In many business models, the final total of an order isn't fully known at the time the customer completes their initial checkout. Incremental Authorization is a feature that allows merchants to increase the authorized amount on an existing transaction.

This ensures you can secure funds for the final transaction amount seamlessly, without requiring the customer to re-authenticate or placing multiple full amount holds on their card.

Why Use Incremental Authorization?

The most common scenario for this feature involves delayed fee calculations, such as freight shipping.

For example, a customer may place a large order where the products total $5,000. You authorize the card for $5,000 at checkout. However, the exact cost of freight shipping isn't calculated until the order is packed and weighed at the warehouse two days later. If the freight costs $500, your final capture amount needs to be $5,500.

Instead of voiding the original $5,000 authorization and creating a brand new one for $5,500 (which ties up the customer's credit line and risks declines), Incremental Authorization allows you to seamlessly increase the existing authorization by the $500 difference before you finally capture the payment.

Key Benefits:

• Better Customer Experience: Avoids placing double holds on a customer’s credit card.
• Higher Success Rates: Reduces the risk of declines that can happen when issuing brand-new authorizations for higher amounts.
• Operational Efficiency: Allows your fulfillment and ERP teams to add shipping, handling, or incidental charges smoothly before capture.

How to Configure the Setting

You can enable this feature directly within your PayPack settings.

1. Navigate to the PayPack Configuration.
2. Click on the General tab.
3. Locate the Primary section.
4. Check the box to Enable Incremental Authorization.
5. Save your configuration changes.

Additional Resources

This PayPack feature is powered by Stripe’s native Incremental Authorization API. If you would like to understand the technical mechanics or regional availability of this feature on the backend, you can review Stripe Docs: Incremental Authorizations.