Authorisation holds on selected payment methods
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For some orders placed with IONOS, a partial amount of the invoice may be initially charged on your chosen payment method. This is just an authorisation hold, which can be confused with a double charge.
This article explains what an authorisation hold is, and helps to assure you that you are only ever charged once per invoice.
Note
You can find out which payment methods are available to you in the Help Centre article "Payment methods".
Authorisation hold during a purchase
In order to ensure the security and efficiency of the IONOS payment system, authorisation holds are used by some payment methods during a transaction. The authorisation hold amount is temporarily deducted from your available funds and cannot be used by you until payment for an invoice clears.
As soon as the invoice has been created and settled via your chosen payment method, this authorisation hold will be cancelled and returned back to you. You therefore onlypayonce.
Notes
There are no fees or additional costs for an authorisation hold. You only pay the invoice amount for your chosen product or service.
This is similar to a pre-authorisation hold that you may encounter when getting petrol for your car at the station.
Removing an authorisation hold for a trial contract
If you decide to cancel your order, or stop using it after a trial period, it may take up to 30 days for the authorisation hold to be released. This delay is because no invoice is issued by IONOS.
If necessary, please contact the customer service of your chosen payment method directly, as they may have the option of cancelling an authorisation hold early.
Pre-authorisation not possible
If the service provider of your payment method, e.g. your credit card company, refuses the authorisation hold, IONOS will not be able to process your order. In this case, please choose another payment method.