A hold on a banking account occurs when a bank receives a charge from a debit card or check that has not been paid out yet. A hold on an account can create a disparity between the account's available balance and its actual balance. Customers will have difficulty getting a bank to remove such a hold unless the charge is inaccurate or was placed in error.
Step 1
Find out from your bank exactly why the hold was placed on your account and when and where the charge was made. Without this information, it may be impossible to rectify the situation.
Step 2
Confirm that you made the charge that has caused the hold. Your bank will often remove a charge if your debit card or check was stolen, as long as you can convince the bank you didn't make the charge.
Step 3
Holds may be placed on deposited checks until they can be verified. In this situation, the hold will not be removed until the check has cleared
Step 4
Charges that are mistakenly made by a retailer, either for double charges or inaccurate amounts, are the retailer's responsibility to rectify. If the bank tells you this is the case, contact the retailer and ask for compensation.
Step 5
If an inaccurate hold on your account resulted in overdraft charges and other account fees, a bank will often be willing to remove these charges. This usually happens only when the bank has made the error, however.
Tip
Persistence is key in dealing with identity theft or banking errors. Don't give up until you get your rightful amount of money back.
If you are getting no cooperation or help from the bank or a retailer, consider going to a small claims court to recoup your damages.