Mr Do has it right.
When they run your card at a restaurnat, it only asks the card company if you have the money to pay for it. That puts a hold onto your account. After you sign the copy a server will enter the total (with the tip) into the machine. Some time later, usually at the end of the night, the machine will batch process all the credit cards for the day and tell the credit companies how much the offical amount it. This usually takes a day or two to process on your account.
The hold usually lasts for a few days or until the official amount comes through. If you use your check card, sometimes the bank will put an extra 20% hold to account for tipping. I used to get calls about that every week when I managed a restaurant. People would tip in cash, so the total would not update until the transaction was completed. But the hold on their account would be 20% higher than the bill. I can't tell you how many times I was accused of stealing. I would tell them to call the bank if they didn't believe me and that it would all be clear in 2 or 3 days.
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