Provisional credit.
In plain English
Provisional credit is money a bank temporarily puts back into your account while it investigates a transaction you disputed, such as an unauthorized charge or an error. It lets you use the funds during the review instead of waiting weeks with the money missing. Under Regulation E, which covers electronic transfers from your account, a bank generally must decide whether an error occurred within 10 business days. If it needs longer, it can take up to 45 calendar days to investigate, but only if it provisionally credits your account within those first 10 business days. If the bank later finds the charge was valid, it can take the provisional credit back.
01Why it matters
If fraud or an error drains your account, provisional credit can put the money back fast so you can still pay rent while the bank sorts out what happened.
02The math, step by step
Someone makes an unauthorized $400 debit-card charge and you report it. The bank cannot finish its review in 10 business days, so to keep investigating (up to 45 calendar days) it issues a $400 provisional credit, giving you the money during the review. If the bank confirms the fraud, the credit becomes permanent. If it finds you actually authorized the charge, it can reverse the credit.
03What this is NOT
Provisional credit is not a final refund. It is a temporary placeholder during the investigation. If the bank decides the transaction was valid, it can pull the credit back out of your account, so do not treat that money as settled until the dispute is resolved.
04Receipts
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Plain-English answers from our glossary. Receipts included. Never advice.
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