Pre-Authorisations Overview
Pre-authorisations let you reserve an amount on a customer’s card and complete the charge later. The card issuer sets the amount aside, but it is not transferred to the business.
They are designed for businesses that need to confirm an order or provide a service before collecting payment.
Where Are Pre-Auths Used?
Pre-authorisations are commonly used in industries where:
- Services are provided before the actual charge.
- A security deposit or fallback guarantee is required.
Examples:
| Industry | Use Case |
|---|---|
| Hospitality | Hold funds at hotel check-in to cover room charges or incidentals |
| Car Rentals | Reserve funds for potential damages or extended use |
| Taxis / Rideshare | Hold an estimated fare before the ride is completed |
| Delivery / Logistics | Reserve the amount prior to final confirmation |
Supported features
| Feature | Availability |
|---|---|
| Online card pre-authorisation | ✔️ Yes |
| Split Payments | ✔️ Yes |
| Installments | ✔️ Yes |
| POS Payments | ❌ Not yet supported |
| Partial capture | ❌ Not yet supported |
| Automatic expiry | ✔️ Yes |
| Extended authorisation | Available for eligible merchant categories (MCCs) |
| Cancelation | ✔️ Yes |
Key capabilities
- Reserve funds before charging: Separate authorisation from the final charge.
- Control when to capture: Complete the payment once you can fulfil the order or provide the service, within the capture window.
- Automatic expiry: Uncaptured holds expire without merchant intervention.
- Cancel before capture: Cancel the full pre-authorisation through the refund API if you no longer need to collect payment. EveryPay requests release of the reserved funds through the payment gateway.
How it works
1. Reserve the amount
Create a pre-authorisation for the amount you intend to charge.
The customer may see a pending transaction. The reserved amount affects their available funds, but no funds are transferred to you.
2. Complete the charge
Capture the payment within ~7 days. The captured amount must equal the amount originally authorised.
For example, a €150 pre-authorisation must be captured for €150. You cannot capture €140 or €160 against that authorisation.
Alternatively, cancel the pre-authorisation
If you no longer intend to complete the charge, submit a refund request while the payment is still Pre Authorized and before it expires.
EveryPay automatically processes the request as an authorisation cancellation. You must cancel the full authorised amount; partial cancellation is not supported.
After successful cancellation, the payment status becomes Canceled. No funds are deducted from your merchant balance to return the authorised amount, because the payment was never captured. The issuing bank determines when the reserved funds become available to the customer.
3. Uncaptured pre-authorisations expire
If you do not capture or cancel the payment within the permitted window, EveryPay automatically changes its status to Expired.
Capture window and hold release
The capture deadline and the release of the customer’s funds are separate.
| Timing | What it means |
|---|---|
| Capture window | Complete the charge within ~7 days. |
| Hold release | Release timing depends on the card scheme and issuing bank and can take up to 30 days. |
A hold that remains visible on the customer’s account does not extend the capture window.
Explain the temporary hold before requesting authorisation, and avoid promising an immediate release if the payment is not captured.
Extended authorisation
Extended authorisation may support a longer hold for certain merchant category codes (MCCs). Eligibility depends on the merchant category and must be confirmed with EveryPay.
Integrating pre-authorisations
Use the Payments API to create, retrieve, and capture pre-authorised payments.
Continue to the API Integration Guide for the implementation flow, payment tracking, and error handling.