Card Transactions Authorisation

Authorisation and Capture: are the two main stages in the processing of a card payment over the Internet.

Authorisation: is the process of checking the customer’s credit or debit card. The card issuer will respond to the authorisation request with one of three answers:

1. Accepted – sale can go ahead.
2. Rejected – card cannot be used for this transaction.
3. Invalid Data – there is some problem with the details provided and these should be checked again with the customer.

If the request is accepted the customer’s card limit is reduced temporarily by the amount of the transaction. This can be done manually or automatically.

Capture: is when the card is actually debited. This may take place simultaneously with the authorisation request if the retailer can guarantee a specific delivery time. Otherwise the capture will happen when the goods are shipped. Again there are both manual and automatic options available to the retailer.