Credit/Debit Cards and how they work
We sometimes get calls and e-mails from customers saying that we have charged them twice for an order. In fact what is happening is that a temporary authorization or pending charge is being placed on their Credit/Debit card when the customer places the order. Then when we post our charge to the credit/debit card when we ship the order it looks like we got paid twice for the one transaction, but in fact we did not.
TEMPORARY AUTHORIZATION OR PENDING CHARGE
A temporary authorization transaction is the result of a merchant requesting to confirm that your Credit/Debit card is active and has a sufficient "Available Balance" to accommodate transactions. This transaction shows up when the customer first places their order with our company. On credit cards it is usually posted under Temporary Transactions or Pending Transactions. On debit cards it usually posts directly to the cards checking/savings account.
Why Do We Use Temporary Authorizations?
When an order is placed with us it sometimes takes from several hours to several days to get the order packaged and shipped. We do not charge the customer until the order ships or is the process of shipping. Also orders are received at all hours of the day and night and on holidays and weekends. If we did not get a pre-authorization on the card, then someone could in effect place an order then go out and max out his or her available balance, leaveing us holding the bag so to speak. We would ship the order then find out the credit card was maxed out when we went to post our bill to the credit/debit card. We would then have no other course but to take legal action to try and collect the debt, costing both the customer and us time and money. With the temporary authorization the money is held until we post our bill to the account, then it is released.
When does the Temporary Authorization get taken off the credit/debit card?
That depends upon your credit/debit card bank. Once we ship your order our charge will be posted to your credit/debit card. It can take from 24 hours up to several days before the temporary authorization is removed.
Can Temporary Authorizations be removed sooner?
Again this depends upon your credit/debit card bank. We have found that these Temporary Authorizations are usually removed within 72 hours of us actually posting our charge to the account. But some may take shorter or longer periods of time. The best way to find out how to remove the Temporary Authorizations is to call the credit/debit card bank and ask them to remove it or what is needed to be done to have it removed.
Is this Temporary Authorization something new?
No. Merchants have been using temporary authorizations for many, many years. Many online business use them as do many gas stations. Since debit cards are more in use, and are tied directly to a customers checking/savings account rather than a credit account, more customers have had questions regarding this practice.
What is the effect of the Temporary Authorizations on my credit/debit card balance?
The temporary authorizations reduce the amount you can charge against your card by the amount of the temporary authorizations. It is important to note that no money is removed from any accounts with temporary transactions. They just reserve that amount of money until the merchant submits their bill.
We thank you for patience and understanding of this matter. If you have any futher questions please feel free to contact us using or Contact Page (link below) e-mail or calling us at our toll free number shown on our Contact Page.
