Why is my pending transaction showing as “AMERICAN EXPRESS INTERNAL TRANSACTION”? (2024)

FAQs

Why is my pending transaction showing as “AMERICAN EXPRESS INTERNAL TRANSACTION”? ›

Why is my Pending Transaction showing as 'AMERICAN EXPRESS INTERNAL TRANSACTION'? If a Merchant's details can't be fully captured at the time of a transaction, a default value labelled 'AMERICAN EXPRESS INTERNAL TRANSACTION' may be shown.

A pending transaction means that a transaction is yet to be fully processed. Credit card purchases may typically post within three days but may take up to 30 days in some cases. While you may use your credit card or bank account while a transaction is pending, they'll count towards your available funds.

A pending transaction is an approved purchase or Card pre-authorisation that has not yet posted to your Card Account balance. It may take up to four days for an approved purchase to be posted to your Card Account balance.

If you are the Basic Cardmember, you can log in to Online Services to check if the payment has been reflected on your Account. Depending on the payment option chosen, your payment can be processed same day or take up to 5 business days.

What can I do? Please allow around 3 working days for the payment to be processed. If you are not seeing the payment in your Account after 3 days, please call us at the number on the back of your Card.

Pending transactions take time because they go through an authorization process to confirm available funds and involve communication between the merchant, credit card issuer, and payment processors.

Part of that lag time is when the charge has been authorized but is still "pending," meaning the transaction has not yet been finalized or posted. That limbo status means you have a time window, often a few days, to request the cancellation of a pending credit card transaction.

Once the transaction is confirmed and processed by the system you will see the correct merchant name appear on your timeline and statement – this process normally takes 1-3 days but can take as long as 7 days to fully process.

Note: Pending charges cannot be disputed. When a charge is pending, it has not yet actually posted to your Account and the amount could change.

A pending deposit to a bank account may be declined if the account the deposit comes from lacks sufficient funds. A pending check deposit to a bank account could be declined if the check was filled out incorrectly, is fraudulent, is over six months old or has a stop payment.

Does Amex show pending refunds? ›

Show Card Members pending refunds in near real-time. Take advantage of this enhanced capability that lets Card Members see pending refunds online or in-app in near real-time, helping reduce potential disputes and improve the customer experience.

Transactions submitted on non-working days such as Bank Holidays or Weekends will not be processed until the following working day.

Why does it take so long for credit card payments to post? Payment processors generally don't process every single payment at once. They batch payments together and send them for processing all at the same time. This can happen as quickly as twice a day, or as rarely as twice a week.

A pending transaction is a recent authorised card transaction that is waiting to be processed by the merchant and can take up to 28 days but normally takes 2/3 days to clear onto your balance.

Pending transactions generally take between one and five business days to clear. That time can vary based on the type of transaction, the payment network, and the bank or credit card issuer.

In my experience, American Express updates your available credit within minutes of you making your payments. When you make a payment, you'll see the message, “Your account balances and available credit will update shortly.”

If you don't receive an immediate approval or denial, it means the card issuer needs to review certain information to make a decision. Depending on the circ*mstances, Amex may reach out to you and ask you some additional questions.