Question
Why is my card transaction "Pending"? What is a card transaction blockade? Can the card purchase processing be completed or canceled sooner? After how long card transactions are settled by merchants?
Answer
"Pending" is a term referring to the procedure that occurs after you make a transaction with your card. This process consists of four steps.
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Payment: When you pay for something with your card in-store or online.
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Authorization: ZEN checks if your card is valid, whether you are authorized to use it, and whether you have sufficient funds in your account to cover the transaction.
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Blocking of funds: If everything is okay, ZEN blocks the amount equal to the transaction value in your account. This means that these funds are temporarily "reserved" and you can't spend them on something else.
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Settlement: Finally, the bank transfers the blocked funds to the recipient's account. This is the settlement stage.
The blockade is established to lower the available balance on your account right after the transaction is made. After it's established, we have to wait for the merchant to send us the settlement request. When we receive the settlement request, we remove the blockade, and the transaction is settled.
If you notice that the balance of your account is reduced by the transaction value, but the transaction does not yet appear in your account history as "completed", it means that your transaction is in the merchant's settlement process. Usually, the whole settlement process takes up to 10 days, in exceptional cases up to 31 calendar days. If we do not receive a settlement request within this timeframe, funds are unlocked back to your account's balance.
Processing time depends on the merchant to whom you paid. When a card transaction is pending, ZEN cannot complete or cancel it earlier.
See also: Possible transaction limits when using ZEN, My card transaction was rejected