What is a hold charge?
A hold charge is when a merchant requests a certain amount of credit to be placed on hold until a credit card transaction is processed and approved. Hold charges are common at hotels, car rental companies and gas stations. Because a majority of gas stations use pay-at-the-pump as a payment method, the gas transaction may not be processed for a couple of days. The hold charge requested by the merchant will remain on the account until the actual charges have been approved.
