Why is my Debit Mastercard® payment pending?

While most card transactions are processed immediately, some merchants tend to authorise and pre-authorise payments made towards them. This results in pending transaction status where the funds are temporarily withheld from your Account & Card balance.

What is an authorisation? 

Authorisations are initiated prior to processing a card payment made at a merchant. With this, merchants verify that the used card has sufficient funds to cover the transaction, reducing the risk of chargebacks and fraud.
During an authorisation, the amount for the specific transaction is temporarily withheld until we receive final confirmation from the merchant. Only then, the funds are debited from your card balance.

What is a pre-authorisation?

Similarly to standard authorisations, a pre-authorisation is a temporary hold on funds after transacting with a merchant. It reserves the amount of the payment without immediately debiting the funds. Merchants implement this for security precautions and to reduce any potential fraud damages. Pre-authorisations occur significantly more rarely compared to standard authorisations.

How long will my transaction be pending?

Both authorised and pre-authorised transactions will remain pending until the merchant provides the financial settlement for the payment. Depending on that, it can take up to 7 business days for a standard authorisation and up to 30 calendar days for pre-authorisations to expire. Such delays are usually caused by technical or communication issues regarding the merchant.

If we do not receive confirmation for it by that timeframe, the funds will be automatically released back into your balance.