A future guest has been authorized by mistake

A future guest has been authorized by mistake

How long does an authorization hold last?

In the case of debit cards, authorization holds can fall off the account, thus rendering the balance available again, anywhere from one to eight business days after the transaction date, depending on the bank's policy. In the case of credit cards, holds may last as long as thirty days, depending on the issuing bank.

What about Visual Matrix?

Once Visual Matrix receives a credit card authorization, it has to be used. If a credit card authorization is made too long in advance for a future reservation, Visual Matrix will consider the auth valid when the time will come to post the payment. But if the bank has dropped the authorization in the meantime, the transaction will be declined during the batch settlement.
Visual Matrix does not receive updates on the authorizations statuses.

If you do a credit card authorization in advance by mistake, then the only way to drop it will be to post an advance deposit using that authorization and void the advance deposit.
The guest will see the authorization, nothing can be done against that, however, it might be dropped a bit faster.

    • Related Articles

    • Guest Credit Card swiped over the OTA Virtual Credit Card

      It happens! But don't panic, the original credit card you need to use is still on file! This can occasionally happen during the check-in process. Instead of doing the check-in with the virtual credit card and going onto Folio B to save the guest's ...
    • Credit Card Transaction Process

      We do not think much about what goes into making the credit card process work. Simply insert a credit or debit card into a machine, and a few seconds later, the transaction is complete. However, behind this convenient payment option, the procedure ...
    • Credit Card Authorization: Current Auth Amount vs Previous Auth Amount

      The difference between these two types of authorization is very important to understand. Both can be found in the Credit Card window and should normally be identical most of the time. Definitions The "Current Auth Amount" is the amount that Visual ...
    • See the list of authorizations (Desktop)

      There is not a list of every authorization in the system, however, you can view the detail of any card on a reservation to see the authorization(s) on that card. - Open the reservation, click on the Method of Payment drop down and choose credit card ...
    • See the list of authorizations (Cloud)

      There is not a list of every authorization in the system, however, you can view the detail of any card on a reservation to see the authorization(s) on that card. - Open the reservation and go to the Payment Info; - Click on the pencil to open the ...