Capture

Online card payments usually happen in two steps. Authorisation asks the issuer whether the funds exist and places a hold. Capture, typically when the goods ship, says the amount should really be taken, and only then does the transaction land in the clearing file sent to the card network. It is the model inherited from dual-message systems, and it lets a merchant capture less than was authorised when half the order turned out to be out of stock.

Merchants who deliver immediately do both in one call, usually called a sale. Waiting too long has consequences: holds expire after roughly a week, and a late capture risks a decline or a higher fee. A merchant who changes its mind before capture sends an authorisation reversal; afterwards, only a refund will do.