Temporary Hold

[canvasgirl]

When I use my Debit Card there is always a charge and (the same amount) on a temporary hold. The hold stays on for days even weeks before the credit it back to my account. What's up with the holds. This is my money, I am disgusted they need to hold my money up. Maybe I should just have them send me checks after deposits are made to my account rather than use the debit card.

[ebaaddict75]

oh my gosh i agree! I didnt know about the hold until today, over $140 was held, then I paid our cell phone bill over the phone and now that amount is still holding too. Meanwhile I went to print my shipping labels and those of course cant print until the "HOLDS" are released because it looks like I dont have enough money in there, when in fact I do. Its frustrating

[PayPal_Frank]

Hi canvasgirl and ebaaddict75,

What you are describing is called a preauthorization hold.  This happens with all types of credit and debit cards.  Using the PayPal Debit Card as an example, the authorization represents that the merchant has received authorization from PayPal to put a payment through.  We then hold the funds so they are available for the merchant when they are ready to "capture" the authorization.

Typically the merchant will do this right away or within a day.  For PayPal Debit Cards, we wait 5 days and release the funds into the account.  Technically the authorization is still good at that time but usually a merchant isn't going to capture an authorization if they've already waited 5 days.

For bank debit cards they do the same thing but the time frame they wait before releasing the funds depends on their policies.

In the situation you describe, there is also a charge showing which means that the merchant has put the payment through and the funds that were on hold should have been used for that purchase. If those held funds are not being used, I recommend contacting your card issuing bank to find out why.  It could be a duplicate payment or they're not handling authorizations correctly.

I hope this information helps to clarify. 🙂

- Frank