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Car rentals · WooCommerce + Stripe

Different vehicles. Different security deposits. Held instead of charged upfront.

SecureHold adds Stripe security deposit holds to WooCommerce car rental orders, so you can charge the rental normally and pre-authorize the vehicle deposit separately. Set different deposit rules for different vehicles, create the hold closer to pickup, then release or capture from the WooCommerce order.

Install the free plugin See the 2-minute demo
Free plugin on WordPress.org Works with the WooCommerce Stripe Gateway Version 3.4.6
Fleet, illustrative deposit rules #5187
City car€300
SUV€500
Van€700
3-day rental, City car Aug 20 – Aug 23
Rental payment
Charged normally at checkout
€270
charged
Security deposit
Pre-authorized separately, closer to pickup
€500
pre-authorized
Booked
June 1
Hold created
Aug 19
Pickup
Aug 20
Return
Aug 23
Booked June 1. The hold is created August 19, close to pickup, not at booking. Illustrative deposit rules, not recommendations.

In one paragraph

What is a car rental security deposit hold?

A car rental security deposit hold is a temporary card authorization used separately from the rental payment. SecureHold adds this workflow to WooCommerce car rental orders through Stripe, so the vehicle deposit can be reserved on the card without being completed as a payment upfront.

The hold still reduces the customer's available credit or available funds while it remains active.

Before you go further

Does this fit your rental model?

Good fit

  • WooCommerce-based bookings
  • Short rentals
  • Small or independent fleets
  • Contactless or delivery workflows
  • Online security deposit collection
  • Different deposit amounts by vehicle
  • Hold created close to pickup

Not the right fit

  • Counter-only, card-present workflows
  • Long-term rentals
  • Campervan or motorhome rentals with long durations
  • Businesses requiring full fleet management
  • Businesses expecting licence or driver identity verification
  • OTA or booking flows that never enter WooCommerce
  • Businesses needing a full rental management system

Three different things

Security deposit, excess and CDW are not the same thing

Security deposit

A refundable amount reserved as financial security for the rental.

What SecureHold handles

Excess / deductible

The amount defined by the rental agreement that may remain payable under certain damage or insurance conditions. SecureHold does not determine it.

CDW / damage waiver

A contractual product or waiver that can change the renter's liability according to its terms. SecureHold does not provide insurance or coverage.

SecureHold manages the technical card hold. It does not determine insurance coverage, liability, damage entitlement or the terms of the rental agreement.

Two different workflows

At the counter or online? These are different workflows.

Traditional rental counter

  • Physical card
  • Driver present
  • Licence checked
  • Contract signed
  • Deposit authorized at pickup
  • Often a card-present terminal workflow

SecureHold

  • WooCommerce order
  • Online Stripe payment method
  • Card-not-present workflow
  • Deposit created from the WooCommerce order
  • Better suited to contactless or digitally managed rentals

SecureHold does not replace a card-present rental counter workflow. It is designed for WooCommerce-based online deposit holds.

The booking calendar

The booking can happen months ahead. The deposit hold shouldn't.

A rental booked in June for a pickup in August leaves months between the order and the moment the hold actually needs to be active. A hold created at booking would expire long before pickup. The authorization window starts when the hold is created.

Weeks or months of waiting
Hold placed here: close to pickup and through the rental
June 1
Booked
Aug 19
Hold created
Aug 20
Pickup
Aug 23
Return

The hold covers the short period around pickup and return, not the whole booking period. Amounts and dates are illustrative.

The main commercial argument

One fleet. Different vehicles. Different deposit rules.

Illustrative deposit City car €300
Illustrative deposit SUV €500
Illustrative deposit Van €700
Pro: product / category rule example
City car€300 hold
SUV€500 hold
Van€700 hold

With SecureHold Pro, product and category rules can assign different security deposit amounts to different vehicles or vehicle groups.

Compare Free and Pro

Booking to return

How a short car rental runs with SecureHold

  1. 01

    Booking

    Customer books through WooCommerce.

  2. 02

    Rental payment

    The rental fee is handled through the normal WooCommerce checkout.

  3. 03

    Hold creation

    The security deposit hold is created close to pickup.

  4. 04

    Pickup

    The vehicle is handed over according to the rental company's normal process.

  5. 05

    Rental

    The hold remains active during the short rental.

  6. 06

    Return & inspection

    The vehicle returns and the merchant performs their normal inspection.

  7. 07

    Release or capture

    Release if no capture is needed.
    Capture up to the authorized amount where justified under the rental agreement.
WooCommerce · Orders · #5187 · SecureHold deposit
SecureHold deposit panel on a short WooCommerce car rental order: status Authorized, amount, and the Capture and Release actions.

The SecureHold panel on a WooCommerce car rental order, showing hold status, amount, and the Capture and Release actions. Demonstration data only.

