Paying for goods or services with a card though easy and swift, comes with extreme anxiety. If you have ever paid for anything with a card, you have seen a pending transaction and the first thing you wanted to do, of course, was to cancel it. In this article, we will see about ‘How to Cancel Pending Transaction?’.
How to Cancel Pending Transaction?
There is no hard or fast rule to canceling a pending transaction. This is because it is near impossible. Once you have made a transaction, you have no control over it anymore. Everything through the payment process is automatic.
However, here are a couple of things that can be done to help cancel your pending transaction;
- The first step is to put a call through to the merchant you are transacting with.
- The merchant is the only person with access to the transaction once payment has been made.
- This is because the merchant is the one who placed the charge.
- The merchant will proceed to contact your card issuer and request that the transaction be reversed.
- The merchant will provide your card issuer with the following details; your card number, expiry date, the cardholder’s name, authorization number (if any), and the amount of authorization.
- When your card issuer receives the details, and the authorization is canceled, they proceed to reverse the transaction.
- Once the transaction is reversed, your pending transaction is canceled.
What is a Pending Transaction?
Transactions that haven’t been fully processed by the merchant are called pending transactions.
How do Pending transactions occur?
When you make a payment using your credit card or debit card, the payment goes through various steps;
- Your card when swiped is automatically up for validation.
- the point on sale machine then confirms with your merchant that your card is valid.
- When confirmation has been made, your bank, your card issuer, or your credit union will proceed to authorize your purchase.
- Authorization of your purchase is not the end of the chain, as your financial institution will transfer the funds to the merchant on your behalf.
- The transfer of funds signifies that the transaction has been finalized.
The process that is followed as talked about above is what causes a pending transaction to occur.
Do Pending transactions differ?
Yes, pending transactions differ just as modes of transactions differ.
- For Debit card transactions, money is drawn to cover your purchase cost directly from your account. This implies that pending transactions on debit cards only limit the account available balance, till the transaction process is finalized.
- For Credit card transactions, until your monthly bills are due for payment, when you use your credit card to pay, money is not drawn from your credit union or bank account. This implies that pending transactions on your credit cards just limit the credit balance available for your use.
- For PayPal, the payment processing system is different from that of credit and debit cards. If you make a payment with your PayPal, it reflects as pending in your PayPal before reflecting in your bank account or your credit card. The one good thing about papal pending transactions is the fact that they can be canceled from the activity section of the app.
How Many Days Do Pending Transactions Take?
The time frame of a pending transaction is not definite. It is dependent on how long the merchant takes to process it. Sometimes, it could take three to seven working days. Depending on the type of purchase, it could even take from about seven to twenty-eight days. There are no fixed days, where pending transactions are concerned.
Conclusion
You will always need to make a purchase. The only unfortunate thing about it is the anxiety that comes with seeing that pending transaction and what makes it more unbearable is the fact that it is not easy to cancel.
However, you must always remember that a call through to your merchant can fix it. Always remember to call your merchant and request that the purchase authorization is removed.
Also, if you notice a pending transaction you did not initiate, contact your card issuer to cancel it and secure your account immediately.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I have a pending transaction even when my purchase is approved?
Yes, you can have a pending transaction even though your purchase has been approved. This is because the payment is still undergoing a check and hasn’t been put up.
- Can I cancel a pending transaction online?
No, you cannot, except you made a payment using a PayPal account to an email or unrecognized phone number. Just like any other pending transaction, you will still need to go through the merchant to have the transaction canceled.
- What if the merchant is unavailable?
If this happens, you will have to wait for your transaction to be finalized. It is easier to reverse it once completed.
