Sales

A sale is a bundled authorization and capture. Some processors and acquirers require a sale transaction instead of using separate authorization and capture requests.
For other processors and acquirers, you can
request a sale instead of a separate authorization and capture when you provide the goods or services immediately after taking an order.
There are two types of sale processing: dual-message processing and single-message processing.

Dual-Message Processing

Dual-message processing is a two-step process. The authorization is processed first. If the authorization is successful, the capture is processed immediately afterward. The response includes the authorization and the capture information. If the authorization is declined, the capture is not processed, and the response message includes only the authorization information.

Single-Message Processing

Single-message processing treats the authorization and capture as a single transaction. There are important differences between dual-message processing and single-message processing:
  • Single-message processing treats the request as a full-financial transaction, and with a successful transaction, funds are immediately transferred from the customer account to the merchant account.
  • Authorization and capture amounts must be the same.
  • Some features cannot be used with single-message processing.