Payment Services
Various services are used to process
payments.
These services enable customers to purchase goods and services. They also enable merchants to
receive payments from customer accounts, to provide refunds, and to void transactions.
Authorizations
An authorization confirms that
a payment
card account holds enough funds to pay
for a purchase. Authorizations can be made online or offline.Sales
A sale is a bundled authorization and capture. Some processors and acquirers require a sale
transaction instead of using separate authorization and capture requests.
For other processors and acquirers, you
can
request a sale
instead of a separate authorization and capture when you provide the goods or services
immediately after taking an order.There are two types of sale processing: dual-message processing and single-message
processing.
Authorization Reversals
The authorization reversal service releases the hold that an authorization placed on a
customer’s payment card funds.
Each card-issuing financial institution has its own rules for deciding whether an
authorization reversal succeeds or fails. When a reversal fails, contact the card-issuing
financial institution to learn whether there is a different way to reverse the
authorization.
If your processor supports authorization reversal after void (ARAV),
you can reverse an authorization after you void the associated capture. If your processor does
not support ARAV, you can use the authorization reversal service only for an authorization
that has not been captured and settled.
An authorization reversal is a follow-on transaction that uses the request ID returned from
an authorization. The main purpose of a follow-on transaction is to link two transactions. The
request ID links the follow-on transaction to the original transaction. The authorization
request ID is used to look up the customer’s billing and account information in the
Cybersource
database. You are not required to include those fields in the full
authorization reversal request. The original transaction and follow-on transaction are linked
in the database and in the
Business Center
.For processors that support debit cards and prepaid cards, the full
authorization reversal service works for debit cards and prepaid cards in addition to credit
cards.
IMPORTANT
You cannot perform an authorization reversal if a transaction is in a
review state, which can occur if you use a fraud management service. You must reject the
transaction prior to authorization reversal. For more information, see the fraud management
documentation in
the
Business Center
.Automatic Partial Authorization Reversals
Automatic partial authorization reversals are supported for:
- Credit cards
- Debit cards and prepaid cards.
- Quasi-cash.
If the capture amount is less than the authorization amount,
Cybersource
automatically
performs a partial authorization reversal before it sends the capture request to the
processor. The results of a successful partial authorization reversal are:- The capture amount matches the new authorization amount at the payment card company.
- The hold on the unused credit card funds might be released. The issuing bank decides whether or not to release the hold on unused funds.Not all issuers act on a request for a partial authorization reversal. Therefore,Cybersourcecannot guarantee that the funds will be released.
Captures
A capture is a follow-on transaction to an authorization. It is used to transfer the
authorized funds from the customer's account to the merchant account. To link the
authorization transaction to the capture transaction, you include a request ID in your capture
request. This request ID is returned to you in the authorization response.
Captures are typically not performed in real time. They are placed in a batch file and sent
to the processor, and the processor settles all of the captures at one time. In most cases,
these batch files are sent and processed outside of the merchant's business hours. It usually
takes 2 to 4 days for the acquiring financial institution to deposit the funds into the
merchant account.
When fulfilling only part of a customer’s order, do not capture the full amount of the authorization. Capture only the cost of the delivered items. When you deliver the remaining items, request a new authorization, and then capture the new authorization.
IMPORTANT
It is not possible to perform a capture if a transaction is in a review state, which can
occur if you use a fraud management service. You must accept the transaction prior to capture.
For more information, see the fraud management documentation in
the
Business Center
.Credits
Credits are payment refunds from a merchant to the cardholder after a cardholder pays for a
product or service and that payment is captured by the merchant. When a credit request is
successful, the issuer transfers funds from the merchant bank (acquirer) account to the
customer's account. It typically takes 2 to 4 days for the acquirer to transfer funds from
your merchant account.
WARNING
You should carefully control access to the credit service. Do not request
this service directly from your customer interface. Instead, incorporate this service as part
of your customer service process. This process reduces the potential for fraudulent
transactions.
There are two basic types of credits:
refunds
and stand-alone credits.Refunds
Refunds
Refunds, also known as
, use the capture
request ID to link the refund to a specific transaction. This request ID is returned during
the capture request (also known as a follow-on credits
settlement
) and is used in all subsequent
refunds associated with the original capture. The request ID links the transaction to the
customer’s billing and account information, so you are not required to include those fields
in the credit request. However, when you combine a request for a refund with a request for
another service, such as the tax calculation service, you must provide the customer’s
billing and account information.Unless otherwise specified, refunds must be requested within 180 days of a settlement. You can request multiple refunds against a single capture. To perform multiple refunds, use the same request ID in each request.
Stand-Alone Credits
Stand-alone credits are not tied to an original transaction. Stand-alone credits do not
have a time restriction, and they can be used to issue refunds more than 180 days after a
transaction settlement.
Voids
A void cancels a capture or credit request that was submitted but not yet processed by the
processor.
Capture and credit requests are usually submitted once a day. A void request is declined when
the capture or credit request has already been sent to the processor.
After a void is processed, you cannot credit or capture the funds. You must perform a new
transaction to capture or credit the funds. Further, when you void a capture, a hold remains
on the authorized funds. If you are not going to re-capture the authorization,
and if your processor supports authorization reversal after void
(ARAV),
you should request an authorization reversal to release the hold on the unused
funds.A void uses the capture or credit request ID to link the transactions. The authorization
request ID is used to look up the customer’s billing and account information, so there is no
need to include those fields in the void request. You cannot perform a follow-on credit
against a capture that has been voided.