A pre-authentication is never an payment. It is merely an acknowledgement to the merchant that the account have sufficient funds and it was successful to claim a reservation for amount xxx.
It is the job of the merchant to capture (settle) the exact amounts. Each authorization also carries an expire date, when the authorization expires, the uncaptured amount is given back to the account holder. Most creditcard companies provide means to extend an authorization.
For creditcard payment integrators it is a good rule of thumb to assume the authorization is only valid for 7 days. Most merchants capture these amounts when the ordered items are invoiced or shipped. Most merchants use a payment provider like Adyen, Bibit, Ogone or WorldPay to name a few. Not all providers provide an option to extend the creditcard authorization..
Normal bank account cards also have an authorization option. This feature is mostly used bu unattended gas stations when you enter you pincode before you gas up your car. Most gas station place an reservation of 100 euro on your account and when your finished, the actual amount is captured and the rest is 'returned' to the account. Some hotels also use this feature, mostly to make sure you can pay the bill when you leave. Most resorts give you an discount when they are allowed to reserve an amount on your card..
