What's Happening

When you use your First Citizens’ VISA debit card at a gas station, merchants may request a temporary hold on your account for a specified sum of money when the merchant doesn’t know the exact amount of the purchase at the time the card is authorized. The amount of the temporary hold may be more than the actual amount of your purchase. Debit card authorization holds can help you better determine the funds you have available for use and avoid non-sufficient funds (NSF) or overdraft situations. Although available balances and temporary holds are helpful tools to assist with budgeting, being vigilant of your actual balance and pending transactions are the best ways to ensure you stay out of the negative.

Today, holds are placed on your account until the transaction is cleared. For some transactions, the hold could be placed for upwards of 3 days. For your convenience, beginning June 8^th, gas station holds will now be released after approximately 2 hours or when the transaction clears; whichever comes first.

Although having these holds removed after 2 hours will be a convenience for many, we caution everyone to be mindful of your actual balance when using your debit card. A hold could be removed from your available balance after 48 hours, but the transaction could clear at a later time.

For more on holds and NSF fees, visit our website here https://www.firstcitizens.org/personal/overdraft.

For information on budgeting and staying in the green, visit our financial education center here https://firstcitizens.teachbanzai.com/wellness/resources/income-and-expenses.

As always, your financial well-being is a top priority of First Citizens’. If you have further questions on gas station holds, please call us at 1800 642 7515.