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.
Payment Services

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.
Payment Services

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
.
Payment Services

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
.
Payment Services

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, also known as
follow-on credits
, 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
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.
Payment Services

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.
Payment Services