A small number of Visa cardholders were surprised to find that recent purchases cost them a little more than expected – $23 quadrillion, plus change.

A man in New Hampshire used his card to purchase a pack of cigarettes only to find out later that he had been charged $23,148,855,308,184,500.

The same thing happened to a North Texas man who saw the same 17-figure bill on his credit card statement for a meal at a restaurant.

The first error was made with Visa through a Wachovia card. With a little work, the cardholder assured the bank that he hadn’t actually spent that much money.

The North Texas man had to spend two hours sorting out the problem with Bank of America and get the overdraft fee of $15 credited back. Visa stated that it was an obvious technical glitz in the system.

This story brings up some questions.

First, wouldn’t bells and whistles go off at a bank or credit card company in the event a 23 quadrillion dollar charge came through?

Second, how come it took two hours on the phone to sort this out with Bank of America? Wouldn’t this be an obvious mistake requiring a call to Visa and maybe a total of 10 minutes on the phone?

Third, how does a 23 quadrillion dollar transaction get approved in the first place?

Fourth, if you go 23 quadrillion dollars over your credit limit, is a $15 overdraft limit the only penalty? What would the new penalty interest rate be for going over the limit by a few quadrillion and how much would one day’s interest be on that type of money?

Finally, did either guy have trouble getting the overdraft fee credited back? After all, these are big money makers for credit card companies.

It really does make you wonder.

Tags: 23 quadrillion dollars, Bank of America, Bob Brooks, Cardholders, Credit Card Companies, Deceptive Money, overdraft fee, Prudent Money, Visa, Wachovia