What is Delayed capture?

Authorising a card at order time and capturing funds later (up to seven days for Visa, 30 days for travel/rental), keeping the auth hold on the cardholder's line.

Delayed capture is a two-stage transaction process where a merchant first submits an authorisation request to the acquirer, which is then forwarded to the card issuer for approval, reserving the funds on the cardholder's account.

This initial authorisation creates an authorisation hold (auth hold) using an authorisation request message (0100) and receives an authorisation response (0110) with an approval code.

The second stage involves the merchant submitting a separate financial presentment (capture) message (0120) to the acquirer at a later time, which debits the cardholder's account and credits the merchant's account.

The timeframe between authorisation and capture is typically up to seven calendar days for most Visa transactions, extending to 30 calendar days for specific merchant categories like car rentals or lodging, provided the original authorisation is still valid.

For merchants, delayed capture is particularly useful in scenarios where the final transaction amount may vary or goods are not immediately shipped, such as pre-orders, customisations, or services rendered over time.

A common operational challenge arises if the capture occurs outside the scheme-mandated timeframe, or if the captured amount exceeds the originally authorised amount, which can lead to a 'force capture' or a 'partial capture' scenario respectively,

often incurring higher interchange fees or resulting in a declined transaction.

One specific mistake is failing to capture the funds within the authorised window, which causes the auth hold to expire, requiring a new authorisation or risking the inability to collect payment for the fulfilled order.