Document bank processes for voiding an authorization hold

[matin]

From Wikipedia:

Authorization hold (also card authorisation, preauthorization, or preauth) is the practice within the banking industry of authorizing electronic transactions done with a debit card or credit card and holding this balance as unavailable either until the merchant clears the transaction (also called settlement), or the hold "falls off." In the case of debit cards, authorization holds can fall off the account (thus rendering the balance available again) anywhere from 1–5 days after the transaction date depending on the bank's policy; in the case of credit cards, holds may last as long as 30 days, depending on the issuing bank.

There needs to be communication through the API and/or documentation about when a hold is likely to drop off. The most problematic are prepaid and debit cards where there's real money being held by the bank.

A minimal solution would be to add a brief explanation and link to Wikipedia.

The next step could be to return the card type (prepaid, debit, charge, etc.) in the cards resource since the type is what generally determins the period required for the hold to fall off.

[matin]

ping @khussein

[timnguyen]

Actually, I think the best way to handle this is to have a place for the buyer to indicate whether they're using credit or debit/prepaid on the form used to collect payment information .

If the payment is from a debit/prepaid, don't allow authorizations, just capture.

This mimics standard procedure when you're using your card in a face to face environment so it shouldn't add friction to the checkout process and it can be done immediately by a marketplace instead of waiting for us to change the API.

[dsog]

@matin +1

I think just a brief explanation in the documentation should suffice. Adding a bit more info on the API side is a plus.

[mjallday]

@timnguyen is it possible for Balanced to provide info on the card resource if the card it represents is a debit / credit card? Similar to how Balanced exposes brand (e.g. VISA/Amex) now?

[mahmoudimus]

Addressing this issue on the balanced-docs/issues/54