More on Credit Card Authorizations for Laundromania

Q: I used my Credit Card on a few machines, but when I checked my Credit/Debit account online I noticed a $20 “charge”. Can you explain?

A: Yes, the $20 is only an authorization. It is not a charge, but it does take away from your available credit for one or two days. Only your actual total or “bundled” charges will appear on your month-end statement. It can be sometimes be difficult to see the difference between an authorization and a charge when you check your CC activity online.

Q: What is the procedure to get the difference between the actual charges and the available credit restored ?

A: It is an automatic process. Check with your bank in 1-2 days, and you should see only the actual bundled charges.

Q: Tell me about authorizations. Why does Laundromania process cards using authorizations?

A: There are certain business models that require the ability to have control over when they issue a credit card authorization, and the actual credit card capture. An authorization is essentially used to guarantee funds will be available on not only the first, but also on subsequent swipes. The initial approval may take 5-15 seconds to complete. The WashCard computer system internally manages our cc processing, and holds your available authorized credit ($20) internally, thus allowing subsequent approvals to be instant. This saves you time, and also saves on processing & fees associated with multiple swipes.

Q: What if I do more than $20 in Laundry?

A: Good question. If you exceed $20, you will see a second authorization appear. Your final month end statement will have two separate bundled charges, each appearing as $20 or less.

Q: I had two separate authorizations, but I only did a few loads. Why?

A: The WashCard software assumes you will complete your laundry in 3-4 hours. It combines the charges, totals out your account, and transmits the data. This preset timeframe historically appears to be the most efficient for real-time machine usage, and efficient processing.