Amount available – pre-authorised amount
Any difference between ‘Balance’ and ‘Available’ may be due to a pre-authorisation on your account, or you may have a credit facility for the account.
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Pre-authorisation in connection with cards
When you use your card, the amount is reserved on your account by the store you shop at. The store does so to ensure that it will receive payment for the goods or services you have bought, and you can be sure you do not exceed your overall amount limit.
The difference between your balance and amount available is- The balance is the amount in your account.
- The available is your balance plus any credit facility you may have but minus any pre-authorisations. The amount available is thus the amount you can withdraw right now.
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When is a pre-authorisation cancelled?
A pre-authorisation is cancelled when the amount is booked in your account. If you would like the pre-authorisation to be cancelled earlier, for example because you have returned goods, that must be done via the store you used. You should therefore always contact the store and ask them to cancel the sale and the pre-authorisation.
You can see when the pre-authorisation was set up and when it expires in the entry details.
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Why does the pre-authorisation not disappear from my account?
You may experience a pre-authorisation remaining with the status: ‘Pending’ in your account. If a store forgets to cancel a pre-authorisation, for example if the goods cannot be delivered, it will not disappear from your account. Cancelling a pre-authorisation must done via the store you used. You should therefore always contact the store and ask them to cancel the sale and the pre-authorisation.
