Every time a payment is made using a physical card or virtual card, the transaction is first authorized then confirmed several hours to several days later.
Payment validation steps
Once a card payment is made, the transaction has to be confirmed by the merchant. It first appears with a blink in the transactions history.
- Authorisation: Via Visa, the retailer's bank sends a payment authorisation request to the bank of the payment method’s holder (physical card, contactless mobile payment or virtual card). The amount is immediately locked on the account.
- Settlement: a few days later (1 to 10 days), the bank and Mastercard or Visa transfer the funds from your account to the retailer’s bank account.
Between those two steps the amount paid can be adjusted by the merchant. The amount will be updated in the Transaction History and on the payment receipt.
What happens when a payment is finally cancelled
While a merchants can cancel a pending payment, they may not cancel the authorisation request. In this instance, the transaction will appear as pending.
If the transaction is neither confirmed nor cancelled by the merchant, it will be automatically cancelled after 10 days and the amount credited back to the account.
Common situations
Automated fuel pumps
An automated filling station can request a €120 payment authorisation on the card even before starting filling the petrol tank. So what happens when the customer takes €100 worth of petrol only ?
In most cases, the petrol station’s bank will take money from the account a few days later to capture the payment.
But this time they will only claim the amount due (€100 in that case).
The remaining €20 which had been frozen in your account is released and can be used for another purchase with your Lydia card.
Online supermarket drive order
When a drive order is made online, the transaction remains pending until the order got delivered. If an article is finally missing the merchant will readjust the final amount of the order. As a result, the amount of the transaction will be updated and the difference credited back to the account.
Hotel and car rental deposits
After a payment deposit, the fund will remain on hold until the transaction is either confirmed by the merchant or cancelled. The merchant has up to 30 days to confirm a payment autorisation otherwise it will be cancelled and the fund credited back automatically to the origin account.