About Preauthorise
Plain-English education about card holds and pre-authorizations — written for the person staring at a pending charge they do not recognize.
Why this site exists
Almost everyone with a bank card eventually meets a pre-authorization hold: at a hotel desk, a rental counter, a gas pump. The hold looks like a charge, reduces the money you can spend, and comes with no explanation attached. Bank help pages tend to be written in industry language; merchant staff often cannot see the bank's side of the process. Preauthorise exists to close that gap — to explain what a hold is, why it is there, how long it should last, and the exact steps to take when one outstays its welcome.
What we cover
- Country guides for the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom — because the vocabulary, the consumer protections, and the complaint routes differ by country.
- Situation guides for hotels, rental cars, gas stations, debit cards, restaurants, and cruises.
- Practical resolution steps: reversals, issuer calls, disputes, and — where they exist — ombudsman and regulator routes.
- A short explainer on medical prior authorization, the unrelated healthcare meaning of the same term.
Our independence
Preauthorise is an independent educational site. We are not a bank, card issuer, payment network, hotel, or rental company, and we cannot see or change anyone's account — for anything transaction-specific, your merchant and your issuer are the only parties who can act. This site publishes no invented rates, offers, or approval claims. A card-category section is in development; until it launches, there are no card rankings, application links, or affiliate links on this site. Where we point to official sources — consumer agencies, regulators, and ombudsman services — we link to them so you can verify everything yourself.
The name
“Preauthorise” uses the British spelling of the word. In the United States you will usually see “preauthorize”; in Canada both spellings appear. The thing being named is the same everywhere: a temporary hold on your money, and the confusion that comes with it.
Questions or corrections: contact us.