Businesses like hotels, gas stations, or car rental companies may charge a pre-authorisation. This acts like a reservation that will change to the correct amount once the business knows how much you’re actually going to spend.
Here’s an example:
You go to a gas station to fill your car with gas. So you use your Wise card to pay. You see a charge on your account for 50 USD, but it only costs you 30 USD to fill your gas tank. After a few days, the 50 USD charge changes to 30 USD and the transaction’s status changes from pre-authorised to spent.
How long should I wait to be charged the correct amount?
Businesses will usually reverse a pre-authorised transaction and charge the correct amount within one day — but it can sometimes take 30 days.
If it’s been longer than that, get in touch with us — fill in our dispute form and send us the receipt showing the correct amount.