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gleofrocga Dec 21, 2014 @ 9:44pm

How long does a pending transaction take?

I was viewing my debit balance/history, and saw the purchase I made today was pending/not completed. I recieved the email to confirm the purchase, and money was taken. Is the normal course that a purchase goes through? I have access the products I purchased.

I'm sure the way it works is that after 10 days of a pending transaction, the money reserved for the Merchant is given back to the payee. Obviously, this has caused problems in the past for Steam Users getting their accounts locked. (Related to chargebacks?)

I understand it's the Christmas sales, so may it take a couple days for the payment to be completed? As I said, I have the game, got the steam email, my balance was credited, but the purchase comes up as pending/not completed.

Last edited by gleofrocga; Dec 21, 2014 @ 9:56pm

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Showing 1-15 of 36 comments

TirithRR Dec 21, 2014 @ 9:47pm

https://store.steampowered.com/account/store_transactions

If a purchase is listed as "Pending" there then it usually means something is wrong with the purchase. Most of the time Purchases happen almost instantly, a few seconds.

You can wait a few days and see what happens, but your best bet is to ust Cancel the pending transaction and purchase the game again.

If you do this, the transaction that is Pending will no longer be valid, and your bank may take a few days to return the held funds to your account. Some banks are 3-5 days, some slower, some faster.

TirithRR Dec 21, 2014 @ 9:52pm

Does the purchase show up at all on your Steam Store Transaction history?

TirithRR Dec 21, 2014 @ 9:58pm

So they are all listed as complete purchases on your transaction history?

Sometimes banks may list Sunday purchases as pending until Monday. My bank actually lists them occasionaly as, for example:

12/22/2014 <Transaction> <Amount> (Activity occured on 12/21/2014)

TirithRR Dec 21, 2014 @ 10:38pm

Well, as long as it doesn't say "Pending" or "Failed" (or some other word that means that depending on the language). If it just lists the price like a normal purchase then it was successful.

If your payment is still in the "Pending" column at your bank at this point, then it's just the bank taking a while to update it on your Statement.

WP Dec 23, 2014 @ 1:58am

what

Murreydoc Jan 5, 2016 @ 1:27pm

Hey Keyes, was your transaction completed successfully?
Sorry if reviving an old post is against the rules, but I have exactly the same situation, I made the payment on December 31th for Guacamelee and in my steam purchase history it appears exactly like previous payments which were fine (e.g. no other mention, it appears to be a completed payment). But in my bank information it still appears pending, after 5 days (but it was deducted from my account balance). Maybe it has something to do with the winter's holidays / non-working days? I'm in Romania if that matters but I don't suppose the money travel by train, do they?
My son has already possibly played half of the game I just don't want any problems ! Lol...

QAjelek Sep 14, 2016 @ 8:41pm

i got the same problem 2

iinad Jun 22, 2017 @ 7:38pm

I have the same problem, I deposited 25$ but it says pending in payment history. I already got charged...

Cathulhu Jun 22, 2017 @ 7:39pm

Well, necroing threads from 2014 won't help you.

iinad Jun 22, 2017 @ 7:42pm

Originally posted by Cathulhu:
Well, necroing threads from 2014 won't help you.

True but do you know a solution? Because I looked it up on google but didn't find any other discussion like this.

#10

Cathulhu Jun 22, 2017 @ 7:42pm

Maybe you should get a dictionary and look up the meaning of the word pending.

#11

iinad Jun 22, 2017 @ 7:53pm

Originally posted by Cathulhu:
Maybe you should get a dictionary and look up the meaning of the word pending.

Nice one lol.

#12

blessed Feb 18, 2018 @ 3:14pm

Same thing happening to me... i just made a steam purchase and i got the games i purchased, but they have not taken the money out of my bank account. im gonna wait a few days since i just purchased this yesterday but this is still really frustrating. it doesnt even say pending in my account which is the worst part.

#13

Cathulhu Feb 18, 2018 @ 3:16pm

Was your transaction successful?
Check this link to see the status of your transaction:
https://help.steampowered.com/wizard/HelpWithPurchase

Pending means Valve hasn't got the money yet.
It can turn into;
1. Sucessful - You get the game/wallet money
2. Failed - You don't get the game/wallet money and your money is on hold, your payment processor will return it to you within the next few business days.

#14