Mixed experience with FAB after failed payment made me rethink using it

[wilsonaaron]

I wanted to get some honest opinions here since this is a general discussion space and people share real experiences.

I have been using First Abu Dhabi Bank for a while now and things were mostly fine until recently. I tried to pay for a bike part online and the transaction failed, but the amount was still deducted for some time. It eventually came back, but during that period I had no clear idea what my actual balance was.
It made me wonder about the overall pros and cons of banking with FAB, especially when something goes wrong. The app showed one figure, SMS showed another, and it was not easy to get a quick confirmation.

For those who use FAB regularly, how do you deal with this kind of situation? How do you reliably check your balance when there is a mismatch like this? Do you just wait for it to settle or is there a better way to confirm it through support or ATM?

Trying to understand if this is just part of normal banking behavior or something specific to FAB before I rely on it more.

[loganpierce]

That sounds like a temporary authorization hold, which is fairly common, not just with First Abu Dhabi Bank. In these cases I usually check the “available balance” in the app or ATM rather than the ledger balance, and if it’s unclear, contacting support or waiting for settlement is often the only reliable option.