Authorization hold (also card authorization, preauthorization, or preauth) is a service offered by credit and debit card providers whereby the provider puts a hold of the amount approved by the cardholder, reducing the balance of available funds until the merchant clears the transaction (also called settlement), after the transaction is completed or aborted, or because the hold expires. In the case of debit cards, authorization holds can fall off the account, thus rendering the balance available again, anywhere from one to eight business days after the transaction date, depending on the bank's policy. In the case of credit cards, holds may last as long as thirty days, depending on the issuing bank. Transactions may be withdrawn but in most cases, especially with smaller banks, will not show up as a deposit on your statement but will instead be directly added to your available balance automatically due to it only being a “temporary charge”. The usual reason for authorization holds is where there is a two-step process in the payment, consisting of an authorization and a settlement with a time lag in between. These were common with signature-based (non-PIN-based) credit and debit card transactions where a transaction was authorised but not settled until a few days later. It is also common in hotel, rental car services or on pay at the pump at filling stations where the company wants to confirm a valid method of payment has been received prior to providing services or goods and knowing the amount that will be charged. The major consequence for the user is that they cannot access that part of their account until the authorization hold expires without being finalized or is settled and the banking system transfers the funds. If the account balance is low this could result in an unavailable funds fee. The actual balance will not be reduced until the merchant submits the batch of transactions, and the banking system transfers the funds. Process When a merchant swipes a customer's credit card, the credit card terminal connects to the merchant's acquirer, or credit card processor, which verifies that the customer's account is valid and that sufficient funds are available to cover the transaction's cost. At this step, the funds are "held" and deducted from the customer's credit limit (or available bank balance, in the case of a debit card), but are not yet transferred to the merchant. At the time of