Cards: pre-authorization and capture

Pre-authorization lets you place a hold on funds on the customer's card without charging it immediately, and then capture all or part of the amount at a chosen time. You can cancel the unused hold. This is the standard model when the final amount or charge time is not known at the time of purchase.

POST/api/v1_0/cards/payment/{transactionId}/pay/card-pre-auth→Place a hold on card funds without charging the card, with 3D Secure support.Full contract in the API Reference POST/api/v1_0/cards/payment/{transactionId}/capture→Capture all or part of the held funds.Full contract in the API Reference POST/api/v1_0/cards/payment/{transactionId}/cancellation→Release the unused funds hold.Full contract in the API Reference

When to use it

• Reservations such as hotels and rentals: place a deposit hold and charge after the stay
• Charge on dispatch: charge only when the goods are ready to ship
• Variable amount: authorize with a margin and capture the final amount
• Marketplace: authorize now and settle after seller confirmation

Pre-authorization on a saved card (card on file)

You can also pre-authorize a saved token (card on file) by using the authorize_only field with a recurring mandate alias; see Cards: recurring payments. This page describes pre-authorization for a new card. Capture and cancellation work the same way for both variants.

How it works

The process has two phases:

1. Pre-authorization places a hold on card funds without charging the card. The customer completes 3D Secure just as for a standard card payment.
2. Capture OR cancellation either charges all or part of the held funds or releases the hold.

Based on the Server-to-Server integration

Pre-authorization uses the same card-data encryption and 3D Secure handling as Server-to-Server card payments. Read that guide first; this page describes only the differences.

Requirements

• An active Server-to-Server card integration, which requires PCI DSS certification and dpay approval; see Cards S2S
• Pre-authorization enabled for your Payment Point; contact dpay to enable it

Step 1: Register and pre-authorize the transaction

Register a transaction with transactionType: card_auth, retrieve the public key, and encrypt the card data exactly as described in Cards S2S, steps 1–3. Only the payment endpoint changes: use /pay/card-pre-auth instead of /pay/card-otp:

POST https://api-payments.dpay.pl/api/v1_0/cards/payment/{transactionId}/pay/card-pre-auth
Content-Type: application/json

Request parameters

They are identical to the parameters for /pay/card-otp:

{
  "encryptedCardData": "Base64-encoded-encrypted-data...",
  "deviceInfo": {
    "browserAcceptHeader": "text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,*/*;q=0.8",
    "browserJavaEnabled": "false",
    "browserLanguage": "pl-PL",
    "browserColorDepth": "24",
    "browserScreenHeight": "1080",
    "browserScreenWidth": "1920",
    "browserTZ": "-60",
    "browserUserAgent": "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64)...",
    "systemFamily": "Windows",
    "geoLocalization": "52.2297,21.0122",
    "deviceID": "device-unique-id",
    "applicationName": "Chrome"
  }
}

The deviceInfo object requires every field, including systemFamily, geoLocalization, deviceID, and applicationName. Omitting any of them returns HTTP 422. See Cards S2S for the complete specification.

Response

The response has the same structure as /pay/card-otp. The message.redirectType field determines the next action:

redirectType	Meaning
SUCCESS	Funds held successfully; proceed to capture or cancellation
FORM	3D Secure authentication required; render the form and retry with threeDsConfirmed: true

Handle 3D Secure (FORM) exactly as described in Cards S2S. After successful authorization, the funds are held but have not yet been charged. The value from transaction registration is the maximum amount you can capture.

Hold validity period

The issuing bank releases the funds hold after a certain period—usually several days to around two weeks, depending on the bank. Perform capture or cancellation before the hold expires.

Step 2a: Capture

Call the capture endpoint to charge the held funds. You can capture all or part of the authorization and perform multiple captures up to the authorized amount.

POST https://api-payments.dpay.pl/api/v1_0/cards/payment/{transactionId}/capture
Content-Type: application/json

Request parameters

Field	Type	Required	Description
amount	number	Yes	Amount to capture in PLN, for example 59.99; the sum of all captures cannot exceed the authorized amount

Example

curl -X POST https://api-payments.dpay.pl/api/v1_0/cards/payment/abc-def-123/capture \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "amount": 59.99 }'

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "status": "success",
  "message": { "redirectType": "SUCCESS" }
}

When the total captured amount reaches the full authorization amount, the transaction moves to the captured state. You also receive the result of every capture through IPN.

Partial capture

If the final amount is lower than the authorized amount—for example, because part of the order is unavailable—capture only the actual amount. You can capture the remainder with another call or cancel it as described below.

Step 2b: Cancel the authorization

Call the cancellation endpoint to release held funds without charging them. Cancellation is available only while the authorization has not been fully captured.

POST https://api-payments.dpay.pl/api/v1_0/cards/payment/{transactionId}/cancellation
Content-Type: application/json

Request parameters

Field	Type	Required	Description
amount	number	No	Amount to cancel in PLN. Omit it for full cancellation of the entire remaining uncaptured amount; provide it for partial cancellation

Examples

Full cancellation, releasing the entire hold:

curl -X POST https://api-payments.dpay.pl/api/v1_0/cards/payment/abc-def-123/cancellation \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{}'

Partial cancellation, releasing part of the hold:

curl -X POST https://api-payments.dpay.pl/api/v1_0/cards/payment/abc-def-123/cancellation \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "amount": 30.00 }'

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "status": "success",
  "message": { "redirectType": "SUCCESS" }
}

Full cancellation closes the authorization. Further capture or cancellation calls are no longer possible.

Lifecycle and constraints

Rule	Description
Capture requires amount	A capture amount is required; the total captured amount must not exceed the authorization amount
Cancellation amount is optional	No amount means full cancellation of the remaining amount
Order of operations	You can cancel only an active authorization, not one that has been fully captured, canceled, or finalized
Captured amount	It cannot be canceled; only the uncaptured remainder can be canceled
Expiration	The issuing bank releases an uncaptured hold when it expires

Error handling

Message	Cause	Action
Invalid capture amount	Missing or invalid capture amount	Provide a positive amount
Capture amount exceeds authorized amount	Total captures exceed the authorization	Reduce the amount
Transaction cannot be captured in its current state.	Authorization already captured, canceled, or finalized	Check the transaction status
Transaction cannot be cancelled in its current state.	Authorization already captured, canceled, or finalized	Check the transaction status
Cancellation amount exceeds remaining authorized amount	Cancellation amount exceeds the remaining hold	Reduce the amount
Missing authorization reference for capture. / ... for cancellation.	The transaction has no authorization reference and is not an active pre-authorization	Verify that the transaction is a valid, unsettled pre-authorization
Capture was declined by the card issuer. / Cancellation was declined by the card issuer.	The issuer declined the capture or cancellation	Check the transaction state and retry if appropriate

Other processing errors, such as a declined authorization or invalid card, are described in the shared Cards S2S guide. The message value can vary by situation, so avoid matching it too strictly.

Testing in sandbox mode

For a service with test mode enabled, dpay simulates the entire pre-authorization flow without contacting an external card processor. You can test the full pre-authorization → capture or cancellation path using the test card numbers.

Step	Test-mode behavior
card-pre-auth with a success card number	Authorization succeeds and the transaction waits for capture
card-pre-auth with a decline card number	Authorization is declined, the transaction is canceled, and a simulated error is returned
capture	The funds capture is simulated; after full capture, the transaction receives the captured status
cancellation	Cancellation is simulated; the pre-authorization is closed with the canceled status

info

The authorization scenario—success or decline—is selected from the card number contained in the encrypted card data, just as for card-otp payments. Test numbers are listed in Test environment.