Payment Actions (Sale vs Authorize)

PowerTranz supports two payment actions that determine when funds are captured from the customer’s card.

Sale (Immediate Capture)

With the Sale action, funds are authorized and captured immediately when the customer completes checkout. This is the default setting and is suitable for most businesses.

Best for:

• Digital products and downloads
• Services delivered immediately
• Physical products shipped quickly
• Businesses that don’t need to verify orders before charging

Authorize (Capture Later)

With the Authorize action, funds are only reserved on the customer’s card at checkout. You must manually capture the payment later to actually charge the customer.

Best for:

• Pre-orders or backorders
• Businesses that verify stock before shipping
• High-value orders requiring manual review
• Services that need confirmation before charging

Capturing Authorized Payments

When using Authorize, orders will have the status On Hold until you capture the payment.

To capture an authorized payment:

1. Go to WooCommerce → Orders
2. Open the order you want to capture
3. In the Order Status dropdown, select Processing or Completed and payment will be captured
4. Click the Update button

Once captured, the order status will change to Processing and the funds will be transferred.

Authorization Hold Period

Authorized funds are held for a limited time before the authorization expires. The hold period varies by card network and issuing bank, but is typically:

• Visa / Mastercard: 7-30 days
• American Express: 7 days

If you don’t capture the payment within this period, the authorization will expire and you’ll need to request payment from the customer again.

Voiding Authorizations

If you need to cancel an authorized payment before capturing it:

1. Go to the order in WooCommerce → Orders
2. Change the order status to Cancelled
3. The authorization will be voided and the hold on the customer’s card will be released

Configuring Payment Action

To set your payment action:

1. Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Payments → PowerTranz
2. Find the Payment Action setting (Payment Setting Tab)
3. Select either Sale or Authorize
4. Save changes