Transaction types

When processing payments with the Clover REST Pay API, merchants can execute three core transaction types—Sale, Auth, and Pre-auth. Each transaction type caters to specific merchant workflows, ranging from immediate retail checkouts to full-service restaurant tipping and hospitality authorization holds.

Sale

Transaction where the purchase amount is authorized and settled at the same time. Adding a tip amount is permitted only before the transaction is authorized and settled. If a sale is not voided within 25 minutes, the merchant funding process begins for this sale. At this point, the merchant can still refund the customer.

Businesses where sale transactions occur include:

• Quick service restaurants, where customers select a tip amount before completing the transaction with a payment.
• Retail stores, where tips are not expected.

Auth

Transaction in which the purchase amount is authorized, and then tip-adjusted even after the transaction is authorized. Tip adjustment does not require the customer's payment method—physical card or digital wallet—to interact with the Clover device for a second time.

The merchant funding process for the day begins at closeout when the auth, or batch of auth transactions, is settled. Before an auth is settled, there is no limit to the number of times a merchant can adjust the tip amount on a Clover device.

An example of a business where auth transactions occur is a full-service restaurant. Customers can use a credit card to authorize an initial value, and then add a tip amount to the receipt after the card is charged.

Closeout to finalize auth transactions

Closeout is the process of finalizing a batch of auth transactions, including tips, or captured pre-auth transactions, and then starting the merchant funding process. During the boarding process, Clover merchants are set up for automatic or manual closeout, depending on the merchant's region.

Pre-auth (US only)

Transaction in which a temporary hold is placed on cardholder funds without charging the card until a capture request is sent. Once the merchant captures a pre-auth amount, the transaction further continues as an auth transaction and is governed by the same auth transaction rules.

Businesses where pre-auth transactions occur include:

• Hotels, where a hold is placed on a customer credit card during check-in and may be adjusted at checkout for incidental damages and in-room charges.
• Car rental agencies, where a hold is placed on a customer credit card at vehicle hand-off and may be adjusted for incidental damages, late return of the vehicle, or failing to refuel.

Capture pre-auth amounts

Merchants must capture pre-auth amounts for funds to be transferred to their accounts. There are two important cases for capturing pre-auth amounts:

• Capture a part of the pre-auth amount—When a merchant captures a part of the pre-auth amount, the remaining amount is credited back to the customer account. Example: For a $300 pre-auth transaction, if a merchant captures $180, the remaining $120 is credited back to the customer account.
• Capture more than the pre-auth amount—When a merchant captures a pre-auth amount that is greater than the original amount, funds are not guaranteed due to possible insufficient funds in the customer account.
• Capture more than 20% of the original amount—Additionally, if a merchant captures pre-auth amounts more than 20% of the original amount, funds are not guaranteed subject to the rules set by card schemes, such as Mastercard and Visa, and electronic payment associations.

Pre-auth transaction time limits

Card networks limit the time during which a pre-auth can be captured.

• If a customer uses a debit card for a pre-auth transaction, the transaction may become invalid if it is not captured between 1–8 business days, depending on the specific card network's policy. Specific merchants, such as car rental agencies, should avoid accepting debit cards since the pre-auth hold can expire before the transaction is captured and settled.
• If a customer uses a credit card, the transaction may be held for as long as 30 days, depending on the card network's policy.

Partial payments (US and Canada)

A transaction request may return a partial payment when the customer’s card has insufficient funds to complete the transaction. The POS must examine the payment response and confirm if an issues.partialPayment object was returned. If a partial payment occurred, the POS must notify the merchant, and then provide either or both of the following options:

• Accept the partial payment and start a second transaction to pay the remaining balance with a different card or other form of payment.
• Void the original transaction and allow the customer to pay for the whole order with a different card or other form of payment.

Request and response parameter reference