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.
Dual-Message Processing
Dual-message processing is a two-step process. The authorization is processed first. If the
authorization is successful, the capture is processed immediately afterward. The response
includes the authorization and the capture information. If the authorization is declined, the
capture is not processed, and the response message includes only the authorization
information.
Single-Message Processing
Single-message processing treats the authorization and capture as a single transaction. There
are important differences between dual-message processing and single-message processing:
- Single-message processing treats the request as a full-financial transaction, and with a successful transaction, funds are immediately transferred from the customer account to the merchant account.
- Authorization and capture amounts must be the same.
- Some features cannot be used with single-message processing.