Occasionally, when you receive money from a client, business partner, or loved one, you might get a notification asking you to verify that transaction. During this period, your funds will be allocated to a pending balance. We’ve received a lot of questions concerning why this is a requirement for some transactions, especially deposits. 

That’s why in this post, we’ll be clarifying what a pending balance means, why certain transactions require verification, and how you can access your funds once they are in your pending balance. 

What is a pending balance?

A pending balance is a type of wallet designed to temporarily hold funds received from unverified transactions on Grey. Unfortunately, this means that you won’t be able to access the funds in this balance. However, you can see how much you’ll receive once you verify this transaction. 

The real reasons why your transactions are in a pending balance

With the rise in fraud cases and chargebacks, there are now new regulatory requirements from the governing bodies of financial institutions. In line with these requirements, we have to prioritize the safety and security of your financial transactions (both inflow and outflow).

So, if there’s an inconsistency between your account name and the payment details, we are required to verify that the transaction is, in fact, legitimate. This is a safety and precautionary measure to ensure that we;

• Verify that all funds received by our users are legitimate
• Protect you from any potential fraud case by verifying that your funds are legitimate
• Reduce the risk of any fraudulent activity that can harm you in the future. Some examples are money laundering, identity theft, and online scams.
• Provide safe services for everyone and serve as a deterrent against potential fraudsters.
• Are a responsible financial institution that’ll serve you for a long time.

How to verify a pending transaction on Grey

If you do get a prompt to verify your pending transaction, don’t worry. It’ll only take a few minutes. Here’s what you need to do; 

• Login to your Grey app
• Tap on the message asking you to verify a transaction.

• You will see the required deposit you need to verify, highlighted in yellow.

• Tap on it and then tap on 'verify the transaction.'

• Enter a clear purpose of the transaction. E.g., payment for a service, deposit from a family member, etc. Remember to be truthful here.
• Enter what your relationship with the sender is, e.g., employer, client, brother, sister, etc.

• Upload your supporting documents and submit them.

The supporting documents you’ll be required to upload will depend on where your money is coming from. Once you submit the verification form, your transaction will be reviewed within 24-72 working hours. 

If everything checks out, you’ll receive the funds in your available balance, where you can access your money.

What happens when I cannot verify my pending transaction?

If you do not have sufficient documents to prove that the transaction is legitimate, the funds will be reversed to the sender’s originating account. This can take anywhere between 7-10 working days. 

If the rare occasion that the sender doesn’t get the money, we’ll give you a refund telex so they can trace the status of the refund. 

The bottom line

At Grey, we take your financial security seriously, and this is why we’ve implemented several measures to ensure that you’re in the clear when it comes to any financial risks.

For more information on pending transactions, please visit our help center, and we’ll be happy to help out in any way we can.