Good News at the Gas Pump...In a Few Months

Come this fall, you'll be able to breathe a little easier when you use your Visa debit card at the gas pump. In October, excessive holds that freeze consumer's available funds for a day or two (or three) will become a thing of the past.

Currently, using your debit card to pump gas can be risky if you are living paycheck to paycheck as many people are. That's because when you use your debit card at the pump to pay for gas, a preauthorization request is made to your bank to make sure the card is valid and that there are sufficient funds in the account.  The problem is this preauthorization request also places a hold on an additional amount on your funds.  But that hold isn't lifted until the hold and the purchase amount are matched up by your bank, which can take about three days.

This means you may have bought $30 in gas, but also have a hold for $75 on funds. So the $45 difference is essentially "frozen" until your gas purchase clears the bank.

A new real-time authorization system that goes into effect this fall will cut that hold time to anywhere from about 15 minutes to 2 hours when a Visa debit card is used. MasterCard hasn't announced similar plans yet, but it's a good guess that they are working on something.

This is welcome news for consumers, but of course, we are presuming that gas stations will still welcome payment with plastic at the pump by then. In an effort to cut costs, some gas stations are banning credit cards, while others are offering discounts for those who pay with cash. And still others limit the amount you can spend at the pump if you use a credit card.

Comments

[Kim]

A hold is absolutely crazy as people are struggling with the pennies they have in this horrible economy! Few people have a sufficient amount to cover the cost of the freeze and the low man still suffers!!