In Sweden's nearly cash-free economy, reserved amounts are a routine part of how payments move between bank accounts. Customers see a reserved amount ("reserverat belopp" in Swedish) in their banking apps, and businesses manage the gap between authorisation and settlement. That gap affects cash flow, reconciliation, reporting and customer trust, especially for businesses that rely on card payments.

Below, you'll learn when a reserved amount is triggered, how it's regulated in Sweden and how businesses can manage its impact with confidence.

What's in this article?

• What is a reserved amount in payment transactions?
  
• How do reserved amounts work in Swedish payment systems?
  
• What situations trigger reserved amounts for businesses in Sweden?
  
• How do reserved amounts affect accounting and finance?
  
• What rules govern reserved amounts in Sweden?
  
• How can Swedish businesses assess the impact of reserved amounts?
  
• How Stripe Terminal can help
  

What is a reserved amount in payment transactions?

A reserved amount is a temporary hold on a customer's funds while a payment is in progress. It's effectively the same as a preauthorisation charge. In Sweden, customers might see a reserved amount in their banking apps. The funds become locked, even though the transaction hasn't posted.

How do reserved amounts work in Swedish payment systems?

Reserved amounts are common in Sweden. A transaction can feel "done" to a customer even though the payment hasn't settled yet.

Here's how reserved amounts work in Swedish payments:

• The business's payment system asks the customer's bank to reserve a specific amount. These funds become unavailable to the customer.

• The bank sends a payment request to the business, which must accept the payment to release the reserved funds.

• The reserved amount is converted into a posted charge, and the funds are released.

What situations trigger reserved amounts for businesses in Sweden?

Reserved amounts can show up when the final price isn't known yet or when the business needs assurance before it delivers something of value.

Here are instances when reserved amounts are common:

• Fuel stations: Automated fuel pumps might reserve a specific amount before fuelling starts to ensure sufficient funds.

• Vehicle hire: Car rental companies might reserve a higher amount up front. For example, in Sweden, Hertz charges the total rental cost plus 2,000 Swedish kronor (SEK) on most car models.

• E-commerce orders with delayed fulfilment: For e-commerce, online businesses might authorise payment at checkout but capture it only when items ship, especially when inventory availability or final totals could change.

• Variable-price services: Businesses such as grocery delivery, catering and custom manufacturing might reserve an estimated amount that accounts for weight-based pricing, substitutions, or scope changes.

• Restaurants and bars: Bars and restaurants might place a small hold to open a tab or enable post-authorisation adjustments, then finalise the total when the tab is closed.

• Subscription trials: Digital services sometimes place an authorisation to confirm a card is valid before they start a trial or recurring billing relationship.

How do reserved amounts affect accounting and finance?

Reserved amounts feel like sales in progress, but they aren't money you can use yet. Here's how they affect accounting and finance:

• Cash flow timing: A reservation doesn't increase your cash balance until the payment is captured and settled, even though the customer's funds are locked.

• Forecasting risk: If you rely heavily on preauthorisations, it's easy to overestimate near-term cash inflows.

• Settlement mismatches: Your bank deposits will reflect only captured transactions, which explains why daily sales reports don't match payout totals unless authorisations and captures are tracked separately.

Businesses that capture promptly can reduce both cash flow uncertainty and accounting noise. The tighter the window between authorisation and capture is, the cleaner the financial picture becomes.

What rules govern reserved amounts in Sweden?

Reserved amounts are governed by a mix of Swedish central bank policy, EU regulation and card network rules that set expectations for holds.

Here are the rules regarding reserved amounts:

• Customer consent is required: Under Sweden's implementation of the EU's revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2), a reservation can be made only for the exact amount to which the customer has consented.

• Timely release of funds: Once a transaction is complete, the bank is expected to release the reserved funds without unnecessary delay.

• Amount discipline: Businesses can't capture more than the authorised amount without additional approval.

• Misuse penalties: Card processors monitor unused or repeatedly expired authorisations. Leaving holds open without settling or reversing them can result in fees and compliance issues.

How can Swedish businesses assess the impact of reserved amounts?

Reserved amounts work best when they're actively managed. These habits can dramatically help your business do so:

• Track authorisations separately: Ensure your payment tools clearly distinguish between authorised and captured transactions so pending holds don't get mistaken for completed sales.

• Capture as soon as the transaction is complete: Shortening the gap between authorisation and capture improves cash flow, reduces expiry risk and limits customer confusion.

• Use the provider's dashboards and alerts: Payment providers can show uncaptured payments and their expiry timelines. Assure that finance teams recognise revenue only once payments are captured.

• Set customer expectations: Clearly explain the holds so customers are less likely to contact support to ask why funds are temporarily unavailable.

• Limit hold size and duration: Reserve only the amount that's genuinely needed and release any excess immediately. Smaller, shorter holds protect customer satisfaction without increasing risk.

How Stripe Terminal can help

Stripe Terminal allows businesses to grow revenue with unified payments across in-person and online channels. It supports new ways to pay, simple hardware logistics, global coverage and hundreds of point-of-sale (POS) and commerce integrations to design your ideal payment stack.

Stripe powers unified commerce for brands such as Hertz, URBN, Lands' End, Shopify, Lightspeed and Mindbody.

Stripe Terminal can help you:

• Unify commerce: Manage online and in-person payments on a global platform with unified payment data.

• Expand globally: Scale to 24 countries with a single set of integrations and popular payment methods.

• Integrate your way: Develop your own custom POS app or connect with your existing tech stack using third-party POS and commerce integrations.

• Simplify hardware logistics: Easily order, manage and monitor Stripe-supported readers, wherever they are.

Learn more about Stripe Terminal or get started today.