When you make a purchase with your Google Pay balance, two key steps occur:
- Authorizing the purchase: This is an initial hold on your transaction amount to ensure that there are sufficient funds in your balance to cover the transaction and any incidentals or tips.
- Capture: This is the final charge posted by the merchant, which is the final amount deducted from your balance.
When you make purchases for contactless, in-app, or online transactions using your Google Pay balance, in some cases, you may initially observe a difference in the amount held from your available balance versus the amount you made a purchase for. This is due to merchant authorization, where an additional amount from your Google Pay balance may be held, to ensure your account has sufficient funds.
Example: You have a balance of $200 and you make a purchase at a restaurant for $50. Your available balance might be deducted for $60, while your transaction shows as "processing" for $50. Based on the final amount charged by the merchant, this authorization amount will be adjusted. In this case, if you didn't incur any additional expenses, such as tips, $10 is credited back to your available balance.
Transaction status: It's important to note that transactions that show in the "processing" state may not reflect the final amount. Authorizations appear as a "processing" transaction until the merchant completes the transaction and charges the final amount. The authorization process doesn’t transfer funds to the merchant. It’s our way of telling the merchant that the funds for a purchase exist. The final amount reflects only when the merchant charges the final amount, during which you should no longer see the transaction as processing.
Processing times: A transaction remains in the "processing" state until the merchant finalizes the transaction, which usually happens within 7 days, but in some cases may take up to 30 days.
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