API Overview

Payments Developer Guide
- Recent Revisions to This Document
- VISA Platform Connect: Specifications and Conditions for Resellers/Partners

Introduction to Payments
- Financial Institutions and Payment Networks
- Card Types
- Transaction Types
- Payment Services
  - Authorization
    - Online Authorization
    - Offline Authorization
    - Incremental Authorization
      - Scenario for an Incremental Authorization
    - Pre-Authorization
    - Payment Network Token Authorization
    - Authorization Workflow
  - Sale
    - Dual-Message Processing
      - Partial Authorizations
    - Single-Message Processing
  - Authorization Reversal
  - Automatic Partial Authorization Reversal
  - Capture
    - Capture Workflow
  - Refund
    - Credit Workflow
  - Void
- Payment Features
  - Debit and Prepaid Card Payments
  - Interchange Optimization
  - Japanese Payment Options
  - Micropayments
  - Mastercard Bill Payments
  - Mastercard Expert Monitoring Solutions
  - Payer Authentication
  - Relaxed Requirements for Address Data and Expiration Date in Payment Transactions
  - Split Shipment
- Testing the Payment Services
  - Requirements for Testing
  - Test Card Numbers
  - Using Amounts to Simulate Errors
  - Test American Express Card Verification

Debit and Prepaid Card Processing
- Additional Resources for Debit and Prepaid Payments
- Processing Debit and Prepaid Authorizations
- Enabling Debit and Prepaid Partial Authorizations
- Disabling Debit and Prepaid Partial Authorizations

Japanese Payment Options Processing
- Authorize a Single Payment with Japanese Payment Options
- Authorize a Bonus Payment with Japanese Payment Options
- Authorize an Installment Payment with Japanese Payment Options
- Authorize a Revolving Payment with Japanese Payment Options
- Authorize a Combination Payment with Japanese Payment Options

Mastercard Processing
- Mastercard Bill Payment Processing
- Mastercard Expert Monitoring Solutions Processing

Payer Authentication Processing
- Additional Resources for Payer Authentication
- Providing Payer Authentication Information for Authorization
- American Express SafeKey
- JCB J/Secure
- Mastercard Identity Check
- Visa Secure

Relaxed Requirements for Address Data and Expiration Date in Payment Transactions

Split Shipments Processing
- Authorizing a Sale for a Product Not Yet Available
- Processing Two Authorizations and a Capture for Multiple Products
- Processing an Authorization and Two Captures for Multiple Products

On This Page

Pre-Authorizations

A pre-authorization enables you to authorize a payment when the final amount is unknown. The system places the funds on hold until you request a follow-up transaction. Pre-authorizations are typically used for lodging, auto rental, e-commerce, and restaurant transactions.

IMPORTANT

Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) rules in the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) require the initial pre-authorization to use strong customer authentication for merchants or customers in PSD2-applicable countries.

When you have a specific merchant category code (MCC) assigned to your account, you are allowed to capture up to 20% more than the cumulatively authorized amount on Visa, Diners, Discover, and JCB cards. Contact your account manager to have your account enabled for this option.

For a pre-authorization:

The authorization amount is greater than zero.

Submit the authorization for capture within 30 calendar days of its request.

When you do not capture the authorization, reverse it.

In the US, Canada, Latin America, and Asia Pacific, Mastercard charges an additional fee for a pre-authorization that is not captured and not reversed.

In Europe, Russia, Middle East, and Africa, Mastercard charges fees for all pre-authorizations.

Chargeback protection is in effect for 30 days after the authorization.

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