a time to check out by, or your changes will lost.