When you swipe or insert your prepaid card at a gas station pump, the gas station will place a pre-authorized hold of up to $125.00 USD or more on your card prior to you filling up.
The actual amount purchased will be processed on the card at a later time, but the initial hold may last for 8 days before being released, minus the amount of gas that was purchased.
During the time that the hold is in effect, the funds being held will be unavailable for you to use.
When the transaction settles, you will only be charged for the amount of gas purchased.
To avoid pre-authorized holds, we recommend pre-paying inside the gas station so you can specify the exact amount of gas you wish to purchase.
Some other merchants may have similar practices and even longer maximum pre-authorization timeframes:
- Hotels and cruise lines (up to 30 days)
- Vehicle rental agencies (up to 60 days)
- Financial institutions (up to 10 days)
In some cases, the merchant may be able to make an exception and release the pre-authorized hold earlier than the maximum allowed hold time.