Releasing vs. capturing a deposit hold

Release gives an authorized deposit hold back; capture keeps it as a charge. You decide when you finish the rental, or later from the open deposit banner.

A deposit hold is money set aside on a customer's card as a security deposit. It is not charged yet. Release gives the hold back with nothing taken. Capture turns some or all of it into a real charge, which you would do after damage or another problem. Finishing a rental never releases or captures a deposit on its own. You choose.

Where to find it

While finishing the rental: the Deposit step of the return checkout. See Finishing a rental.
After the rental is finished: Bookings → open the booking. If a deposit is still open, an amber banner reads "This rental is finished, but $250.00 of the customer's security deposit is still being held on their card."

How it works

At Finish — the Deposit step offers Capture from deposit (you enter the amount), Release the full deposit, or Keep the hold open to decide later. Finish stays blocked until you choose.
On the banner — each card hold on the booking has a Release the deposit button, and an amount box with a Capture from deposit button. Each one asks you to confirm ("Release this deposit?" or "Capture from this deposit?"). Leave the amount box blank to take the whole hold, or enter less to take part and release the rest. A capture cannot be undone.
Cash or other deposits — the banner points you to the Payments & Documents tab to keep or return them, rather than showing the buttons itself.
Release cancels the authorization. The customer's bank lets go of the hold. This is not a refund, because no money was ever taken.
Capture turns the held amount into a charge.

A deposit that was never placed on the card

Sometimes a card deposit was only scheduled for a later date, or the attempt failed, so nothing is actually held. Renta calls this out in plain words:

The Deposit step labels it Scheduled — not on the card yet and Capture from deposit is greyed out. If the customer has a card on file you can press Place hold now first. See Finishing a rental.
On a finished booking, a grey note says "A $X deposit was scheduled but never placed on the customer's card. Nothing is held. It will be cancelled automatically."
A deposit that is waiting for the customer to approve it with their bank is not cancelled automatically. The note tells you to cancel it from Payments & Documents if it is no longer needed.

Automatic release

Renta checks for holds due to be released every 15 minutes. For bookings you create yourself at the desk, the default is to release 7 days after the return date, and you can change that on the booking. Other bookings can follow the release timing set on the fleet item.

Example

A customer returns a jet ski with no issues. At Finish you pick Release the full deposit and the $250 hold on their card disappears within a few business days, depending on their bank. If there is a cracked hull, you pick Capture from deposit, enter $180, and the other $70 goes back to the card.

Good to know

A deposit hold is not a refund. A refund gives back money that was already charged. See Refunding or cancelling a booking.
If you find damage later, capture the hold before its scheduled release date. Once it releases, that money is back with the customer.
While a card hold is being re-authorized ("On the card (renewing)"), nothing can be captured for a moment. Try again shortly.