Gas Stations Hold On Bank Accounts Increasing

You know the pain at the gas pump and the grocery stores these days as inflation continues to take more of your hard earned money. Here’s something you may not know about, but you definitely need to be aware of.

When you go to fill up your gas tank, gas stations place a pre-authorization hold amount on credit or debit cards…that has usually been around $35. That is to make sure you have the funds to cover the full cost of your purchase. But, now that gas prices have risen dramatically, so have the amounts of the hold on your account funds. Visa and Mastercard are now allowing gas stations to place holds of up to $175 on their cards. For debit cards, it can be $100 or higher…Kroger is placing up to $150 hold on debit cards. Now, here’s the problem.

Sometimes it can take hours or even a couple days for companies to release the hold on your account. Let’s say you purchased $75 in fuel but the hold was $150 on your account. If you do not have the extra amount available in your account to cover the hold, you may be charged an overdraft fee. By the way, rental car companies and hotel chains are doing the same thing now.

Experts say the best way to combat this at the gas pump is to pay cash…or go in and pay a certain amount with your card in advance and there will be no hold placed on your account.