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  • What is the difference between Authorize and Sale (or Charge) commands?

What is the difference between Authorize and Sale (or Charge) commands?

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Authorization

The Authorize transaction "freezes" the funds in the cardholder's account for a limited period of time. This period of time lasts between 2-30 days, depending on the cardholder's issuing institution.

Successful authorization does not mean a transfer of funds will take place.

For a transfer of funds to take place, the transaction also has to be "committed" or "captured". This will finalize the transfer of funds and ensure the merchant will receive the funds.

Sale (or Charge)

The Sale transaction, on the other hand, is "Authorize" and "Commit" (or "Capture") transactions performed together. This allows the merchant to request in a single command that the funds be transferred to the merchant account, with no further action necessary on the merchant's part.

Which authorization flow is right for my business?

Two different authorization flows are available via the ZOOZ:

  1. Authorize + Commit (Capture)
  2. Sale (Charge)

Authorize + Commit (Capture) authorization flow

Performing the Authorize and Commit calls separately is recommended for physical goods purchases, and for purchases where it is uncertain that the requested goods or services can be provided. For instance:

  • Cardholder adds blue T-Shirt to cart
  • Cardholder checks out and pays
  • The merchant submits AuthorizePayment API call to ZOOZ (in PaymentsOS: Create Authorization)
  • Merchant checks whether blue T-Shirt is in stock and can be supplied
  • If blue T-Shirt can be supplied, the merchant submits commitPayment API call to ZOOZ and ships order (in PaymentsOS: Create Capture)
  • If blue T-Shirt is out of stock, merchant cancels the payment

Sale authorization flow

The Sale (Charge) call is recommended for cases where the merchant is certain the goods or services purchased can be immediately supplied. For instance:

  • Cardholder adds digital magazine subscription to cart
  • Cardholder checks out and pays
  • Merchant knows digital magazine subscription can be supplied, so merchant submits Sale API call (in PaymentsOS: Charge)

More information

For more information regarding these API calls and their implementation, check out the latest version of the documentation click here.

 

 

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