When you use your debit card to make an ATM withdrawal or purchase, the merchant or ATM owner may request an authorization from us. If the transaction is approved, we will reduce your Current Balance by the authorized amount via a memo posted debit to your account. In some cases, the authorization request amount and actual final transaction amount may not match. For example, a restaurant may add an expected gratuity amount to the bill which may or may not be reflected in your final settlement.
In general, this memo posted debit will remain on your account until we receive instructions from the merchant for us to deduct the exact amount of your final purchase from your account (known as a final settlement request) or the expiration of three business days, whichever occurs first.
Please note, there is an exception: If you use your PIN when paying for gas at the pump, the merchant must send us the final settlement request within two hours.
A 'final settlement request' will come after the debit card authorization request and will complete the transaction. Although most transactions settle within one or two business days, the actual timing depends on the merchant. In fact, there may be times the final settlement is not received within the three business days and the memo posted debit authorization is removed and the balance restored, but then the final settlement could still be received beyond the three business days and result in a balance reduction for the final transaction settlement amount.