Preauthorization

Preauthorization is a temporary blocking of funds on the account of the payment cardholder. It can be used, for example, for reserving goods and services or in situations where the final transaction amount is not known in advance.

Pre-authorization can be carried out in two ways:

1. Via API

2. Manually in the Client Portal

Preauthorization from the Payer's Perspective

From the customer's point of view, it is a standard card payment through a payment gateway. Upon completion, the amount is blocked but not immediately debited.

Preauthorization from the Merchant's Perspective

The merchant immediately receives information about the funds being blocked. The minimum guaranteed period of blocking by banks is 7 days (Comgate has no influence on this period). In some cases, it can be even longer – the length of the blocking period depends on the bank that issued the card used and the type of card (debit/credit).

The block can be completed or canceled based on the e-shop's instructions.

It is possible to finalize the pre-authorization for the full amount or for a lower amount than what was initially blocked.

Preauthorization via API

Information on how to perform pre-authorization on the payment gateway can be found in the API documentation.

Manual Preauthorization in the Client Portal

For manual preauthorization, no modifications to the e-shop integration are required. You can manually initiate the preauthorization in the Client Portal as follows:

1. Create the Payment: In the Client Portal, create a payment for your customer for the amount you want to pre-authorize (block) on their account.

   1. Go to the Payment Link Section: In the Client Portal, navigate to the Payments → Payment Link section. Fill in the payment details and select the Pre-authorization Payment option in the Payment Type field.

   2. Generate and Share the Payment Link: Click the Generate New Payment button and send the generated payment link to your customer.

Capture the Amount: When you need to debit the amount from the customer's account, find the pre-authorized payment in the Client Portal (see Step 1) and click the Confirm Preauthorization button. Set the amount to be debited and click Confirm.

The debited amount cannot exceed the originally preauthorized amount.