how I can get deposit back

[steampowered]

It sounds like the money was refunded to the credit card. The credit card is not necessarily linked to a bank account.

 

Are you 100% sure that the credit card account is closed? Could the card have stayed active even after you closed your current account? Best to check.

[steampowered]

The university cannot "stop" or "cancel" a payment. Card payments are not like cheques. The money has already left the university's account and been sent to the recipient bank.

 

As the money has been sent to you, it is understandable that Halifax will not talk to the univeristy. I do not think you can rely on the university to sort this out - you have to get in touch with the bank to find out more.

[steampowered]

There are four stages to a banking transaction. (1) Customer instructs bank A to transfer money. (2) Bank A sends the money. (3) Bank B receives the money. (4) Bank B allocates the money to an account, holds it in suspense or returns it to Bank A. There can also be an extra step if an intermediary bank sits between Bank A and Bank B.

 

Based on what the university are saying, your money reached the third stage. The money is held by Bank B. Whether Bank B is holding the money in a suspense account, or whether it has allocated the money towards paying off your debt, is impossible to say. Neither the university nor Bank A is able to reverse the transaction as the money has already been received by Bank B.

 

I would think the best way to resolve this is to call Bank B and ask. You can try using your old account number. If that doesn't work you will need to obtain details of the original transfer instruction (i.e. date, time, account to which it was sent and any reference number) from the university.

 

It is likely that Bank B does have the power to keep the money and use it to pay down your debt. You won't know if this is what has happened until you ask.