Incremental authorization allows merchants to request additional funds on a card transaction when the final amount exceeds the initially authorized amount. Instead of cancelling and re-authorizing a higher amount, merchants can request incremental authorizations to top up the initial authorization.

This is especially useful in verticals where the final amount is not known at the time of the initial transaction – such as hospitality, fuel, car rentals and delivery services. By using incremental authorizations, merchants can ensure that the cardholder’s open-to-buy reflects real-time activity, reducing the risk of declined captures and improving customer experience.

💡 The sum of the initial pre-authorization and all incremental authorizations is the total amount on hold in the cardholder’s account.

Supported card brands

• Visa
• MasterCard
• American Express – only via WorldpayCC

Supported acquirers

• Elavon Europe
• Nexi
• Fiserv Australia
• Fiserv Europe
• WorldpayCC
• VR Payment

Payment flow

Incremental authorization works in a 3-step sequence:

1. Initial pre-authorization

The initial transaction is submitted as a pre-authorization. This is automatically handled based on the merchant configuration. If your merchant profile is set up to support pre-authorizations, any authorization submitted via Create checkout sessionCreate checkout session or Create paymentCreate payment will be treated as a pre-authorization.

📌 You do not need to set any additional parameters in your request for this step – pre-authorization logic is handled based on your merchant profile settings.

2. Incremental authorization

To add funds to the original pre-authorization, submit an Incremental authorization request via the Incremental authorizationIncremental authorization endpoint.

• This request includes only the incremental amount (i.e., the additional amount you wish to authorize on top of the original).
• You must reference the original pre-authorization's payId to link the requests.

🧠 The incrementalAmount is not the new total. It is the amount to add on top of the already authorized value.

3. Final capture

When the final amount is known, submit a Capture paymentCapture payment request that reflects the total amount (original pre-authorization + all incremental authorizations).

📌 Make sure that the total capture amount does not exceed the combined total of the original and all incremental authorizations.

Reversals

Reversing an incremental authorization follows a specific flow:

• Each increment must be reversed individually, starting with the most recent.
• The original pre-authorization cannot be cancelled until all incremental authorizations have been reversed.
• It is currently not possible to reverse the pre-authorization and all increments in a single request.

⚠️ Important: Reversal of an increment affects only that increment's hold amount. The remaining authorized amounts (including the initial pre-authorization and other increments) remain active until reversed or captured.