Pre-authorisation (hold)
An authorisation placed on a card to reserve an amount without taking it, later either captured or released. It is how hotels, car hire and similar trades cover a deposit or incidental spend. The mechanics — how long a hold may stand, and how a release reaches the cardholder’s available balance — are set by the card schemes and the issuer rather than by the merchant.
For Uniweb Pay specifically: This site does not publish whether or how pre-authorisation works on Uniweb Pay’s acceptance. For an accommodation provider that is the most consequential question in choosing an acquirer, and it should be answered in writing before signing — with any provider.
Why it matters to a merchant
The mechanism most people meet as the hotel or car-hire "hold", and the one where assuming is expensive. How long a hold lasts, whether it can be increased, and how it is released vary by scheme, by issuer and by provider setup — which is why a merchant whose business depends on holds should get the behaviour confirmed in writing for their own configuration rather than reading a general description of it, including this one.
Where this comes up
Pages on this site that deal with this in context:
- Car workshops and automotive
- Acquirer, gateway, PSP: what the words actually mean
- The best payment gateway in Singapore is the wrong question
- Taking payment in a Singapore hotel, hostel or serviced apartment
- Who can enable Alipay+ and WeChat Pay for a Singapore merchant
- How to accept WeChat Pay and Alipay in Singapore
Related terms
In this section: How a payment moves