Handling Partial Authorizations
Partial Authorization occurs when a payment authorization is attempted for a transaction, and there are not enough funds available in the account to cover the total amount. Participating issuers return an auth response with approval for a portion of the original amount requested, enabling the remainder of the transaction amount to be paid by other means.
How it works
- The customer presents a prepaid card/ debit card to pay for the purchase i.e $100.
- The merchant sends out the authorization request, which includes the Partial Authorization indicator.
- When the card's balance ($75) is less than the purchase amount ($100), the issuer sends back an authorization response with a unique response code and the available balance as a partial amount approved.
- Merchant identifies the unique response code, subtracts the partially approved amount from the total transaction amount ($100 - $75), and requests another form of payment for the remaining ($25) using split-tender functionality.
- The customer pays the remaining purchase with another form of payment, depending upon the merchant's policies and device capabilities.
- The merchant completes the sale and prints a receipt showing each payment amount.
- The customer is satisfied with a seamless process.
Partial Authorization helps:
- Merchants realize more sales
- Reduce authorization declines
- Helps in increasing Authorization approvals
- The checkout process runs smoothly
Note
Please note that partial authorizations are only supported on the First Data North, First Data Omaha, and Elavon networks.
Updated 12 months ago
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