Merchants can capture the full authorized amount, a partial amount, or let an authorization expire. Aligning capture with fulfillment is a simple way to reduce chargebacks.
Payment capture is the second half of a card payment. Authorization checks that the card is valid and reserves the funds; capture tells the processor to actually collect them. Until a payment is captured, the customer sees only a pending hold.
Many businesses use auth-and-capture in one step (a sale), which authorizes and captures together. Others authorize at checkout and capture later, when the order ships or the service is delivered. Authorizations expire after a set period, so a delayed capture has to happen before the hold runs out.
Common questions
- What does payment capture mean?
- It means collecting the money from an approved authorization. Capture moves the transaction from a pending hold to a charge that will be settled and paid out to the merchant.
- What is the difference between authorization and capture?
- Authorization confirms the card can cover the amount and places a hold on the funds. Capture collects those funds. They can happen together in a single sale or separately, with capture after fulfillment.
- What happens if a payment is never captured?
- The authorization expires and the hold on the customer's card is released, so no money is collected. How long a hold lasts depends on the card network and the type of transaction.