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Email this10:13 am
May 28, 2013
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I happened to look recently at my online credit card record, and was surprised to find an anomaly in the 'pending transactions'. I recently bought gas at the pump, paying for it at the pump with my credit card, for a total of $45. However, when the transaction started, first the attendant had entered a maximum limit of $135. The surprise for me was that now under 'pending transactions' was the charge for $45, plus another one for $135.
Upon phoning the credit card company, they told me this is standard practise when when pays by card at the gas pump. She assured me the $135 charge would soon be removed once the payment was fully approved (it was already listed there for four days!).
I'm not sure if it is the gas station which initiates this, or the credit card company. But it does affect ones 'balance owing' on the credit card.
Has anyone else ever seen such a practise, either for gas pump payments or any other place where you may have to use the credit card for a 'deposit' on a charge yet to be fully assessed (maybe a rental car?).
I was told this extra $135 fee would not have been (temporarily) assessed had I simply paid at the gas station booth, rather than the pump itself.
10:44 am
October 27, 2013
Online
As far as I can tell, this is standard practice at gas pumps, hotels, rental cars, etc. where they 'pre-authorize' an amount somwhat greater than what the cost of the product/service is for the planned stay/use. The pre-authorization amount should disappear the same day, or the day after, the actual charge is charged against the credit card.
This is to mitigate credit card fraud from people receiving a product or service before actually paying for it (and having the charge bounce for one reason or another). These processes are ultimately to the consumer's benefit since we all end up paying for scumbags skipping out on paying for their bills.
11:10 am
January 4, 2015
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Yep, very common. One gas company I use will even let you choose the amount to pre-authorize before you fill up. I've also noticed this with online retailers who don't charge until shipping. There is often a test charge for a small amount in pending when you place the order.
1:19 pm
October 21, 2013
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I've certainly encountered this at hotels, but didn't know it was happening at gas stations.
$135 seems like an awful lot of money to me. At today's prices, I don't think my car could possibly hold more than $70 of gas.
Really, I think they are obligated to let you know that this is happening, perhaps by putting a sign on the pump. But of course they won't do it unless they are obliged by government to do so.
2:25 pm
September 11, 2013
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Loonie, no need for gov't regulation, the ones I've seen all offer a number of round limits ($20, $40, $60), up to the $135 (in this case) which you would select if you want to fill up completely instead of being limited to one of the lesser, round amounts, and then you pick the one you want. If you don't like the maximum choice you can choose a lesser one (I suppose you could afterwards also do a 2nd transaction if you still need more gas, though you might hear some horns honking by then) or you can (I believe) terminate and choose instead to pay inside afterwards. Depending on the price of gas, $135 is not completely outlandish based on the sizes of some of the pick-up trucks and RVs I see around here.
6:57 pm
December 23, 2011
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I would like to add....I traveled to the USA many many many years ago and only had one credit card with us. When we got home the first time I used my card I was denied. I call Mastercard and don't fully remember the process but it went like I bought $15.00 plus the exchange rate and then the transition went through at $15.00 at a "different" exchange rate so the transactions did NOT offset....then BOTH $15 + transactions went against my open to buy. They removed them upon my call and was back in business. Something to keep in mind.....make sure you know the credit cards' phone number.
9:03 pm
October 21, 2013
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An informational sticker on the pumps still makes sense to me. Otherwise, how are people to know that their credit would be safer if they opted for a round figure?
9:02 pm
April 6, 2013
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rhvic said
I happened to look recently at my online credit card record, and was surprised to find an anomaly in the 'pending transactions'. I recently bought gas at the pump, paying for it at the pump with my credit card, for a total of $45. However, when the transaction started, first the attendant had entered a maximum limit of $135. The surprise for me was that now under 'pending transactions' was the charge for $45, plus another one for $135.
…
That is not normal. The gas station double authorized your credit card.
What is supposed to happen is the gas station obtains an authorization number for $135. When the final charge of $45 is submitted, the authorization number is included so that your bank knows the $45 charge was for the $135 authorization. That way, the bank closes the $135 authorization when it posts the $45 charge to your account.
Instead, it looks like an authorization for $135 was obtained. Then, a new authorization number for the final charge $45 was obtained and submitted with the final charge, as if there was no previous authorization!
Something similar happened to me at a gas station as well when I was paying in-store. Fortunately, it is only a minor nuisance. Orphaned authorizations will expire in a week and are closed by one's bank then.
1:07 pm
May 28, 2013
Offline
I just checked my "Recent Transactions" on my credit card web site, and the $135 charge has been removed.
But that begs the question, what would they have done if I had bought gas on the last day of my payment period - would they then have included the $135 in what I owed them, on my very next credit card bill? And then reimbursed it again later?
2:09 pm
April 6, 2013
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The pending transactions are authorizations and not actual charges that have been posted to the account.
Decades ago, the merchant would get an authorization code and write it on a credit card slip that the customer signs. Merchant would then submit batches of credit card slips for deposit to his/her merchant account and eventual posting to the cardholders account. Sort of like cheques.
What's different now is that there are no paper slips. There's still an authorization code. The code is included with a now-electronic transaction record. Merchant submits batches of those electronic transaction records for deposit to his/her merchant account and for posting to the cardholder accounts.
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