Pending charges
A Lyft transaction marked as ‘pending’ isn't a charge. ‘Pending’ transactions are temporary authorizations from the Lyft app to make sure your payment method works.
Once your bank provider processes the transaction, the temporary authorization will either disappear completely or appear as a refund within 5-7 business days.
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Why you see this
You may see a pending transaction on your payment method when you:
- Create a Lyft account.
- Request a ride.
- Update your payment method.
- Change your destination.
- Add a stop on your route.
- Rent a Lyft Bike or Scooter.
The temporary authorization amount depends on the ride cost, region, and selected ride type. Once your payment method is successfully charged, Lyft immediately releases the temporary authorization.
However, your bank may take 5–7 business days to release temporary authorizations on your account.
If the temporary authorization causes your account to overdraft, you’ll need to contact your bank or financial institution for next steps.
Authorizations vs charges
We've made it easier to identify Lyft ride charges when checking your bank statement. Now, ride charge transactions will include the number of rides taken and the date the charge was issued.
Once all ride charges are combined for the day, your final charge will look like this: Lyft *3 rides 3/16 lyft.com/charges
Any extra pending transaction on your bank statement is likely a temporary authorization. You may see several temporary authorizations on your bank statement if you request more than one ride.
Once your bank releases the authorization (5–7 business days), only the final ride charge from Lyft will remain on your account.
You can see a full breakdown of all final ride charges in the ‘Ride history’ tab in the Lyft app.
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