When you make a payment using your Wise card, the transaction might appear as pending at first. This is because transferring money from your account to the merchant goes through several steps and isn't always instant.
What’s a pending transaction?
A pending payment means that the merchant has reserved the money from your account, but hasn’t claimed it yet. For most payments, the money will be released back into your account within 7 days. When they do, the transaction will change from pending to completed.
Businesses like hotels, gas stations, or car rental companies may use pre-authorisations. This acts like a reservation that will change to the correct amount once the business knows how much you’re actually going to spend.
Services like food deliveries and car rental companies may also reserve a payment, let you tip after the service is completed, and then reverse your original pending payment and take the new amount.
Payment was completed but still shows as pending
Sometimes it takes longer for the merchant to claim the money from your account.
There’s nothing you need to do right now. Once the merchant claims the funds, the transaction will be completed.
If the merchant doesn't claim the funds, the money will be released back into your account within 7 days, or within 30 days for pre-authorisations.
Payment was cancelled but still shows as pending
Sometimes we can’t tell if a payment was cancelled. This might happen because of problems with the payment terminal or an internet connection. If this happens, the payment will stay as pending in your account.
It usually takes up to 7 days for the merchant to claim the money from your account, but for pre-authorisation, it could take up to 30 days. This might happen if your payment was for a booking deposit, car rental services or a hotel reservation.
Can you stop a pending transaction?
If a transaction is pending, neither you nor Wise can stop the claiming of the money. If you want to cancel the transaction, you’ll need to contact the merchant directly.
If they won’t let you cancel the transaction, or you think their behaviour could be fraudulent, you can submit a dispute.