When viewing an online banking website, authorization holds often appear in the "pending transactions" section of the balance sheet. As stated above, authorization holds only last for a fixed maximum period of time. So, if an individual made the $30 purchase listed above, and their bank only kept that authorization hold in place for 1 business day, then the individual would see the funds as a pending transaction for that first day. If the merchant failed to present the item for payment within that first day, the authorization hold would "fall off" and the funds would appear to be available again. If the merchant then presented the item for payment 2 days later, the $30 transaction would "reappear" and actually be debited from the account at that time. This causes some issues with overdraft fees, as customers who rely solely on the online (or ATM) balance may not be taking into account transactions for which the authorization hold has fallen off. This creates a false impression of the balance, and can cause the customer to spend more than they actually have in the account.
