Monitoring your credit card transactions

A pending transaction is a transaction that has been authorized but not yet posted to your account. Pending transactions and payments are included in your Credit Available but are not reflected in your Current Balance until they post, which typically occurs within 5 to 7 business days.

Note that payments made from a CIBC account are immediately reflected in your Credit Available. However, some payment types have longer processing times and aren’t immediately reflected. Examples include payments from another financial institution and mailed cheques. These payment types typically post to your account within 5 to 7 business days.

Sometimes, a merchant will charge a pre-authorized amount as a “hold”. For example, gas stations may charge a pre-authorized amount that is larger than the actual transaction amount. This pre-authorized amount appears as pending in your transaction summary, but it will not be posted to your account, and you will only be charged for the actual amount of your purchase.

If you don’t recognize anything about the transaction and think it may be fraud, you can initiate a digital dispute. Go to your transaction summary in online or mobile banking and select the transaction you don’t recognize. Select Dispute this transaction and follow the prompts.

The final posted amount of your transaction is calculated using the foreign exchange rate in effect at the time of posting. As a result, the pending transaction amount may differ from the final posted amount.

No. Transactions show in your Current Balance only when they are posted to your credit card account, which can take 5 to 7 business days. However, pending transactions are reflected in your Credit Available.

Only payments made from a CIBC account are immediately reflected in your Credit Available.

Some payment types are considered “unverified,” meaning CIBC needs time to ensure the funds you used were available when you paid. Unverified payments have longer processing times and aren’t immediately reflected in your Credit Available. Examples include payments from another financial institution and mailed cheques. These payment types typically post to your account within 5 to 7 business days.

Some transactions don’t show as “pending” and go straight to “posted.” In these cases, it may take 5 to 7 business days for the posted transaction to appear on your transactions list.

Alternatively, sometimes when a transaction is being processed, a delay may occur between when it’s removed from the pending state and when it’s posted to your account. Wait a few days, and the transaction will post to your account when it’s finished processing.

After a pending transaction is posted to your account, it may still show as pending on your transaction list for 5 to 7 business days. Following this period, the transaction is removed from the pending list and only the posted transaction remains. You won’t be charged twice.

If the duplicate transaction is not removed after 5 to 7 business days and it posts a second time to your credit card account, contact the merchant to resolve the issue. If your attempt to resolve the issue with the merchant is unsuccessful, you can initiate a digital dispute.

In some cases, merchants such as gas stations, hotels, car rental agencies and restaurants require a pre-authorized amount, so your transaction list may display more than one amount for the same transaction. Only the amount you actually pay will be posted, and the duplicate transaction will be removed.

Credits or refunds can take 5 to 7 business days to be processed and appear in your transaction summary. If you still haven’t received your credit or refund after 5 to 7 business days and you’ve attempted to resolve the issue with the merchant, you can initiate a digital dispute.

Some merchants are known by a different name from the one on file with the credit card network.

To request a refund, contact the merchant directly.

Some merchants, such as online retailers, charge for orders as they are shipped. If an order contains multiple items that are shipped separately, the merchant may process these items as separate charges.

If you recognize a transaction but have an issue with it, first attempt to resolve it with the merchant unless they are bankrupt or out of business. You can contact the merchant in person, by phone, by email or through their website. There may also be contact information on the merchant’s transaction receipt.

If your attempt is unsuccessful, or you haven’t received a response in 2 business days, you can initiate a digital dispute. Go to your transaction summary in online or mobile banking and select the transaction you have an issue with. Select Dispute this transaction and follow the prompts.

If you don’t recognize a transaction and you think it may be fraud, initiate a digital dispute. Go to your transaction summary in online or mobile banking and select the transaction you don’t recognize. Select Dispute this transaction and follow the prompts.

Note: For your protection, when you submit a fraud dispute, we cancel your card. We’ll send a new one to your mailing address on file within 10 business days, or 30 business days for remote areas.