A charge on your credit card statement from “Blink” is almost always a fee from Blink Charging Co., one of the largest public electric vehicle charging networks in the United States. If the amount looks higher than what you expected to pay at the station, the usual explanation is a temporary authorization hold of up to $100 that your bank is showing as pending. It drops to the actual session cost once charging ends and the transaction settles, which can take up to seven days.
Why the Pending Amount Looks Too High
When you plug in at a Blink station, the system can place a temporary hold of up to $100 on your card before any electricity flows. The hold works like a deposit to guarantee payment. You’re only billed for the actual session cost once charging ends, but your bank may display the full $100 as pending in the meantime. That’s what makes an $8 charging session look like a $100 charge.
During the settlement window, you might see both the hold and the final settled amount on your account at the same time, which can look like double billing. It isn’t. If a week passes and the hold hasn’t dropped off, contact your bank rather than Blink. The release timing is controlled by your financial institution.
What the Charge Is Actually Paying For
Blink stations bill in one of three ways depending on the location. Some charge by the kilowatt-hour of electricity delivered, similar to a per-gallon price at a gas pump. Others charge by time, in intervals as short as thirty seconds or as long as an hour. A third group charges a flat rate for the entire session regardless of energy or time.
Extra line items can appear on top of the session cost. Blink has introduced a $0.49 per-session access fee at some locations, listed separately from the energy or time charge. Some stations also apply a non-refundable occupancy fee if your vehicle stays plugged in after the session finishes and a grace period passes. It’s designed to free up the charger for the next driver, and the amount depends on the station and how long the car sat there.
If you signed up for a Blink membership, a recurring subscription charge can also show up. Members pay lower per-session rates, which Blink estimates as 20 to 30 percent below guest pricing.
Why the Amount Doesn’t Match What Someone Else Paid
Two Blink stations a mile apart can charge very different rates because the property owner, not Blink, often sets the price. A shopping mall host might subsidize charging while an office building passes the full cost through. Blink’s terms give the host “sole authority” to determine session fees, including applicable taxes and regulatory surcharges.
Hardware and state rules add more variation. DC fast chargers cost more per session than Level 2 units. And not every state allows non-utility companies to sell electricity by the kilowatt-hour, so in some states Blink must bill by time or flat rate instead, which makes the final cost less predictable because your car’s charging speed affects how much energy you receive per dollar.
How to Verify the Charge
The Blink mobile app and online portal store a record of every session tied to your account. Each transaction includes a unique Transaction ID linking the charge to a specific session, along with a Station ID identifying the physical unit. The history log shows the date, session duration, kilowatt-hours delivered, and fees assessed.
Cross-referencing those details against your bank statement is the fastest way to confirm what a charge covers. The merchant name on your statement will typically be a variation of the Blink Charging company name. If you used a station as a guest without an account, you won’t have app records, but the date and amount on your card statement can still be compared against your memory of the session.
Deadlines You Need to Know
Blink imposes strict deadlines that most drivers don’t discover until it’s too late. Any fee you don’t contest within 30 days of the statement date becomes non-refundable if already paid, or automatically due if not yet paid. Beyond that, Blink has no obligation to review a billing error unless you notify the company within 60 days of the transaction date.
These deadlines run independently of your credit card company’s dispute window, so missing Blink’s 30-day cutoff doesn’t automatically end your options. But going through Blink first is faster and simpler than escalating to a bank dispute.
Disputing the Charge With Blink
Start through the support feature in the Blink mobile app or the contact page on blinkcharging.com. Have the Transaction ID, the Station ID, the date and duration of the session, and the kilowatt-hours delivered ready when you submit the request. Providing all of it up front prevents back-and-forth delays.
Blink generates a support ticket, and a billing team compares your data against the station’s technical logs. The review typically takes several business days. If Blink confirms an error, you should see a credit to your original payment method. If Blink maintains the charge was correct, you’ll get an itemized explanation of how the fees were calculated. Watch the email address tied to your Blink account for updates.
Disputing the Charge With Your Card Issuer
If Blink doesn’t resolve the issue or the charge is unauthorized, you can dispute it through your credit card issuer. Federal law caps your liability for unauthorized credit card charges at $50, and many issuers waive even that amount. To preserve your rights, send a written dispute to your card issuer’s billing inquiry address within 60 days of the statement date showing the error. Include your account number, a description of the problem, and copies of supporting documentation such as session receipts or correspondence with Blink.
Your card issuer must acknowledge the dispute in writing within 30 days and resolve it within 90 days. You can withhold payment on the disputed amount during the investigation without the issuer reporting you as delinquent or closing your account. If the issuer fails to follow the proper dispute procedure, it forfeits a portion of the disputed amount even if the charge turns out to be valid.
If Your Blink RFID Card Was Lost or Stolen
Blink’s network terms state that if anyone uses your RFID card or account code at a Blink station, you’ve agreed to pay the resulting fees regardless of whether you authorized the session. Blink’s privacy policy also states that the company “cannot be held responsible for your failure to keep your password or Blink Charging RFID Card secure.”
Report a lost or stolen card immediately to privacy@BlinkCharging.com. Blink doesn’t publish a specific fraud liability limit the way credit card companies do, so faster reporting means less exposure. Checking your session history on a regular basis, and removing stored payment methods from accounts you no longer use, will catch unauthorized activity sooner.