The advent of technology has influenced several aspects of our lives. It has made lots of things easy and quick. Take financial transactions, for instance. With a few touches on our phone screens, we can carry out financial transactions with anyone anywhere in the world. However, sometimes, these transitions which first appear as pending, don’t go through. Making us ask ourselves can a stalled transaction be turned down?
A pending transaction can be declined, especially when you provide incorrect information like a wrong address. When such happens, it is left for you to contact your bank to verify the issue.
Online transactions remain the best and fastest way to carry out financial transactions. However, there exist some common glitches like a declined transaction. You see, when you make a transaction, the money isn’t immediately taken from your account. It takes some days for the transaction to process fully. During that period the transaction appears as pending. Sometimes, the pending transaction gets declined, making you confused. If you experienced this and you need answers, this article is for you.
Can a Pending Transaction Be Declined?
Most online shoppers believe that immediately they make an online purchase, their card gets charged instantly; this is a significant misconception. When you purchase something online, let say a microwave, for instance; the card processor contacts your bank or credit issuer to ensure that you have adequate available credit to buy the microwave. So if the microwave is around $60, for instance, you must have a minimum of $60 for the purchase to go through.
When the card processor is busy carrying out the necessary checks to ensure that you have adequate balance, your bank or credit card issuer will place a hold or as it is commonly called, pending charge, on the amount of the intended purchase against your card. In the microwave case, your credit card issuer or bank will place a hold on the $60. This means that you won’t be able to spend or withdraw the pending amount, which is different from your available balance.
After all necessary checks have been conducted, the merchant will send their file to your bank requesting payment for the microwave you purchased. As soon as your bank sends the merchant the $60 for the microwave, the transaction will no longer appear as appending; rather, it’ll appear as complete or posted.
However, sometimes, pending transactions get declined. And people are often confused when this happens. What causes this? What causes a pending transaction to be declined? Well, the answer is quite simple; wrong information. You see, if the card processor or payment system carries out a check and discovers that the credit card information inputted is different from what your bank has on record, it’ll decline the transaction. That equally means that the transaction has failed the check.
This scenarios can occur when you input an address that doesn’t match that on your bank record. If it was a silly error, you could always carry out the transaction again; this time, inputting the correct address. However, if it isn’t a mistake, you may want to call your bank.
Can You Cancel a Pending Transaction?
When you purchase an item or pay for a service online, the transaction is usually placed on hold by your bank until the card processor has done the necessary checks and the money is given to the merchant. Some people see the “pending transaction” period as an opportunity to change their mind and cancel the transaction. But come to think of it, is this move really possible?
It is impossible to cancel a pending transaction yourself. For a pending transaction to be successfully cancelled, the merchant will have to provide the bank with a pre-authorization release stating that they don’t wish to debit the held fund.
It usually takes about 7 days or less for a pending transaction to be complete and disappear from your account. During those 7 days, you cannot cancel the transaction from your end. However, the merchant can cancel the transaction, and this can happen for a few reasons. For instance, if the product you ordered is out of stock, the merchant can decide to cancel the transaction and refund your money.
If you wake up one day to see an un-authorized pending transaction, you will have to wait till the transaction is complete before you dispute it. Also, if you purchased something online and you wish to cancel the transaction, you will have to wait till the money has been debited from your account before you lodge a complaint.
What Happens When a Pending Transaction Is Declined?
The way we imagine online purchases is not actually how they happen. Things don’t get finalized immediately you buy the product or service and make payment. Lots of checks are done to ensure that you have enough money for the transaction, among other things. During this period the transaction becomes pending. Sometimes, the pending transaction gets declined, leaving you with the question, what happens next?
When a pending transaction is declined, for one reason or another, the authorization becomes invalid, and your money is returned. You’ll get your money within 5-7 days or less, depending on the bank you operate.
A pending transaction can be declined for a few reasons. As discussed earlier, one reason why this happens is when the card processor discovers that the information you presented doesn’t tally with that in your bank record. For instance, if the address you provided isn’t the same with that in your bank record, the transaction will be declined. If this happens, you can perform the transaction again by inputting the right information.
In the event that your money doesn’t get to you within seven days, you may have to take action. However, before you do so, examine the following:
- Can you still see the charges on your banking statement?
- How long has it been since you have executed a payment?
- Were weekends added to the authorization hold duration? Worthy to note is that authorization hold cannot be disbursed during weekends.
Contact your bank if you don’t get refunded after 7 days.
