Xbox won't let me pay with my account balance for a pre-order; defaults to credit card

When you pay with a credit card, it won't charge you until it's within 10 days of release. So you just need to make sure you have enough funds before they charge you then or the pre-order will be cancelled. Funds are only taken immediately if you pre-order
with your Microsoft account balance.

In responce to Vernierslake, I was trying to use a prepaid mastercard to pay off my balance. Not a pre paid membership card. I have since called microsoft in order to address the issue, And was told I have to use a Credit card to pay off my balance, not
a pre paid. Thanks for the help.

You either have the card linked to actively renew other Microsoft services, currently have an item on pre-order, or you still have an outstanding balance that you must pay off.

You can verify all of your active subscriptions here:
https://account.microsoft.com/services

If you have something on pre-order, you will want to cancel that pre-order first in order to remove your card. If you have an outstanding balance to pay, you must pay it off before you can remove your card. If you are unable to use your credit card to pay
the balance, you have the option of adding another payment method to your account and use that to pay off the balance. Once the balance is paid off, you should then be able to remove your credit card.

If you need more assistance, contact Xbox Support by
choosing phone or chat. The customer reps over phone or chat will have access to your account records and help you out.

At the time you made the pre order as you split the payment no charge would have been taken, they charge 10 days before release. Maybe you spent some of your account balance after you made the pre order and now they charged extra to make up for that shortfall
between your account balance and the cost of the game.

When will I be billed for my game?

If you used account credit only to pre-order your game, your balance will be taken immediately. If you used a credit card, or split your payment between credit card and account balance, you will be charged around 10 days before the game launches.

If your account balance is lower than the amount you authorized for pre-order billing, the remainder will be taken from your credit card. You’ll receive an email to your billing account confirming that the remaining card payment was collected successfully,
and the game will be available for you to play on the day it launches.

The original email receipt you received would have been based on your account balance at that time of pre ordering. The new email will be based on your account balance at the time they charged for the pre order.

Hopefully that makes sense.

Hi, sadly you may need to make the order again. Generally payments for pre orders are taken about 10 days before release date unless you pay using your Microsoft account balance in which case the payment is taken right away.

https://support.xbox.com/games/purchasing/pre-order-faq

When will I be billed for my game?

If you used account credit only to pre-order your game, your balance will be taken immediately. If you used a credit card, or split your payment between credit card and account balance, you will be charged around 10 days before the game launches.

If your account balance is lower than the amount you authorized for pre-order billing, the remainder will be taken from your credit card. You’ll receive an email to your billing account confirming that the remaining card payment was collected successfully,
and the game will be available for you to play on the day it launches.

I got a message saying that there are problems authorizing my payment for my pre-order. What should I do?

We tried to collect a payment which was unsuccessful. If you don’t want to lose your pre-order or any incentives, follow the steps in the message you received, or the steps below:

1. Sign into your account at account.microsoft.com/orders.
2. Within your order history, find the pre-ordered game and select Change how you pay.
3. On the Pick another way to pay screen, you can either choose a different payment method, or add a new one.

If you don’t have another way to pay, we’ll try to collect payment from your payment method again before the game launches. Your pre-order will be cancelled if this is unsuccessful.

I don't know if you're in the position to purchase enough pre paid account balance to add to your account and then pre order the game again maybe ?