When a purchase is made, the merchant preauthorizes the transaction to your card account. This reserves the estimated dollar amount of the purchase. Typically within 24 hours of preauthorization the merchant will post the transaction. When the transaction actually posts, the preauthorization falls off with the posted dollar amount being the actual amount of the purchase.
The preauthorization and posted amounts may be different. The reason is best illustrated with the example of leaving a tip at a restaurant. When a restaurant preauthorizes a purchase on your Akimbo card, up to 20% is added to your total to account for the tip you may leave. Once the transaction posts, typically within 24 hours, the total purchase amount will include the tip you actually left (or didn’t leave).
Please see the table below for specific timing and details for different merchant types.
Merchant Type | Hold Timing and Notes |
Restaurant |
|
Rental Car Company |
|
Hotel | |
Airline | |
Gas Station |
|
Other Merchants |
|
What happens when a purchase is canceled?
If your purchase is canceled, the preauthorization typically takes 7 days to fall off your account to allow time for the transaction to actually post.
If you would like us to review your account to determine if the preauthorization can be released sooner, please provide us with documentation that includes the following details.
- Merchant name
- Transaction amount
- Transaction date
- Last 4 of card number
- Confirmation of the canceled transaction