Not exactly, there are a few main differences:
- Approval before the transaction and nothing afterwards VS defrosting the card before and freezing it after
- Other (fraudulent) transactions could go through in this short window of time - selecting rejected transaction to allow it next time would prevent that
- This approach will not work with automatic payments that could happen at any day and time (e.g. TfL’s Oyster auto top-up)
- White list could practically eliminate need for approvals depending on the use case - I can only speak for myself, but I have a bunch of online services which I use regularly and a couple of places where I go for lunch. That’s about 20-30 items on the white list that would completely eliminate the need for approving transactions for me, with the exception of when I am on holidays.