What is a pending transaction?

Types of pending transactions

There are two types of pending transactions for your accounts:

Transactions requiring authorisation by another person on your account
Payments or transfers that have been authorised but not yet processed.

Payments or transfers that have been authorised but not yet processed

Some payments may appear as pending until the payment has been fully processed. This includes transactions such as:

Point of sale (POS) purchases
Online card purchases
ATM withdrawals
Cash deposits.

Pending transactions may also be the result of a merchant applying a pre-authorisation (for example, deposits for car hire or hotel accommodation where the authorisation may be cancelled on return of the vehicle or at the end of your stay).

Pending transactions adjusts the balance and available amounts displayed in accounts.

How long does a pending transaction take to process?

Pending transactions generally take 3 to 5 business days to process, although some can take up to 10 business days.

If you allow a merchant use your card for pre-authorised payments (like a security deposit for a hotel booking or car hire), you can expect to wait up to 30 days for your payments to be credited back to you.

Why doesn’t the transaction date match my purchase receipt?

Sometimes there may be a delay between when the transaction occurred and when it appears on your statement or online transaction listing. This can be up to 7 days depending on the merchant and the way they process the transaction.

Transactions requiring authorisation by another person on your account

For some accounts with us like the Macquarie Cash Management Account, you are able to set up the account to be "two to sign" - this also applies to online payments. If your account is setup in this way, you will be informed on screen after you initiate the payment. Simply arrange for the other person authorised on the account to confirm the payment by logging into Macquarie Online Banking or Macquarie Mobile Banking app under their own Macquarie ID.

For the other person authorised on the account to confirm the payment using:

Macquarie Online Banking:

Select the $ icon from the side menu; or first click on the menu icon in top left-hand corner to display the side menu
Select Scheduled payments
Click Authorise on the payment you want to confirm or click Cancel to cancel the payment.

Macquarie Mobile Banking app:

Scroll down the home screen to the Payment approval tile
Click Authorise to confirm the payment or click Deny to cancel the payment.

Please note that these payments will only remain as a pending payment for that day. The payment will be removed at midnight. You'll need to restart the process if this happens.

View all

Start a live chat

Log in to Macquarie Online Banking or the Macquarie Mobile Banking app and chat with a consultant in real time, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm Sydney time (excluding public holidays).

Learn more

Experiencing financial difficulty?

Please get in touch as soon as possible so we can work together to find the right solution for you.

Get financial assistance

Resolve a complaint

Everyone at Macquarie is committed to providing our clients with the highest standard of products and services available. If you have feedback we would like you to tell us about it. 

Find out more