Install the free plugin

Rental length

Best suited to short rentals that fit inside the authorization window

1 day Strong fit
2–3 days Strong fit
4–5 days Limited margin
6+ days Increasingly unsuitable for a single standard hold

Authorization windows vary by card network and transaction type. A hold created later in an off-session workflow may have a shorter available window than a hold created while the customer is actively present online.

Free and Pro

Free handles the hold. Pro adapts it to your fleet.

Use Free when a single deposit rule and manual timing are enough. Use Pro when different vehicles need different deposit rules, or hold timing needs to follow your booking workflow.

Free WordPress.org

Everything needed to run a security deposit hold on a short car rental order.

  • Stripe security deposit holds
  • Manual hold creation
  • Full or partial capture
  • One-click release
  • Automatic release
  • Deposit tracking
  • My Deposits customer view
  • Checkout deposit message
  • Customer and admin notifications
  • Stripe test mode
  • HPOS ready
Pro For fleets

For a fleet, the main Pro argument is deposit segmentation. Different deposits for different vehicles, and the hold created at the right stage of the rental workflow.

  • Product-level deposit rules
  • Category-level deposit rules
  • By-Status hold creation
  • Scheduled hold creation
  • Delayed hold creation
  • Rule simulator
  • Logs and diagnostics
  • Email branding
Compare Free and Pro

FAQ

Car rental security deposit questions

No. The rental payment and the security deposit are separate operations. The rental is charged normally through your WooCommerce checkout. The security deposit is a Stripe pre-authorization. A card hold still reduces the customer's available credit or available funds while it is active. The difference is that it is not completed as a payment that later needs to be refunded.

No. A physical rental counter typically authorizes the deposit on a card-present terminal, with the driver and vehicle present. SecureHold is designed for online, card-not-present workflows, creating and managing the hold from the WooCommerce order. It does not provide a card-present terminal workflow.

Closer to pickup, within an authorization window that comfortably covers the rental and the return process. A hold created too far ahead of pickup can expire before the vehicle is even collected.

Yes, with SecureHold Pro. Product and category rules can assign different security deposit amounts to different vehicles or vehicle groups, so a city car, an SUV and a van can each carry their own deposit rule.

Manual hold creation is available in the free plugin. Scheduled, By-Status and Delayed timing strategies, which can create the hold automatically ahead of pickup, are part of SecureHold Pro. These strategies read data available on the WooCommerce order, so compatibility with a specific booking setup should be tested in Stripe Test Mode before going live.

Authorization windows vary by card network and transaction context, so there is no single duration we can promise. SecureHold cannot extend a network-defined window, so the hold needs to be created close enough to pickup to remain active through the rental and return.

Extending a rental after the hold was created can push the return date past the authorization window, since the window is fixed once the hold is created. SecureHold does not automatically extend an existing hold, so a longer rental may need a different timing strategy, tested in advance.

Yes. SecureHold supports partial capture up to the authorized amount, and the remaining amount is released. This is useful for cases like a fuel shortfall, a missing accessory, or a late return, but whether a specific charge is justified depends on your rental agreement and the rules that apply to your business.

A standard authorization hold is not suitable for charges that may arrive weeks after the rental, such as later-reported fines or tolls.

No. SecureHold manages the technical card hold for the security deposit. It does not determine insurance coverage, an excess or deductible amount, or the terms of a damage waiver.

SecureHold manages the deposit from the WooCommerce order. Vehicle rental plugins store dates, statuses and booking information differently, so compatibility with a specific setup must be tested in Stripe Test Mode before production. See how Stripe security deposits work for the underlying mechanism.
Stripe test mode

Test the full car rental workflow before you use it with a real vehicle

Use Stripe Test Mode to simulate the whole sequence on your own store, on a short car rental order, before anything reaches a real customer.

  1. 01Create a WooCommerce rental order
  2. 02Choose or create the correct deposit rule
  3. 03Create the hold close to pickup
  4. 04See the hold appear
  5. 05Test a release
  6. 06Test a partial capture
  7. 07Confirm the timing fits the rental duration
Install the free plugin Read the setup guide

Free plan available Stripe test mode included Support

SecureHold WP is an independent WooCommerce extension that uses the Stripe API. Not affiliated with, certified by or endorsed by Stripe, Inc. or Automattic Inc. Authorization windows are defined by the card networks and payment method, not by SecureHold. A card hold reduces the customer's available credit or available funds while it is active. SecureHold does not provide insurance, determine excess or CDW liability, manage rental contracts or driver verification, or replace a rental management system or a card-present counter terminal. Whether you may capture a charge for damage or a policy violation depends on your rental agreement and the rules that apply to your business. All amounts on this page are illustrative and are not recommendations.