What is a pending transaction?

When you use your card to buy something online, over the phone, with Tap & go^TM or when the ‘credit’ option is selected at the point of sale, the amount you’ve spent doesn’t get withdrawn from your account straight away.

Instead, the amount is placed on hold and referred to as a ‘pending transaction’. A transaction can be pending for around five days to give time for the seller (known as a merchant) to finish processing it.

Once they have, the amount is debited from your account and the pending transaction status is removed.

If the merchant fails to finalise the transaction within five days, the pending transaction status is still removed.

But remember, you are liable for the transaction until the merchant finalises it. The payment can still debit to your account after the 5 days, so make sure you have enough money in your account to cover it.