Debit holds make pain at the pump worse Posted by mitcka at 07/10/08 10:36 AM

With gas prices topping $4 a gallon, you don’t need more of your hard-earned money being kept from you. But when you pay at the pump with a debit card, that’s exactly what’s happening.

Each time you swipe a debit card at the pump, a hold can be placed on a certain amount of money in your checking account – often $75 or more – to authorize your gas purchase. But after you finishing pumping gas, that hold can remain on your account for up to three days.

Most of us don’t know our funds are being frozen, leaving us at risk of bounced checks or hefty overdraft fees if we make other purchases with those frozen funds.

And as gas prices climb higher, these debit holds could even leave you with an empty gas tank. Unless you have enough money in your checking account to cover the cost of gas AND the additional debit hold amount, your gas purchase may be canceled.

Consumers Union heard from hundreds of you frustrated by debit holds at the pump and helped focus national attention on the issue.

Visa recently announced it would stop lengthy debit holds, promising to clear transactions at the pump within two hours, beginning this fall. This process, called real-time clearing, means consumers using a debit card with a Visa logo won’t have their funds frozen for days.

MasterCard, the other processor of debit transactions, hasn’t made a similar commitment.
Consumers Union is calling on MasterCard to give customers a break and stop freezing funds at the gas pump.

In the meantime, you can avoid freezes on your funds by paying for your purchases inside the gas station with the attendant using a PIN number. Or, simply pay with cash.

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