Please note: Protecting the funds on the Prepaid Card is your responsibility. UpTogether cannot replace any money spent while a physical or virtual card is lost or stolen. Unauthorized charges will have to be disputed directly with the vendor.
In some instances, there will be cases where a card user may accidentally spend over their spending limit, resulting in a negative balance.
This can happen when businesses — most often restaurants, gas stations, airlines, some grocery stores, and others — don't charge the full amount at the time of purchase. This results in a pending charge that will be processed at a later time and is not immediately reflected in your current balance.
For example:
- Let's say a cardholder has a remaining balance of $3 on their card. When they then go to put gas in their car, the gas station puts a hold of only $1 on their account.
- The card user fills up their tank, for a total equaling $50, and goes on their way.
- However, the transaction is still pending. Once the charge is processed, the initial $1 hold will be included in the final $50 total and the card balance will now be -$47.
- In other words, the card user has spent $47 more than the $3 balance on the card, resulting in a negative balance ($3 minus $50 equals -$47).
There is no way to tell when a business may place a hold or charge the full amount at the time of purchase. Most businesses will immediately reject charges that are more than the amount available on the card.
We are aware it is possible to have a negative balance in these cases, and unfortunately it is beyond our control. We recommend keeping track of your card balance manually to avoid this situation.
If I have a negative balance, do I have to pay the money back?
If you receive future UpTogether funds, any money previously spent on a negative balance will be automatically deducted.