What Is a "Card Adjustment" on My Bank Statement?

A card adjustment is a small change to a previous card transaction — for example, when a tip is added after a restaurant visit, when a final fuel amount differs from the pre-auth, or when a price correction is applied.

Plain-English explanation

Card adjustments happen when the final charge differs from an initial authorization. Common examples: a restaurant adds a tip after you've signed the receipt, a hotel adjusts for incidentals, or a fuel station adjusts the pre-auth to match the actual fuel amount. Adjustments can be debits (adding to what you owe) or credits (reducing it).

Most common reasons this appears

• Tip added after a restaurant or service visit
• Hotel final bill adjustment after checkout
• Gas station final fuel amount settling differently from pre-auth
• Merchant price correction or rounding adjustment

How to verify this charge

• Find the original authorization in your transaction history.
• Match the adjustment amount to a receipt, tip, or incidental charge.
• Contact the merchant if the adjustment seems incorrect.

When to be concerned

• Adjustment much larger than expected (e.g., tip is double the meal price).
• Adjustment with no corresponding original transaction.
• Multiple unexplained adjustments from the same merchant.

Part of: Bank fees & transaction issues →