A partial authorization, or split tender, order is one in which two or more transactions are used to cover the total amount of the order. The payment gateway provides support for partial authorizations, authorization reversals, and balance responses for prepaid cards (such as debit or gift cards). This includes MasterCard, Discover, JCB, Visa, and Diners card programs in the U.S.
Merchants must indicate that they are able to handle the extra processing either by selecting the Partial Authorization option in the Account settings of the Merchant Interface, or by sending x_allow_partial_auth=true with each transaction. Without this flag, the transaction would be handled as any other, and would be either fully authorized or declined due to lack of funds on the card.
When the first transaction is successfully approved for a partial amount of the total order, a split tender ID is generated and returned to the merchant in the response. This ID must be passed back with each of the remaining transactions of the group, using x_split_tender_id=<value>. If you include both a split tender ID and a transaction ID on the same request, an error results.
If successfully authorized, all transactions in the group are held until the final transaction of the group is successfully authorized.
If the merchant needs to release the group of transactions before the final one is approved (if the balance is paid by cash, for example), send a prior auth capture request and include the split tender ID instead of a transaction ID.
The following rules apply to partial authorization transactions:
The merchant can choose to accept partial authorization transactions by selecting an option in the Merchant Interface. Alternatively, partial authorization transactions can be submitted by including a new API field (x_allow_partial_Auth) in the initial request that enables partial authorization for that specific request.
When an authorization is granted for an amount less than the purchase amount, a Split Tender ID is provided, in addition to the Transaction ID. The Split Tender ID is used on subsequent payments for that purchase.
The transaction is not submitted for settlement until either the merchant submits payments adding up to the full requested amount, or the merchant indicates the transaction has been completed (in the case when all or part of the remaining balance is paid in cash).
The Split Tender ID cannot be submitted together with a Transaction ID; only one or the other can be submitted.
The following fields are returned in the relay response data sent to the merchant’s URL. The data they represent are in all prepaid card responses.
x_prepaid_requested_amount—this is the amount requested.
x_split_tender_id—this is the Split Tender ID provided when the first partial authorization transaction was issued.
x_split_tender_status—indicates whether or not the transaction is complete.
x_card_type—the card type.
The following input fields are specific to Partial Authorization transactions:
x_allow_partial_auth=TRUE (optional). The default value is set in the Merchant Interface; you can use this parameter to authorize individual transactions if the option is set to False in the Merchant Interface. Including this field in the transaction request overrides the merchant’s account configuration.
x_split_tender_id—this is the split tender ID provided when the first partial authorization transaction was issued.
The following output fields are specific to Partial Authorization transactions:
Balance on card—this is the authorized amount remaining on the card.
Requested Amount—this is the amount requested.
Split Tender ID—this is provided when the first partial authorization transaction was issued. This is only returned in the reply message for the first transaction that receives a partial authorization.
Card Type—the card type.