topic Re: Posting CC transactions in Credit Cards

Posting CC transactions

Dw4250 — Tue, 26 May 2015 21:41:31 GMT

Ok this definitely qualifies as a First-World "problem" ...

But what is the deal with pending charges sitting on a card for so long? I have several transactions that have been sitting on my US Bank card for 9-10 days and have yet to post. And they are not 'funky' or unusual transactions like holding a car rental or hotel room. Just normal transactions (movie theater, Wal-Mart, CVS). Why do these transactions take so long to clear?

In the grand scheme of things, this is pretty small potatoes. But it can be frustrating when you are, for instance, applying for a mortgage or other loan and want your balance to report at $0.

Is there anyway to solve this? (other than not using the card for two weeks prior to the statement being cut). Is this a bank issue, a merchant issue, or a network (Visa/MC/AMEX/etc) issue?

Re: Posting CC transactions

Jaylima91 — Tue, 26 May 2015 22:03:59 GMT

Not a network issue. The merchant has to file the copy of the receipt and send it to the bank. The bank then has to verify the amount shown on the receipt and post the transaction in the amount listed on the receipt. Seems like it may be US Bank having a delay. Has that always been the case?

Re: Posting CC transactions

Anonymous — Tue, 26 May 2015 22:14:22 GMT

@Dw4250 wrote:
Ok this definitely qualifies as a First-World "problem" ...

But what is the deal with pending charges sitting on a card for so long? I have several transactions that have been sitting on my US Bank card for 9-10 days and have yet to post. And they are not 'funky' or unusual transactions like holding a car rental or hotel room. Just normal transactions (movie theater, Wal-Mart, CVS). Why do these transactions take so long to clear?

In the grand scheme of things, this is pretty small potatoes. But it can be frustrating when you are, for instance, applying for a mortgage or other loan and want your balance to report at $0.

Is there anyway to solve this? (other than not using the card for two weeks prior to the statement being cut). Is this a bank issue, a merchant issue, or a network (Visa/MC/AMEX/etc) issue?

Not really a solution, but a way to avoid having a balance to report is to push a payment to the account for whatever amount is still outstanding. While you normally cannot over pay a card if you send them a payment it should give you a negative balance so when the transactions do post they will bring it to $0.

Re: Posting CC transactions

Anonymous — Tue, 26 May 2015 22:16:58 GMT

I would bet the holiday weekend is playing a role as well.

Re: Posting CC transactions

FinStar — Tue, 26 May 2015 22:19:32 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Dw4250 wrote:
Ok this definitely qualifies as a First-World "problem" ...

But what is the deal with pending charges sitting on a card for so long? I have several transactions that have been sitting on my US Bank card for 9-10 days and have yet to post. And they are not 'funky' or unusual transactions like holding a car rental or hotel room. Just normal transactions (movie theater, Wal-Mart, CVS). Why do these transactions take so long to clear?

In the grand scheme of things, this is pretty small potatoes. But it can be frustrating when you are, for instance, applying for a mortgage or other loan and want your balance to report at $0.

Is there anyway to solve this? (other than not using the card for two weeks prior to the statement being cut). Is this a bank issue, a merchant issue, or a network (Visa/MC/AMEX/etc) issue?
Not really a solution, but a way to avoid having a balance to report is to push a payment to the account for whatever amount is still outstanding. While you normally cannot over pay a card if you send them a payment it should give you a negative balance so when the transactions do post they will bring it to $0.

This exactly OP. Eventually, once transactions settle/post, this would net the balance to 0 (provided no other transactions are pending or in-flight). I have 3 US Bank cards, yet IME, I haven't seen any transactions that stay in pending for more than 3-4 days (mainly on the FlexPerks AMEX).