How long should debit card transactions take to clear?

I used my debit card to buy some food from a market and a pizzeria over the weekend and a movie on Friday. It's Monday now and those transactions say "pending". Shouldn't debit card transactions be cleared on my account right away? Or are debit card transactions treated like checks?|||When you make a purchase with your debit card (without using your PIN), it's processed over the VISA/MasterCard network. It works something like this:





Let's say you're making a $10.00 purchase...


1. You swipe the card at the merchant. They "authorize" a $10.00 purchase with VISA/MasterCard. To ensure the funds remain available, your bank will then place a hold on $10.00 in your account, and record it as a pending transaction.





2. The merchant "settles" their transactions. Normally, this happens within about 2 business days, but can actually take up to 10.





3. When the transaction has settled, your bank withdraws the $10.00 from your account. At the same time, generally, they remove the $10.00 pending/hold from your account.





Where it can get confusing, is when you make a purchase where the final amount is not known when you swipe the card. Take "pay at the pump" for an example. When you pay at the pump using a debit card, that temporary "hold" is usually only placed for $1. Basically, just to make sure it's a valid card. This is because you swipe the card before you pump, so they don't know how much to charge you. When the gas station settles their transactions, the real amount comes out of your account, and the $1 hold falls off. That can cause confusion if you're tracking your balances online.|||Today is a holiday in the US.


Banks are closed - nothing will process or clear.


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