What is an authorization?
When you make a purchase using your Venmo Mastercard® Debit Card or Venmo Account, the merchant will place a hold on the funds in your available payment method to cover the initial amount of your purchase. This is called merchant authorization, and it allows the merchant to ensure that your Venmo account is open and working.
The authorization ensures that you have sufficient funds on your payment method to cover the transaction amount. The transaction will appear as a pending charge in your personal transactions feed until the merchant completes (captures) the transaction and posts the final amount.
What is a capture?
Funds will not be transferred to the merchant until they finalize the transaction and capture the final amount. Once a merchant captures an authorization, you’ll see the purchase completed for the final amount in your personal transactions feed.
Please note, that while most merchants may capture a transaction in 1-5 days, the merchant may take up to 30 days to finalize the transaction.
How long will my transaction remain pending?
Different kinds of transactions can remain pending for different amounts of time. While most transactions may complete within 7 days, authorizations from businesses like hotels and rental car companies may remain for a few days longer. Merchants have up to 30 days to finalize the transaction. Please see the Venmo Mastercard Cardholder Agreement for further details.
In these scenarios, Venmo needs to allow the merchant enough time to complete or void the transaction before we can intervene. If you suspect that a transaction has been pending for too long, please contact us here.
The Venmo Mastercard® is issued by The Bancorp Bank, N.A., pursuant to a license by Mastercard International Incorporated. Card may be used everywhere Mastercard is accepted. Mastercard and the circles design are registered trademarks of Mastercard International Incorporated. The Bancorp Bank, N.A. is issuer of the Card only and not responsible for the associated accounts or other products, services, or offers from Venmo.
Why was the final amount (capture) different than the initial authorization?
There may be a difference between the amount that you see when you initially make purchase (authorization) and the final capture amount. Some merchants will place an authorization on your payment method for the total amount of your purchase, then will capture each individual purchase as the item(s) are shipped. These processes will have an impact on your payment method until all authorizations are completed.
Why is my balance less than expected before the online payment is finalized?
If you have access to a Venmo balance, after making an online purchase, the amount of your transaction will be held from your available Venmo balance until the purchase is finalized by the merchant. This is to ensure that there are enough funds to cover the purchase once it is finalized.
If your purchase is for more than what is available in your balance, your entire balance will be held while waiting for the purchase to be captured. This means that your balance may display as $0 until the final purchase amount is captured. Any held balance amounts that exceed the final purchase amount will be made available within 30 days of completion of the transaction.
Why do I see multiple transactions in Venmo for a single purchase?
Most purchases involve an initial authorization hold for the estimated total amount of your purchase, followed by a final capture wherein the total is finalized.
Some purchases allow the merchant to capture smaller parts of the total at different times, like when two items ship separately. In this scenario, the transaction is completed only when the final capture is submitted by the merchant. When this happens, the larger authorization hold will be released back to your account.
Keep in mind that bank-funded transactions can take 1-3 business days to appear on your statement once the merchant has completed them.
I have a pending $1 charge from a merchant on my Venmo account .
Merchants will sometimes place a temporary $1.00 authorization on a payment method added to their app to verify that the payment method is valid. The charge to your Venmo account should not be completed. If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out to us or the merchant.