The authorization hold on a debit card is just a temporary reservation of the funds or money on your debit card.
Authorization holds on your debit card occur when a merchant first verifies that your debit card and bank account actually have enough money to cover a specific transaction.
When the authorization hold is placed on your debit card, it temporarily reduces your available balance on your debit card or bank account before the actual final charge for the transaction clears.
The debit card authorization hold helps you, by preventing you from spending the same money twice.
A common place that authorization holds on debit card occur is when you use your debit card at the gas pump.
When you pay at the pump, the merchant will often draw around $75.00 or so from your debit card or credit card until you're done pumping gas.
Then once the transaction is complete, the remaining amount will then eventually be returned to your account, but usually it takes a few days or so to clear.
Authorization holds on debit cards and credit cards also often apply to signature based, online or contact transactions, when you don't enter your PIN.
Transactions made with a PIN will deduct your funds immediately.
At places such as car rental agencies, hotels and gas stations, the merchant often places a hold higher than your actual purchase amount to cover any potential damages, tips or a full tank of gas.
If pumping gas and want to avoid the authorization hold, you should take your debit card or credit card inside to pay for the gas.
The hold called the authorization hold on your debit card or credit card is meant to be temporary and will often drop off and convert to the final transaction amount or even be released back into your account in 1 day to 3 business days, but it depends on your bank's policy.
It's important to monitor your available spending balance carefully, due to the authorization hold.