The Authorise / Charge thing has been around for a long time - it's the same thing that hotels do when you check in. I'm reasonably sure that all terminals h

The Authorise / Charge thing has been around for a long time - it's the same thing that hotels do when you check in. I'm reasonably sure that all terminals have the feature. It does, however, require that the machine operator is aware of how to do those operations - it's probably easier for them to just charge the card for the set amount, and refund in cash. Though this slightly increases their risk, as any chargebacks means not only do they lose the product, but the cash too.