If nothing else, credit/debit – asset/liability should be taught right alongside standard math.
It’s what is used most often in the adult world and humans are woefully unprepared.
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Oh that’s different. I mean accounting credit / debit (double entry bookkeeping).
But yes, hotels, gas stations, restaurants do a weird thing where they place a “hold” on your credit. It stays “open” until the transaction is complete, which is usually long after the actual use of the card.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorization_hold
It’s awful and it catches AMERICANS off guard too.
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Unfortunately, unscrupulous business people sometimes take advantage of this “authorization hold” and will ADD charges you did not make.
So a bad hotel might claim you had room service you didn’t get. Or a bad gas station might charge you for gas you didn’t get.
Thankfully, US banks are very good at handling fraud and return your money within a week or so. But you have to NOTICE the fraud and tell the bank.
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Yeah, a lot of places don’t like cash. They want to hold your credit hostage until THEY are ready to release it.
It’s a bad system and should be illegal.
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